Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 11:1 | And when Rehoboam was come to Ierusalem, he gathered of the house of Iudah and Beniamin nine score thousande chosen men of warre to fight against Israel, and to bring the kingdome againe to Rehoboam. |
| 11:2 | But the worde of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, |
| 11:3 | Speake vnto Rehoboam, the sonne of Salomon King of Iudah, and to all Israel that are in Iudah, and Beniamin, saying, |
| 11:4 | Thus sayth the Lord, Ye shall not goe vp, nor fight against your brethren: returne euery man to his house: for this thing is done of me. They obeyed therfore the word of the Lord, and returned from going against Ieroboam. |
| 11:5 | And Rehoboam dwelt in Ierusalem, and buylt strong cities in Iudah. |
| 11:6 | Hee buylt also Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, |
| 11:7 | And Beth-zur, and Shoco, and Adullam, |
| 11:8 | And Gath, and Maresha, and Ziph, |
| 11:9 | And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, |
| 11:10 | And Zorah, and Aialon, and Hebron, which were in Iudah and Beniamin, strong cities. |
| 11:11 | And he repaired the strong holdes and put captaines in them, and store of vitaile, and oyle and wine. |
| 11:12 | And in all cities he put shieldes and speares, and made them exceeding strong: so Iudah and Beniamin were his. |
| 11:13 | And the Priests and the Leuites that were in all Israel, resorted vnto him out of all their coastes. |
| 11:14 | For the Leuites left their suburbes and their possession, and came to Iudah and to Ierusalem: for Ieroboam and his sonnes had cast them out from ministring in the Priestes office vnto the Lord. |
| 11:15 | And he ordeyned him Priests for the hie places, and for the deuils and for the calues which he had made. |
| 11:16 | And after the Leuites there came to Ierusalem of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heartes to seeke the Lord God of Israel, to offer vnto the Lord God of their fathers. |
| 11:17 | So they strengthened the kingdome of Iudah, and made Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon mightie, three yeere long: for three yeere they walked in in the way of Dauid and Salomon. |
| 11:18 | And Rehoboam tooke him Mahalath ye daughter of Ierimoth the sonne of Dauid to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the sonne of Ishai, |
| 11:19 | Which bare him sonnes Ieush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. |
| 11:20 | And after her he tooke Maakah ye daughter of Absalom which bare him Abiiah, and Atthai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. |
| 11:21 | And Rehoboam loued Maakah ye daughter of Absalom aboue all his wiues and his concubines: for he tooke eighteene wiues, and three score concubines, and begate eyght and twentie sonnes, and three score daughters. |
| 11:22 | And Rehoboam made Abiiah the sonne of Maakah the chiefe ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him King. |
| 11:23 | And he taught him: and dispersed all his sonnes throughout all the countreis of Iudah and Beniamin vnto euery strong citie: and hee gaue them aboundance of vitaile, and desired many wiues. |
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.