Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 3:1 | And Naemi hir mother in lawe sayde vnto her: My doughter, I wyll prouyde rest for the, that thou maiest prospere. |
| 3:2 | Boos oure kynsman, by whose damsels thou hast bene, casteth vp barlye now this night in his barne. |
| 3:3 | Bathe thyselfe therfore, and moffell the, and put on thy clothes, and go downe vnto the barne, so yt noma knowe the, tyll they haue all eaten and dronken. |
| 3:4 | Whan he layeth him downe then to sleape, mark ye place where he lyeth downe, and come thou, and take vp the couerynge at his fete, and laye the downe, so shall he tell the what thou shalt do. |
| 3:5 | She sayde vnto her: what so euer thou saiest vnto me, I wil do it. |
| 3:6 | She wente downe to the barne, & dyd all as hir mother in lawe had comaunded her. |
| 3:7 | And wha Boos had eate & dronke, his hert was mery, & he came and layed him downe behynde a heape of sheues. And she came secretly, and toke vp the coueringe at his fete, and layed hir downe. |
| 3:8 | Now wha it was midnight, the man was afrayed, and groped aboute him, and beholde, a woman laye at his fete. |
| 3:9 | And he sayde: Who art thou? She answered: I am Ruth thy handmayden, sprede yi wynges ouer thy hadmayden: for thou art the nexte kynsman. |
| 3:10 | He sayde: The LORDES blessinge haue thou my doughter. Thou hast done a better mercy here after then before, yt thou art not gone after yonge men, nether riche ner poore. |
| 3:11 | Feare not now my doughter: All yt thou hast sayde, will I do for the: for all the cite of my people knoweth, yt thou art a vertuous woma. |
| 3:12 | Trueth it is now, yt I am a nye kynsma, but there is one nyer then I. |
| 3:13 | Tarye thou allnighte. Tomorow yf he take the, well: yf he like not to take ye, then wil I take ye my selfe, as truly as ye LORDE lyueth. Slepe thou tyll ye mornynge. And she slepte at his fete vntyll ye morow. |
| 3:14 | And she rose vp or euer one coulde knowe another. And he thoughte thus: That no ma knowe now yt there hath come a woman in to the barne, |
| 3:15 | and he sayde: Reach me the cloke yt thou hast on the, & holde it forth. And she helde it forth. And he meet her sixe measures of barlye, and layed it vpon her, & she wente in to the cite, |
| 3:16 | & came to hir mother in lawe, which sayde: How is it wt the my doughter? And she tolde her all yt the ma had done vnto her, |
| 3:17 | & sayde: These sixe measures of barlye gaue he me, for he sayde: Thou shalt not come emptye vnto yi mother in lawe. |
| 3:18 | She sayde: Abyde my doughter, tyll thou se what ye matter wil growe to: for the man wilt not ceasse, tyll he brynge it to an ende this daye. |
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.