Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 27:1 | A Psalme of David. The Lord is my light and my saluation, whom shall I feare? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whome shall I be afraide? |
| 27:2 | When the wicked, euen mine enemies and my foes came vpon mee to eate vp my flesh; they stumbled and fell. |
| 27:3 | Though an hoste pitched against me, mine heart should not be afraide: though warre be raised against me, I will trust in this. |
| 27:4 | One thing haue I desired of the Lord, that I will require, euen that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life, to beholde the beautie of the Lord, and to visite his Temple. |
| 27:5 | For in the time of trouble hee shall hide mee in his Tabernacle: in the secrete place of his pauillion shall he hide me, and set me vp vpon a rocke. |
| 27:6 | And nowe shall hee lift vp mine head aboue mine enemies rounde about mee: therefore wil I offer in his Tabernacle sacrifices of ioy: I wil sing and praise the Lord. |
| 27:7 | Hearken vnto my voyce, O Lord, when I crie: haue mercie also vpon mee and heare mee. |
| 27:8 | When thou saidest, Seeke ye my face, mine heart answered vnto thee, O Lord, I will seeke thy face. |
| 27:9 | Hide not therefore thy face from mee, nor cast thy seruat away in displeasure: thou hast bene my succour: leaue me not, neither forsake mee, O God of my saluation. |
| 27:10 | Though my father and my mother shoulde forsake me, yet the Lord will gather me vp. |
| 27:11 | Teache mee thy way, O Lord, and leade me in a right path, because of mine enemies. |
| 27:12 | Giue me not vnto the lust of mine aduersaries: for there are false witnesses risen vp against me, and such as speake cruelly. |
| 27:13 | I should haue fainted, except I had beleeued to see the goodnes of the Lord in the land of the liuing. |
| 27:14 | Hope in the Lord: be strong, and he shall comfort thine heart, and trust in 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.