Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 9:1 | Of the handreachinge vnto ye sayntes, it is no nede for me to wryte vnto you: |
| 9:2 | for I knowe youre redynesse of mynde, wherof I boast my selfe amonge them of Macedonia, and saye: Achaia was ready a yeare agoo. And youre feruentnesse hath prouoked many. |
| 9:3 | Neuertheles yet haue we sent these brethren, lest oure reioysinge ouer you shulde be in vayne in this behalfe, that ye mighte be ready, as I haue reported of you: |
| 9:4 | lest whan they of Macedonia come with me, and fynde you vnprepared, we (I wyl not saye ye) shulde be ashamed in this presumpcion of boostinge. |
| 9:5 | Wherfore I thoughte it necessary to exhorte the brethren, to come before hande vnto you, for to prepare this blessynge promysed afore, that it mighte be ready, so that it be a blessynge, and not a defraudynge. |
| 9:6 | This I thynke: that he which soweth litle, shal reape litle also: and he yt soweth plenteously,shal likewyse reape plenteously, |
| 9:7 | euery one acordynge as he hath purposed in his hert, not grudgingly, or of compulsion. For God loueth a chearfull geuer. |
| 9:8 | God is able to make you riche in all grace, yt ye in all thinges hauynge sufficiet to the vttemost, maye be riche to all maner of good workes. |
| 9:9 | As it is wrytte: He hath sparsed abrode & geue to ye poore, his righteousnes remayneth for euer. |
| 9:10 | He that geueth sede vnto the sower, shal mynistre bred also for fode, and shal multiplye youre sede, and increase the frutes of yor righteousnes, |
| 9:11 | that in all thinges ye maye be made riche vnto all singlenesse, which causeth thorow vs, thankesgeuynge vnto God. |
| 9:12 | For the hadreachinge of this colleccion not onely suppleeth the nede off the sayntes, but also is abudaunt herin, that for this laudable mynistracion many mighte geue thakes vnto God, |
| 9:13 | and prayse God for yor obedient professynge of the Gospell of Christ, & for yor synglenesse in distributynge vnto the, and to all men, |
| 9:14 | and in their prayer for you, which longe after you, for the abundaunt grace of God in you. |
| 9:15 | Thankes be vnto God for his vnoutspeakeable gifte. |
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.