Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 2:1 | And when the Lord would take vp Eliiah into heauen by a whirle winde, Eliiah went with Elisha from Gilgal. |
| 2:2 | Then Eliiah saide to Elisha, Tarie here, I pray thee: for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. So they came downe to Beth-el. |
| 2:3 | And the children of the Prophets that were at Beth-el, came out to Elisha, and said vnto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take thy master from thine head this day? And he said, Yea, I knowe it: holde ye your peace. |
| 2:4 | Againe Eliiah saide vnto him, Elisha, tarie here, I pray thee: for the Lord hath sent me to Iericho: But he said, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. So they came to Iericho. |
| 2:5 | And the children of the Prophets that were at Iericho, came to Elisha, and saide vnto him, Knowest thou, that the Lord will take thy master from thine head this day? And he sayde, Yea, I knowe it: holde ye your peace. |
| 2:6 | Moreouer Eliiah saide vnto him, Tarie, I pray thee, here: for the Lord hath sent me to Iorden. But he saide, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. So they went both together. |
| 2:7 | And fiftie men of the sonnes of the Prophets went and stoode on the other side a farre off, and they two stoode by Iorden. |
| 2:8 | Then Eliiah tooke his cloke, and wrapt it together, and smote the waters, and they were deuided hither and thither, and they twaine went ouer on the dry lande. |
| 2:9 | Nowe when they were passed ouer, Eliiah saide vnto Elisha, Aske what I shall doe for thee before I be taken from thee. And Elisha saide, I pray thee, let thy Spirit be double vpon me. |
| 2:10 | And he saide, Thou hast asked an hard thing: yet if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt haue it so: and if not, it shall not be. |
| 2:11 | And as they went walking and talking, beholde, there appeared a charet of fire, and horses of fire, and did separate them twaine. So Eliiah went vp by a whirle winde into heauen. |
| 2:12 | And Elisha saw it, and he cryed, My father, my father, the charet of Israel, and the horsemen thereof: and he sawe him no more: and he tooke his owne clothes, and rent them in two pieces. |
| 2:13 | He tooke vp also the cloke of Eliiah that fell from him, and returned, and stoode by the banke of Iorden. |
| 2:14 | After, he tooke the cloke of Eliiah, that fell from him, and smote the waters, and sayde, Where is the Lord God of Eliiah? And so he also, after he had striken the waters, so that they were deuided this way and that way, went ouer, euen Elisha. |
| 2:15 | And when the children of the Prophets, which were at Iericho, saw him on the other side, they sayde, The Spirite of Eliiah doeth rest on Elisha: and they came to meete him, and fell to the grounde before him, |
| 2:16 | And said vnto him, Beholde nowe, there be with thy seruants fiftie strong men: let them go, we pray thee, and seeke thy master, if so be the Spirite of the Lord hath taken him vp, and cast him vpon some mountaine, or into some valley. But he said, Ye shall not sende. |
| 2:17 | Yet they were instant vpon him, til he was ashamed: wherefore he saide, Sende. So they sent fiftie men, which sought three dayes, but founde him not. |
| 2:18 | Therefore they returned to him, (for he taryed at Iericho) and he said vnto them, Did not I say vnto you, Goe not? |
| 2:19 | And the men of the citie saide vnto Elisha, Beholde, we pray thee: the situation of this citie is pleasant, as thou, my lorde, seest, but the water is naught, and the ground baren. |
| 2:20 | Then he saide, Bring me a newe cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. |
| 2:21 | And he went vnto the spring of the waters, and cast there the salt, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I haue healed this water: death shall no more come thereof, neither barennesse to the ground. |
| 2:22 | So the waters were healed vntill this day, according to the worde of Elisha which hee had spoken. |
| 2:23 | And he went vp from thence vnto Beth-el. And as he was going vp the way, litle children came out of the citie, and mocked him, and saide vnto him, Come vp, thou balde head, come vp, thou balde head. |
| 2:24 | And he turned backe, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two beares came out of the forest, and tare in pieces two and fourtie children of them. |
| 2:25 | So he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. |
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.