Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 59:1 | To him that excelleth. Destroy not. A Psalme of David on Michtam. When Saul sent and they did watch the house to kill him. O my God, deliuer mee from mine enemies: defend me from them that rise vp against me. |
| 59:2 | Deliuer me from the wicked doers, and saue me from the bloody men. |
| 59:3 | For loe, they haue layd waite for my soule: the mightie men are gathered against me, not for mine offence, nor for my sinne, O Lord. |
| 59:4 | They runne and prepare themselues without a fault on my part: arise therefore to assist me, and beholde. |
| 59:5 | Euen thou, O Lord God of hostes, O God of Israel awake to visit all the heathen, and be not merciful vnto all that transgresse maliciously. Selah. |
| 59:6 | They goe to and from in the euening: they barke like dogs, and goe about the citie. |
| 59:7 | Behold, they brag in their talke, and swords are in their lips: for, Who, say they, doeth heare? |
| 59:8 | But thou, O Lord, shalt haue them in derision, and thou shalt laugh at all the heathen. |
| 59:9 | He is strong: but I will waite vpon thee: for God is my defence. |
| 59:10 | My mercifull God will preuent me: God wil let me see my desire vpon mine enemies. |
| 59:11 | Slay them not, least my people forget it: but scatter them abroad by thy power, and put them downe, O Lord our shield, |
| 59:12 | For the sinne of their mouth, and the words of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride, euen for their periurie and lies, that they speake. |
| 59:13 | Consume them in thy wrath: consume them that they be no more: and let them knowe that God ruleth in Iaakob, euen vnto the ends of the world. Selah. |
| 59:14 | And in the euening they shall go to and from, and barke like dogs, and go about the citie. |
| 59:15 | They shall runne here and there for meate: and surely they shall not be satisfied, though they tary all night. |
| 59:16 | But I wil sing of thy power, and will prayse thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast bene my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. |
| 59:17 | Vnto thee, O my Strength, wil I sing: for God is my defence, and my mercifull God. |
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.