Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 5:1 | Then afterwarde Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast vnto me in the wildernesse. |
| 5:2 | And Pharaoh saide, Who is the Lord, that I should heare his voyce, and let Israel go? I knowe not the Lord, neither will I let Israel goe. |
| 5:3 | And they saide, We worship the God of the Ebrewes: we pray thee, let vs goe three daies iourney in the desert, and sacrifice vnto the Lord our God, least he bring vpon vs the pestilence or sword. |
| 5:4 | Then saide the King of Egypt vnto them, Moses and Aaron, why cause ye the people to cease from their workes? get you to your burdens. |
| 5:5 | Pharaoh saide furthermore, Behold, much people is nowe in the lande, and ye make them leaue their burdens. |
| 5:6 | Therefore Pharaoh gaue commandement the same day vnto the taskemasters of the people, and to their officers, saying, |
| 5:7 | Ye shall giue the people no more strawe, to make bricke ( as in time past) but let them goe and gather them strawe them selues: |
| 5:8 | Notwithstanding lay vpon them the nober of bricke, which they made in time past, diminish nothing thereof: for they be idle, therefore they crie, saying, Let vs go to offer sacrifice vnto our God. |
| 5:9 | Lay more worke vpon the men, and cause them to do it, and let the not regard vaine words. |
| 5:10 | Then went the taskemasters of the people and their officers out, and tolde the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will giue you no more strawe. |
| 5:11 | Goe your selues, get you strawe where yee can finde it, yet shall nothing of your labour bee diminished. |
| 5:12 | Then were the people scattered abroade throughout all the land of Egypt, for to gather stubble in steade of strawe. |
| 5:13 | And the taskemasters hasted them, saying, Finish your dayes worke euery dayes taske, as ye did when ye had strawe. |
| 5:14 | And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaohs taskemasters had set ouer them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore haue ye not fulfilled your taske in making bricke yesterday and to daye, as in times past? |
| 5:15 | Then the officers of the children of Israel came, and cryed vnto Pharaoh, saying, Wherfore dealest thou thus with thy seruants? |
| 5:16 | There is no strawe giuen to thy seruantes, and they say vnto vs, Make bricke: and loe, thy seruants are beaten, and thy people is blamed. |
| 5:17 | But he said, Ye are to much idle: therfore ye say, Let vs goe to offer sacrifice to the Lord. |
| 5:18 | Goe therefore nowe and worke: for there shall no strawe be giuen you, yet shall yee deliuer the whole tale of bricke. |
| 5:19 | Then the officers of the children of Israel sawe them selues in an euill case, because it was saide, Ye shall diminish nothing of your bricke, nor of euery dayes taske. |
| 5:20 | And they met Moses and Aaron, which stood in their way as they came out from Pharaoh, |
| 5:21 | To whom they said, The Lord looke vpon you and iudge: for yee haue made our sauour to stinke before Pharaoh and before his seruants, in that ye haue put a sword in their hand to slay vs. |
| 5:22 | Wherefore Moses returned to the Lord, and saide, Lord, why hast thou afflicted this people? wherefore hast thou thus sent me? |
| 5:23 | For since I came to Pharaoh to speake in thy Name, he hath vexed this people, and yet thou hast not deliuered thy people. |
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.