Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 5:1 | Bvt of ye tymes and seasons (brethre) it is no nede to wryte vnto you. |
| 5:2 | For ye youre selues knowe perfectly, that the daye of the LORDE shal come euen as a thefe in the nighte. |
| 5:3 | For whan they shal saye: Tush, It is peace, there is no daunger, then shall soden destruccion come vpo the, euen as the payne of a woman trauaylinge with childe, and they shal not escape. |
| 5:4 | But ye brethren are not in darknes, that that daye shulde come on you as a thefe. |
| 5:5 | Ye are alltogether children of lighte, and children of the daye. We are not of the night, nether of darknesse. |
| 5:6 | Therfore let vs not slepe as do other, but let vs watch, and be sober. |
| 5:7 | For they that slepe, slepe in the nighte: and they that be dronken, are dronken in the nighte. |
| 5:8 | But let vs which are of the daye, be sober, armed wt the brestplate of faith and loue, and with ye helmet of hope to saluacion. |
| 5:9 | For God hath not appoynted vs vnto wrath, but to optayne saluacion by ye meanes of oure LORDE Iesu Christ, |
| 5:10 | which dyed for vs: that whether we wake or slepe, we shulde lyue together with him. |
| 5:11 | Wherfore comforte youre selues together, and edifye one another, euen as ye do. |
| 5:12 | We beseke you brethren, that ye knowe them which laboure amonge you, and haue the ouersighte of you in the LORDE, |
| 5:13 | and geue you exhortacion, that ye haue the the more in loue for their workes sake, and be at peace with them. |
| 5:14 | We desyre you brethre, warne them that are vnruly, coforte the feble mynded, forbeare the weake, be pacient towarde all men. |
| 5:15 | Se that none recompence euell for euell vnto eny man: but euer folowe that which is good, both amoge youre selues and to all men. |
| 5:16 | Reioyse alwaye, |
| 5:17 | praye contynually, |
| 5:18 | in all thinges be thankfull: for this is the wyll of God in Christ Iesu towarde you. |
| 5:19 | Quech not ye sprete: |
| 5:20 | despyse not prophecieges: |
| 5:21 | proue all thiges, & kepe yt which is good. |
| 5:22 | Abstayne fro all suspicious thinges. |
| 5:23 | The very God of peace sanctifye you thorow out. And I praye God, that youre whole sprete, soule & body be kepte blameles vnto ye comynge of oure LORDE Iesus Christ. |
| 5:24 | Faithfull is he which hath called you, which wil also do it. |
| 5:25 | Brethren, praye for vs. |
| 5:26 | Grete all the brethre with an holy kysse. |
| 5:27 | I charge you by ye LORDE, that this epistle be red vnto all ye holy brethren. |
| 5:28 | The grace of oure LORDE Iesus Christ be with you, Amen. |
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.