Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 4:1 | Bvt the aduersaries of Iudah and Beniamin heard, that the children of the captiuitie builded the Temple vnto the Lord God of Israel. |
| 4:2 | And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefe fathers, and sayd vnto them, We wil builde with you: for we seeke the Lord your God as ye do, and we haue sacrificed vnto him since the time of Esar Haddon king of Asshur, which brought vs vp hither. |
| 4:3 | Then Zerubbabel, and Ieshua, and the rest of the chiefe fathers of Israel, sayde vnto them, It is not for you, but for vs to buyld the house vnto our God: for we our selues together wil buylde it vnto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded vs. |
| 4:4 | Wherefore the people of the land discouraged the people of Iudah, and troubled them in buylding, |
| 4:5 | And they hired counsellers against them, to hinder their deuise, all the dayes of Cyrus King of Persia, euen vntill the reigne of Darius King of Persia. |
| 4:6 | And in the reigne of Ahashuerosh (in the beginning of his reigne) wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Iudah and Ierusalem. |
| 4:7 | And in the daies of Artahshashte, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions wrote when it was peace, vnto Artahshashte king of Persia, and the writing of the letter was the Aramites writing, and the thing declared was in the language of the Aramites. |
| 4:8 | Rehum the chancelour, and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Ierusalem to Artahshashte the King, in this sort. |
| 4:9 | Then wrote Rehum the chauncelour, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions Dinaie, and Apharsathcaie, Tarpelaie, Apharsaie, Archeuaie, Bablaie, Shushanchaie, Dehaue, Elmaie, |
| 4:10 | And the rest of the people whom the great and noble Asnappar brought ouer, and set in the cities of Samaria, and other that are beyonde the Riuer and Cheeneth. |
| 4:11 | This is the copie of the letter that they sent vnto King Artahshashte, THY SERVANTS the men beyond the Riuer and Cheeneth, salute thee. |
| 4:12 | Be it knowen vnto the King that ye Iewes, which came vp from thee to vs, are come vnto Ierusalem (a citie rebellious and wicked) and buylde, and lay the foundations of the walles, and haue ioyned the foundations. |
| 4:13 | Be it knowen nowe vnto the King, that if this citie be built, and the foundations of the walles layed, they will not giue tolle, tribute, nor custome: so shalt thou hinder the Kings tribute. |
| 4:14 | Nowe therefore because wee haue bene brought vp in the Kings palace, it was not meete for vs to see the Kings dishonour: for this cause haue we sent and certified the King, |
| 4:15 | That one may searche in the booke of the Chronicles of thy fathers, and thou shalt finde in the booke of the Chronicles, and perceiue that this citie is rebellious and noysome vnto Kings and prouinces, and that they haue moued sedition of olde time, for the which cause this citie was destroyed. |
| 4:16 | Wee certifie the King therefore, that if this citie be buylded, and the foundation of the walles layd, by this meanes the portion beyonde the Riuer shall not be thine. |
| 4:17 | The King sent an answere vnto Rehum the Chauncelour, and Shimshai the Scribe, and so the rest of their companions that dwelt in Samaria, and vnto the other beyond the Riuer, Shelam and Cheeth. |
| 4:18 | The letter which yee sent vnto vs, hath bene openly read before me, |
| 4:19 | And I haue commanded and they haue searched, and founde, that this citie of olde time hath made insurrection against kings, and hath rebelled, and rebellion hath bene committed therein. |
| 4:20 | There haue bene mightie kings also ouer Ierusalem, which haue ruled ouer all beyonde the Riuer, and tolle, tribute, and custome was giuen vnto them. |
| 4:21 | Make ye now a decree, that those men may cease, and that the citie be not buylt, till I haue giuen another commandement. |
| 4:22 | Take heede nowe that ye fayle not to doe this: why should domage grow to hurt the King? |
| 4:23 | When the copie of king Artahshashtes letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went vp in all the haste to Ierusalem vnto the Iewes, and caused them to cease by force and power. |
| 4:24 | Then ceased the worke of the house of God, which was in Ierusalem, and did stay vnto the second yeere of Darius King of Persia. |
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.