Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 8:1 | I do you to wit (brethren) the grace of God, which is geue in the congregacions of Macedonia. |
| 8:2 | For their reioysinge was most abundaunt, whan they were tryed by moch trouble: & though they were exceadinge poore, yet haue they geue exceadinge richely, and that in synglenesse. |
| 8:3 | For to their power (I beare recorde) yee and beyonde their power, they were wyllinge of their awne acorde, |
| 8:4 | and prayed vs with greate instauce, that we wolde receaue their benefite and fellishippe of the hadreachinge that is done for the sayntes: |
| 8:5 | And not as we loked for, but gaue ouer them selues first to the LODRE, and afterwarde vnto vs by ye wyl of God, |
| 8:6 | so that we coulde not but desyre Titus, that like as he had begonne afore he wolde euen so accomplish the same beniuolence amonge you. |
| 8:7 | Now as ye are riche in all poyntes, in faith and in worde, and in knowlege, and in all diligence, and in youre loue towarde vs, euen so se that ye be plenteous also in this benyuolece. |
| 8:8 | This I saye not as commaudynge, but seynge, other are so diligent, I proue youre loue also, whether it be perfecte or no. |
| 8:9 | For ye knowe the liberalite of oure LORDE Iesus Christ, which though he be riche, yet for youre sakes he became poore, yt ye thorow his pouerte mighte be made riche. |
| 8:10 | And my councell herin I geue, for this is profitable for you, which haue begonne a yeare a goo,not onely to do, but also to wyll. |
| 8:11 | But now perfourme the dede also, that like as there is a ready mynde to wil, there maye be a ready mynde also to perfourme the dede of that which ye haue. |
| 8:12 | For yf there be a wyllinge mynde, it is accepted acordinge to that a man hath, not acordinge to that he hath not. |
| 8:13 | This is not done to the intent, that other shulde haue ease, and ye cobraunce, |
| 8:14 | but that it be a lyke. Let youre abundaunce sucker their lacke in this tyme off derth, that their abundaunce also herafter maye supplee youre lacke, |
| 8:15 | that there maye be equalite. As it is wrytten: He yt gathered moch, had not the more: and he that gathered litle, wanted nothinge. |
| 8:16 | Thakes be vnto God, which put in the hert of Titus, the same diligence towarde you. |
| 8:17 | For he accepted the request in dede, yee he was rather so well wyllynge, that of his awne acorde, he came vnto you. |
| 8:18 | We haue sent with him that brother, whose prayse is in the Gospell thorow out all the congregacions. |
| 8:19 | Not onely that, but he is chosen also of the congregacions, to be a felowe with vs in oure iourney, for this benyuolence that is mynistred by vs vnto the prayse of the LORDE, and to stere vp youre prompte mynde, |
| 8:20 | and to bewarre, lest eny ma reporte euell of vs because of this plenteousnes, which is mynistred by vs: |
| 8:21 | and therfore make we prouision for honest thinges, not onely before the LORDE, but also before men. |
| 8:22 | We haue sent with them also a brother of oures, whom we haue oft proued diliget in many thinges, but now moch more diligent. |
| 8:23 | And this haue we done in greate hope towarde you, whether it be for Titus sake (which is my felowe and helper amonge you) or for oure brethre (which are Apostles of the cogregacions, & the prayse of Christ.) |
| 8:24 | Shewe now the profe off youre loue and off oure boastinge of you, vnto these, and opely in the sighte of the cogregacions. |
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.