Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 12:1 | I beseke you brethre by the mercyfulnesse of God, that ye geue ouer youre bodies for a sacrifice, yt is quycke holy, and acceptable vnto God, which is yor reasonable seruynge off God. |
| 12:2 | And fashion not youre selues like vnto this worlde, but be chaunged thorow the renewynge off yor mynde, yt ye maye proue, what thinge that good, yt acceptable, & perfecte wil of God is. |
| 12:3 | For I saye thorow the grace yt is geue me, vnto euery man amonge you: that no man esteme off him selfe more, then it becometh him to esteme: but that he discretly iudge of himselfe, acordinge as God hath dealte vnto euery man the measure of faith. |
| 12:4 | For like as we haue many membres in one body, but all the membres haue not one maner of operacion: |
| 12:5 | Euen so we beynge many are one body in Christ. But amonge oure selues euery one is the membre of another, |
| 12:6 | and haue dyuers giftes, acordinge to the grace that is geuen vnto vs Yf eny man haue the gifte of prophecienge, let it be acordinge to the faith. |
| 12:7 | Let him that hath an office, wayte vpo the office: let him that teacheth, take hede to the doctryne: |
| 12:8 | Let him that exhorteth, geue attedaunce to the exhortacion. Yf eny ma geueth, let hi geue with synglenesse. Let him that ruleth, be diligent. Yf eny man shewe mercy, let him do it with chearfulnesse. |
| 12:9 | Let loue be without dissimulacion. Hate that which is euell: Cleue vnto that which is good. |
| 12:10 | Be kynde one to another with brotherly loue. In geuynge honoure go one before another. |
| 12:11 | Be not slouthfull in the busynesse that ye haue in hande. Be feruent in the sprete. Applye youre selues vnto the tyme. |
| 12:12 | Reioyse in hope, be pacient in trouble. Continue in prayer. |
| 12:13 | Distribute vnto the necessities of the sayntes. Be glad to harbarow. |
| 12:14 | Blesse the that persecute you. Blesse, & curse not. |
| 12:15 | Be mery with them that are mery and wepe with them that wepe. |
| 12:16 | Be of one mynde amonge youre selues. Be not proude in youre awne consaytes, but make youre selues equall to them of ye lowe sorte. Be not wyse in youre awne opinions |
| 12:17 | Recompese vnto no man euell for euell. Prouyde honestie afore hade towarde euery ma. |
| 12:18 | Yf it be possible (as moch as in you is) haue peace with all men. |
| 12:19 | Dearly beloued, auenge not youre selues, but geue rowme vnto the wrath off God. For it is wrytte: Vengeaunce is myne, and I wil rewarde, sayeth ye LORDE. |
| 12:20 | Therfore yf thine enemye hunger, fede him: Yf he thyrst, geue him drinke. For in so doinge thou shalt heape coales of fyre vpo his heade. |
| 12:21 | Be not ouercome with euell, but ouercome thou euell with good. |
Coverdale Bible 1535
The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete English translation of the Bible to contain both the Old and New Testament and translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. The later editions (folio and quarto) published in 1539 were the first complete Bibles printed in England. The 1539 folio edition carried the royal license and was, therefore, the first officially approved Bible translation in English.
Tyndale never had the satisfaction of completing his English Bible; but during his imprisonment, he may have learned that a complete translation, based largely upon his own, had actually been produced. The credit for this achievement, the first complete printed English Bible, is due to Miles Coverdale (1488-1569), afterward bishop of Exeter (1551-1553).
The details of its production are obscure. Coverdale met Tyndale in Hamburg, Germany in 1529, and is said to have assisted him in the translation of the Pentateuch. His own work was done under the patronage of Oliver Cromwell, who was anxious for the publication of an English Bible; and it was no doubt forwarded by the action of Convocation, which, under Archbishop Cranmer's leading, had petitioned in 1534 for the undertaking of such a work.
Coverdale's Bible was probably printed by Froschover in Zurich, Switzerland and was published at the end of 1535, with a dedication to Henry VIII. By this time, the conditions were more favorable to a Protestant Bible than they had been in 1525. Henry had finally broken with the Pope and had committed himself to the principle of an English Bible. Coverdale's work was accordingly tolerated by authority, and when the second edition of it appeared in 1537 (printed by an English printer, Nycolson of Southwark), it bore on its title-page the words, "Set forth with the King's most gracious license." In licensing Coverdale's translation, King Henry probably did not know how far he was sanctioning the work of Tyndale, which he had previously condemned.
In the New Testament, in particular, Tyndale's version is the basis of Coverdale's, and to a somewhat less extent this is also the case in the Pentateuch and Jonah; but Coverdale revised the work of his predecessor with the help of the Zurich German Bible of Zwingli and others (1524-1529), a Latin version by Pagninus, the Vulgate, and Luther. In his preface, he explicitly disclaims originality as a translator, and there is no sign that he made any noticeable use of the Greek and Hebrew; but he used the available Latin, German, and English versions with judgment. In the parts of the Old Testament which Tyndale had not published he appears to have translated mainly from the Zurich Bible. [Coverdale's Bible of 1535 was reprinted by Bagster, 1838.]
In one respect Coverdale's Bible was groundbreaking, namely, in the arrangement of the books of the. It is to Tyndale's example, no doubt, that the action of Coverdale is due. His Bible is divided into six parts -- (1) Pentateuch; (2) Joshua -- Esther; (3) Job -- "Solomon's Balettes" (i.e. Canticles); (4) Prophets; (5) "Apocrypha, the books and treatises which among the fathers of old are not reckoned to be of like authority with the other books of the Bible, neither are they found in the canon of the Hebrew"; (6) the New Testament. This represents the view generally taken by the Reformers, both in Germany and in England, and so far as concerns the English Bible, Coverdale's example was decisive.