Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 88:1 | A song or Psalme of Heman the Ezrahite to give instruction, committed to the sonnes of Korah for him that excelleth upon Malath Leannoth. O Lord God of my saluation, I cry day and night before thee. |
| 88:2 | Let my prayer enter into thy presence: incline thine eare vnto my cry. |
| 88:3 | For my soule is filled with euils, and my life draweth neere to the graue. |
| 88:4 | I am counted among them that go downe vnto the pit, and am as a man without strength: |
| 88:5 | Free among the dead, like the slaine lying in the graue, whome thou remembrest no more, and they are cut off from thine hand. |
| 88:6 | Thou hast layde me in the lowest pit, in darkenes, and in the deepe. |
| 88:7 | Thine indignation lyeth vpon me, and thou hast vexed me with all thy waues. Selah. |
| 88:8 | Thou hast put away mine acquaintance farre from me, and made mee to be abhorred of them: I am shut vp, and cannot get foorth. |
| 88:9 | Mine eye is sorowfull through mine affliction: Lord, I call dayly vpon thee: I stretch out mine hands vnto thee. |
| 88:10 | Wilt thou shewe a miracle to the dead? or shall the dead rise and prayse thee? Selah. |
| 88:11 | Shall thy louing kindenes be declared in the graue? or thy faithfulnes in destruction? |
| 88:12 | Shall thy wonderous workes be knowen in the darke? and thy righteousnes in the land of obliuion? |
| 88:13 | But vnto thee haue I cryed, O Lord, and early shall my prayer come before thee. |
| 88:14 | Lord, why doest thou reiect my soule, and hidest thy face from me? |
| 88:15 | I am afflicted and at the point of death: from my youth I suffer thy terrours, doubting of my life. |
| 88:16 | Thine indignations goe ouer me, and thy feare hath cut me off. |
| 88:17 | They came round about me dayly like water, and compassed me together. |
| 88:18 | My louers and friends hast thou put away from me, and mine acquaintance hid themselues. |
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.