Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 139:1 | To him that excelleth. A Psalme of David. O Lord, thou hast tried me and knowen me. |
| 139:2 | Thou knowest my sitting and my rising: thou vnderstandest my thought afarre off. |
| 139:3 | Thou compassest my pathes, and my lying downe, and art accustomed to all my wayes. |
| 139:4 | For there is not a word in my tongue, but loe, thou knowest it wholy, O Lord. |
| 139:5 | Thou holdest mee straite behinde and before, and layest thine hand vpon me. |
| 139:6 | Thy knowledge is too wonderfull for mee: it is so high that I cannot attaine vnto it. |
| 139:7 | Whither shall I goe from thy Spirite? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? |
| 139:8 | If I ascende into heauen, thou art there: if I lye downe in hell, thou art there. |
| 139:9 | Let mee take the winges of the morning, and dwell in the vttermost parts of the sea: |
| 139:10 | Yet thither shall thine hand leade me, and thy right hand holde me. |
| 139:11 | If I say, Yet the darkenes shall hide me, euen the night shalbe light about me. |
| 139:12 | Yea, the darkenes hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkenes and light are both alike. |
| 139:13 | For thou hast possessed my reines: thou hast couered me in my mothers wombe. |
| 139:14 | I will praise thee, for I am fearefully and wonderously made: marueilous are thy workes, and my soule knoweth it well. |
| 139:15 | My bones are not hid from thee, though I was made in a secret place, and facioned beneath in the earth. |
| 139:16 | Thine eyes did see me, when I was without forme: for in thy booke were all things written, which in continuance were facioned, when there was none of them before. |
| 139:17 | Howe deare therefore are thy thoughtes vnto me, O God! how great is ye summe of them! |
| 139:18 | If I should count them, they are moe then the sand: when I wake, I am still with thee. |
| 139:19 | Oh that thou wouldest slay, O God, the wicked and bloody men, to whom I say, Depart ye from mee: |
| 139:20 | Which speake wickedly of thee, and being thine enemies are lifted vp in vaine. |
| 139:21 | Doe not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and doe not I earnestly contend with those that rise vp against thee? |
| 139:22 | I hate them with an vnfained hatred, as they were mine vtter enemies. |
| 139:23 | Try mee, O God, and knowe mine heart: prooue me and know my thoughtes, |
| 139:24 | And consider if there be any way of wickednes in me, and leade me in the way for euer. |
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.