Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 20:1 | Afterward Abraham departed thence toward the South countrey and dwelled betweene Cadesh and Shur, and soiourned in Gerar. |
| 20:2 | And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. Then Abimelech King of Gerar sent and tooke Sarah. |
| 20:3 | But God came to Abimelech in a dreame by night, and said to him, Beholde, thou art but dead, because of the woman, which thou hast taken: for she is a mans wife. |
| 20:4 | (Notwithstanding Abimelech had not yet come neere her) And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay euen the righteous nation? |
| 20:5 | Said not he vnto me, She is my sister? yea, and she her selfe said, He is my brother: with an vpright minde, and innocent handes haue I done this. |
| 20:6 | And God saide vnto him by a dreame, I knowe that thou diddest this euen with an vpright minde, and I kept thee also that thou shouldest not sinne against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touche her. |
| 20:7 | Now then deliuer the man his wife againe: for he is a Prophet, and he shall pray for thee that thou mayest liue: but if thou deliuer her not againe, be sure that thou shalt die the death, thou, and all that thou hast. |
| 20:8 | Then Abimelech rising vp early in ye morning, called all his seruants, and tolde all these things vnto them, and the men were sore afraid. |
| 20:9 | Afterward Abimelech called Abraham, and said vnto him, What hast thou done vnto vs? and what haue I offeded thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdome this great sinne? thou hast done things vnto me that ought not to be done. |
| 20:10 | So Abimelech said vnto Abraham, What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing? |
| 20:11 | Then Abraham answered, Because I thought thus, Surely the feare of God is not in this place, and they will slay me for my wiues sake. |
| 20:12 | Yet in very deede she is my sister: for she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she is my wife. |
| 20:13 | Nowe when God caused me to wander out of my fathers house, I said then to her, This is thy kindnes that thou shalt shewe vnto me in all places where we come, Say thou of me, He is my brother. |
| 20:14 | Then tooke Abimelech sheepe and beeues, and men seruants, and women seruants, and gaue them vnto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. |
| 20:15 | And Abimelech saide, Beholde, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. |
| 20:16 | Likewise to Sarah he said, Beholde, I haue giuen thy brother a thousand pieces of siluer: behold, he is the vaile of thine eyes to all that are with thee, and to all others: and she was thus reproued. |
| 20:17 | Then Abraham prayed vnto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his women seruants: and they bare children. |
| 20:18 | For the Lord had shut vp euery wombe of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abrahams wife. |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.