Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 1:1 | After the death of Moses the seruaunt of the LORDE, spake the LORDE vnto Iosua ye sonne of Nun Moses mynister: |
| 1:2 | My seruaunt Moses is deed, vp now, and go ouer this Iordane, thou and all this people in to the londe that I haue geuen the children of Israel. |
| 1:3 | All the places that the soles of youre fete shal treade vpon, haue I geuen vnto you, as I sayde vnto Moses: |
| 1:4 | From the wyldernesse and this Libanus vnto the greate water Euphrates: all the londe of the Hethites vnto the greate see towarde the west, shal be youre border. |
| 1:5 | There shall noman be able to withstonde ye all thy life longe. And like as I was with Moses, so wil I be with the also. I will not fayle the nether forsake the. |
| 1:6 | Be stronge and bolde: for vnto this people shalt thou deuyde ye londe, which I sware vnto their fathers, to geue it them. |
| 1:7 | Be stroge therfore and very bolde, that thou mayest kepe and do euery thynge acordinge to the lawe, that Moses my seruaunt commaunded the. Turne not asyde from it, nether to the righte hande ner to the lefte, yt thou mayest deale wysely whither so euer thou goest. |
| 1:8 | And let not the boke of this lawe departe out of thy mouth, but exercyse thy selfe therin daie and nighte, that thou mayest kepe and do euery thinge acordinge to it that is wrytte therin: Then shalt thou prospere in thy waies, and deale wysely. |
| 1:9 | Lo, I haue commaunded the to be stronge and bolde. Feare not, and be not afrayed: for the LORDE thy God is with ye, whither so euer thou goest. |
| 1:10 | Then commaunded Iosua the officers of the people, and sayde: |
| 1:11 | Go thorow the hoost, and charge ye people, and saye: Prepare you vytayles, for ouer thre dayes shal ye go ouer this Iordane, that ye maye come in and take possession of the londe, which the LORDE youre God shal geue you. |
| 1:12 | And to the Rubenites, Gaddites, and to the halfe trybe of Manasse, sayde Iosua: |
| 1:13 | Thynke vpon the worde, that Moses the seruaunt of ye LORDE spake vnto you, and sayde: The LORDE yor God hath brought you to rest, and geuen you this londe. |
| 1:14 | Let youre wyues and children and catell remayne in ye londe, that Moses gaue you on this syde Iordane: But ye youre selues (as many as be fightinge men) shal go forth before youre brethren in harnesse, and helpe them, |
| 1:15 | tyll the LORDE haue broughte youre brethren to rest also as well as you: that they also maye take possession of the londe, which the LORDE yor God shal geue them: Then shal ye turne agayne in to the londe of youre possession, that ye maye enioye it, which Moses the seruaunt of the LORDE hath geuen you on this syde Iordane towarde ye Easte. |
| 1:16 | And they answered Iosua and sayde: All that thou hast commaunded vs, wyll we do: and whither so euer thou sendest vs, we wyl go thither. |
| 1:17 | Like as we haue obeyed Moses, so wyl we be obedient also vnto the: Onely that the LORDE thy God be with ye, like as he was with Moses. |
| 1:18 | Who so euer disobeyeth thy mouth, and herkeneth not vnto thy wordes in all that thou hast commaunded vs, shal dye: Onely be thou stronge and bolde. |
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.