Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 6:1 | Wherfore let vs leaue the doctryne pertaynynge to the begynnynge of a Christen life, and let vs go vnto perfeccion: and now nomore laye ye foundacion of repetaunce from deed workes, and of faith towarde God, |
| 6:2 | of baptyme, of doctryne, of layenge on of hades, of resurreccion of the deed, & of eternall iudgment. |
| 6:3 | And so wil we do yf God permytte. |
| 6:4 | For it is not possible, that they which were once lighted, and haue taisted of the heauely gyfte, and are become partakers of the holy goost, |
| 6:5 | & haue taisted of ye good worde of God, and of the power of the worlde to come, |
| 6:6 | yf they fall awaye (and concernynge them selues crucifye the sonne of God afresshe, and make a mocke off him) that they shulde be renued agayne vnto repentaunce. |
| 6:7 | For the earth, that drynketh in the rayne, which commeth oft vpon it, and bringeth forth herbes mete for them that dresse it, receaueth blessynge of God: |
| 6:8 | But yt grounde which beareth thornes and thistles, is nothinge worth, and nye vnto cursynge: whose ende is to be brent. |
| 6:9 | Neuertheles (ye dearly beloued) we trust to se better of you, and yt saluacio is nyer, though we thus speake. |
| 6:10 | For God is not vnrighteous, that he shulde forget youre worke and laboure of loue, which ye shewed in his name, whan ye mynistred vnto the sayntes, and yet mynister. |
| 6:11 | Yee and we desyre, that euery one of you shewe the same diligence, to the stablyshinge of hope euen vnto the ende, |
| 6:12 | that ye faynte not, but folowe them which thorow faith and paciece inheret the promyses. |
| 6:13 | For whan God made promes to Abraham, because he had none greater to sweare by, he sware by himselfe, |
| 6:14 | and sayde: Surely I wil blesse the and multiplye ye in dede. |
| 6:15 | And so he abode pacietly, and optayned the promes. |
| 6:16 | As for men, they sweare by him that is greater then them selues: and the ooth is the ende of all stryfe to confirme the thinge amoge them. |
| 6:17 | But God, wyllinge very abundauntly to shewe vnto the heyres of promes the stablenes of his councell, added an ooth |
| 6:18 | yt by two immutable thinges (in the which it is vnpossible yt God shulde lye) we mighte haue a stronge consolacion: euen we, which are fled to holde fast the hope that is set before vs, |
| 6:19 | which (hope) we haue as a sure and stedfast anker of oure soule. Which (hope) also entreth in, in to those thinges that are within ye vayle, |
| 6:20 | whither the foreruner is for vs entred in, eue Iesus, which is made an hye prest for euer after ye order of Melchisedech. |
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.