Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 4:1 | And one of the wiues of the sonnes of the Prophets cryed vnto Elisha, saying, Thy seruant mine husband is dead, and thou knowest, that thy seruant did feare the Lord: and the creditour is come to take my two sonnes to bee his bondmen. |
| 4:2 | Then Elisha saide vnto her, What shall I do for thee? tell mee, what hast thou at home? And she sayd, Thine handmayd hath nothing at home, saue a pitcher of oyle. |
| 4:3 | And he sayde, Goe, and borowe thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, emptie vessels, and spare not. |
| 4:4 | And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the doore vpon thee and vpon thy sonnes, and powre out into all those vessels, and set aside those that are full. |
| 4:5 | So shee departed from him, and shut the doore vpon her, and vpon her sonnes. And they brought to her, and she powred out. |
| 4:6 | And when the vessels were full, shee sayde vnto her sonne, Bring mee yet a vessel. And hee said vnto her, There is no moe vessels. And the oyle ceased. |
| 4:7 | Then shee came and tolde the man of God. And he saide, Goe, and sell the oyle, and pay them that thou art in debt vnto, and liue thou and thy children of the rest. |
| 4:8 | And on a time Elisha came to Shunem, and there a woman of great estimation constrained him to eate bread: and as he passed by, he turned in thither to eate bread. |
| 4:9 | And she sayde vnto her husband, Beholde, I know now, that this is an holy man of God that passeth by vs continually. |
| 4:10 | Let vs make him a litle chamber, I pray thee, with walles, and let vs set him there a bed, and a table, and a stoole, and a candlesticke, that hee may turne in thither when hee commeth to vs. |
| 4:11 | And on a day, hee came thither and turned into the chamber, and lay therein, |
| 4:12 | And sayd to Gehazi his seruant, Call this Shunammite: and when hee called her, she stood before him. |
| 4:13 | Then he sayd vnto him, Say vnto her now, Beholde, thou hast had all this great care for vs, what shall we doe for thee? Is there any thing to bee spoken for thee to the King or to the captaine of the hoste? And shee answered, I dwell among mine owne people. |
| 4:14 | Againe he sayde, What is then to be done for her? Then Gehazi answered, In deede she hath no sonne, and her husband is olde. |
| 4:15 | Then said he, Cal her. And hee called her, and shee stoode in the doore. |
| 4:16 | And he said, At this time appointed, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a sonne. And she sayd, Oh my Lord, thou man of God, doe not lye vnto thine handmayd. |
| 4:17 | So the woman conceiued, and bare a sonne at that same season, according to the time of life, that Elisha had sayd vnto her. |
| 4:18 | And when the childe was growen, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father, and to the reapers. |
| 4:19 | And he sayde to his father, Mine head, mine head. Who sayd to his seruant, Beare him to his mother. |
| 4:20 | And hee tooke him and brought him to his mother, and hee sate on her knees till noone, and dyed. |
| 4:21 | Then shee went vp, and layed him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the doore vpon him, and went out. |
| 4:22 | Then she called to her husband, and sayd, Send with me, I pray thee, one of the yong men and one of the asses: for I will haste to the man of God, and come againe. |
| 4:23 | And he sayd, Wherefore wilt thou goe to him to day? it is neither newe moone nor Sabbath day. And she answered, All shalbe well. |
| 4:24 | Then she sadled an asse, and sayde to her seruant, Driue, and goe forward: staye not for me to get vp, except I bid thee. |
| 4:25 | So she went, and came vnto the man of God to mount Carmel. And when the man of God sawe her ouer against him, he sayd to Gehazi his seruant, Beholde, the Shunammite. |
| 4:26 | Runne nowe, I say, to meete her, and say vnto her, Art thou in health? is thine husband in health? and is the child in health? And she answered, We are in health. |
| 4:27 | And when shee came to the man of God vnto the moutaine, she caught him by his feete: and Gehazi went to her, to thrust her away: but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soule is vexed within her, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told it mee. |
| 4:28 | Then she said, Did I desire a sonne of my lord? did I not say, Deceiue me not? |
| 4:29 | Then he sayd to Gehazi, Gird thy loynes, and take my staffe in thine hand, and goe thy way: if thou meete any, salute him not: and if any salute thee, answere him not: and laye my staffe vpon the face of the childe. |
| 4:30 | And the mother of the childe sayde, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. Therefore he arose, and followed her. |
| 4:31 | But Gehazi was gone before them, and had layed the staffe vpon the face of the childe, but he neither spake nor heard: wherefore hee returned to meete him, and told him, saying, The childe is not waken. |
| 4:32 | Then came Elisha into the house, and beholde, the childe was dead, and layed vpon his bedde. |
| 4:33 | He went in therefore, and shut the doore vpon them twayne, and prayed vnto the Lord. |
| 4:34 | After he went vp, and lay vpon the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes vpon his eies, and his hands vpon his handes, and stretched himselfe vpon him, and the flesh of the child waxed warme. |
| 4:35 | And hee went from him, and walked vp and downe in the house, and went vp and spred himselfe vpon him: then the childe neesed seuen times, and opened his eyes. |
| 4:36 | Then he called Gehazi, and sayd, Call this Shunammite. So he called her, which came in vnto him. And he said vnto her, Take thy sonne. |
| 4:37 | And she came, and fell at his feete, and bowed her selfe to the ground, and tooke vp her sonne, and went out. |
| 4:38 | Afterward Elisha returned to Gilgal, and a famine was in the land, and the children of the Prophets dwelt with him. And hee sayd vnto his seruant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the children of the Prophets. |
| 4:39 | And one went out into the fielde, to gather herbes, and founde, as it were, a wilde vine, and gathered thereof wilde gourdes his garment ful, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew it not. |
| 4:40 | So they powred out for the men to eate: and when they did eate of the pottage, they cryed out, and sayde, O thou man of God, death is in the pot: and they could not eate thereof. |
| 4:41 | Then he said, Bring meale. And hee cast it into the potte, and sayd, Powre out for the people, that they may eate: and there was none euill in the pot. |
| 4:42 | Then came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, euen twenty loaues of barley, and full eares of corne in the huske. And hee saide, Giue vnto the people, that they may eate. |
| 4:43 | And his seruant answered, How shoulde I set this before an hundreth men? He sayd againe, Giue it vnto the people, that they may eate: for thus sayth the Lord, They shall eate, and there shall remaine. |
| 4:44 | So he set it before them, and they did eate, and left ouer, according to the word of the Lord. |
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.