Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 31:1 | And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying, |
| 31:2 | Behold, I haue called by name, Bezaleel the sonne of Vri, the sonne of Hur of the tribe of Iudah, |
| 31:3 | Whom I haue filled with the Spirit of God, in wisedome, and in vnderstanding and in knowledge and in all workmanship: |
| 31:4 | To finde out curious workes to worke in golde, and in siluer, and in brasse, |
| 31:5 | Also in the arte to set stones, and to carue in timber, and to worke in all maner of workmaship. |
| 31:6 | And behold, I haue ioyned with him Aholiab the sonne of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted, haue I put wisdome to make all that I haue commanded thee: |
| 31:7 | That is, the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the Arke of the Testimonie, and the Merciseate that shalbe therevpon, with all instruments of the Tabernacle: |
| 31:8 | Also the Table and the instruments thereof, and the pure Candlesticke with all his instruments, and the Altar of perfume: |
| 31:9 | Likewise the Altar of burnt offring with al his instruments, and the Lauer with his foote: |
| 31:10 | Also the garments of the ministration, and ye holy garments for Aaron ye Priest, and the garmets of his sonnes, to minister in the Priestes office, |
| 31:11 | And the anoynting oyle, and sweete perfume for the Sanctuarie: according to all that I haue commanded thee, shall they do. |
| 31:12 | Afterwarde the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying, |
| 31:13 | Speake thou also vnto the children of Israel, and say, Notwithstanding keepe yee my Sabbaths: for it is a signe betweene me and you in your generations, that ye may know that I the Lord do sanctifie you. |
| 31:14 | Ye shall therefore keepe the Sabbath: for it is holy vnto you: he that defileth it, shall die the death: therefore whosoeuer worketh therin, the same person shalbe euen cut off from among his people. |
| 31:15 | Sixe dayes shall men worke, but in the seuenth day is the Sabbath of the holy rest to the Lord: whosoeuer doeth any worke in the Sabbath day, shall dye the death. |
| 31:16 | Wherfore the children of Israel shall keepe the Sabbath, that they may obserue the rest throughout their generations for an euerlasting couenant. |
| 31:17 | It is a signe betweene me and the children of Israel for euer: for in sixe dayes the Lord made the heauen and the earth, and in the seuenth day he ceased, and rested. |
| 31:18 | Thus (when the Lord had made an ende of communing with Moses vpon mount Sinai) he gaue him two Tables of the Testimonie, euen tables of stone, written with the finger of 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.