Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 14:1 | Then Ioab the sonne of Zeruiah perceyued, that the Kings heart was toward Absalom, |
| 14:2 | And Ioab sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a subtile woman, and sayd vnto her, I pray thee, fayne thy selfe to mourne, and nowe put on mourning apparel, and anoynt not thy selfe with oyle: but be as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead. |
| 14:3 | And come to the King, and speake on this maner vnto him, (for Ioab taught her what she should say). |
| 14:4 | Then the woman of Tekoah spake vnto the king, and fel downe on her face to the ground, and did obeysance, and sayd, Helpe, O King. |
| 14:5 | Then the King sayd vnto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am in deede a widow, and mine husband is dead: |
| 14:6 | And thine handmayd had two sonnes, and they two stroue together in the fielde: (and there was none to part them) so the one smote the other, and slew him. |
| 14:7 | And beholde, the whole familie is risen against thine handmayde, and they sayde, Deliuer him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the soule of his brother whome hee slewe, that we may destroy the heire also: so they shall quenche my sparkle which is left, and shall not leaue to mine husband neither name nor posteritie vpon the earth. |
| 14:8 | And the King said vnto the woman, Go to thine house, and I wil giue a charge for thee. |
| 14:9 | Then the woman of Tekoah said vnto the King, My lord, O King, this trespas be on me, and on my fathers house, and the King and his throne be giltlesse. |
| 14:10 | And the King sayde, Bring him to me that speaketh against thee, and he shall touche thee no more. |
| 14:11 | Then said she, I pray thee, let the King remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer many reuengers of blood to destroy, lest they slay my sonne. And he answered, As the Lord liueth, there shall not one heare of thy sonne fall to the earth. |
| 14:12 | Then the woman said, I pray thee, let thine handmayde speake a worde to my lord the King. And he sayd, Say on. |
| 14:13 | Then the woman sayde, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? or why doeth the King, as one which is faultie, speake this thing, that he will not bring againe his banished? |
| 14:14 | For we must needes dye, and we are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered vp againe: neither doeth God spare any person, yet doeth he appoynt meanes, not to cast out from him, him that is expelled. |
| 14:15 | Nowe therefore that I am come to speake of this thing vnto my lord the King, the cause is that the people haue made me afrayd: therefore thine handmayde sayd, Nowe will I speake vnto the King: it may be that the King will perfourme the request of his handmayde. |
| 14:16 | For the King wil heare, to deliuer his handmayde out of the hande of the man that woulde destroy mee, and also my sonne from the inheritance of God. |
| 14:17 | Therefore thine handmaid sayd, The word of my lord the King shall now be comfortable: for my lorde the King is euen as an Angel of God in hearing of good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God be with thee. |
| 14:18 | Then the King answered, and said vnto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall aske thee. And the woman sayde, Let my lord the King now speake. |
| 14:19 | And the King said, Is not the hand of Ioab with thee in all this? Then the woman answered, and sayd, As thy soule liueth, my lord the King, I will not turne to the right hande nor to the left, from ought that my lorde the King hath spoken: for euen thy seruant Ioab bade mee, and he put all these wordes in the mouth of thine handmayde. |
| 14:20 | For to the intent that I should chage the forme of speach, thy seruant Ioab hath done this thing: but my lord is wise according to the wisdome of an Angel of God to vnderstande all things that are in the earth. |
| 14:21 | And the King sayde vnto Ioab, Beholde nowe, I haue done this thing: go then, and bring the yong man Absalom againe. |
| 14:22 | And Ioab fell to the grounde on his face, and bowed himselfe, and thanked the King. Then Ioab sayde, This day thy seruant knoweth, that I haue found grace in thy sight, my lord the King, in that the King hath fulfilled the request of his seruant. |
| 14:23 | And Ioab arose, and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Ierusalem. |
| 14:24 | And the King sayde, Let him turne to his owne house, and not see my face. So Absalom turned to his owne house, and saw not the Kings face. |
| 14:25 | Nowe in all Israel there was none to be so much praysed for beautie as Absalom: from the sole of his foote euen to the toppe of his head there was no blemish in him. |
| 14:26 | And when he polled his head, (for at euery yeeres ende he polled it: because it was too heauie for him, therefore he polled it) he weyghed the heare of his head at two hundreth shekels by the Kings weight. |
| 14:27 | And Absalom had three sonnes, and one daughter named Tamar, which was a fayre woman to looke vpon. |
| 14:28 | So Absalom dwelt the space of two yeres in Ierusalem, and saw not the Kings face. |
| 14:29 | Therefore Absalom sent for Ioab to sende him to the King, but he would not come to him: and when he sent againe, he would not come. |
| 14:30 | Therefore he sayde vnto his seruants, Beholde, Ioab hath a fielde by my place, and hath barley therein: go, and set it on fire: and Absaloms seruants set the field on fire. |
| 14:31 | Then Ioab arose, and came to Absalom vnto his house, and sayd vnto him, Wherefore haue thy seruants burnt my field with fire? |
| 14:32 | And Absalom answered Ioab, Beholde, I sent for thee, saying, Come thou hither, and I wil send thee to the King for to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? It had bene better for me to haue bene there still: nowe therefore let mee see the Kings face: and if there be any trespasse in me, let him kill me. |
| 14:33 | Then Ioab came to the King, and told him: and he called for Absalom, who came to the King, and bowed himselfe to the grounde on his face before the King, and the King kissed Absalom. |
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.