Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 1:1 | That which was from ye begynnynge, which we haue herde, which we haue sene with or eyes, which we haue loked vpon, and or handes haue handled of the worde of life: |
| 1:2 | and the life hath appeared, and we haue sene, and beare wytnes, and shewe vnto you ye life that is euerlastinge, which was with the father, and hath apeared vnto vs. |
| 1:3 | That which we haue sene & herde, declare we vnto you, that ye also maye haue fellishippe with vs, and that oure fellishippe maye be with the father and with his sonne Iesus Christ. |
| 1:4 | And this wryte we vnto you, that youre ioye maye be full. |
| 1:5 | And this is the tydinges which we haue herde of him, & declare vnto you, that God is lighte, and in him is no darknes at all. |
| 1:6 | Yf we saye that we haue fellishippe with him, and yet walke in darknes, we lye, and do not the trueth. |
| 1:7 | But yf we walke in lighte, euen as he is in lighte, then haue we fellishippe together, and the bloude of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all synne. |
| 1:8 | Yf we saye that we haue no synne, we disceaue oure selues, and the trueth is not in vs. |
| 1:9 | But yf we knowlege oure synnes, he is faithfull and iust to forgeue vs oure synnes, & to clense vs from all vnrighteousnes. |
| 1:10 | Yf we saye, we haue not synned, we make him a lyar, and his worde is not in vs. |
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.