Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 2:1 | My sonne, if thou wilt receiue my wordes, and hide my commandements within thee, |
| 2:2 | And cause thine eares to hearken vnto wisdome, and encline thine heart to vnderstanding, |
| 2:3 | (For if thou callest after knowledge, and cryest for vnderstanding: |
| 2:4 | If thou seekest her as siluer, and searchest for her as for treasures, |
| 2:5 | Then shalt thou vnderstand the feare of the Lord, and finde the knowledge of God. |
| 2:6 | For the Lord giueth wisdome, out of his mouth commeth knowledge and vnderstanding. |
| 2:7 | He preserueth the state of the righteous: he is a shielde to them that walke vprightly, |
| 2:8 | That they may keepe the wayes of iudgement: and he preserueth the way of his Saintes) |
| 2:9 | Then shalt thou vnderstand righteousnes, and iudgement, and equitie, and euery good path. |
| 2:10 | When wisdome entreth into thine heart, and knowledge deliteth thy soule, |
| 2:11 | Then shall counsell preserue thee, and vnderstanding shall keepe thee, |
| 2:12 | And deliuer thee from the euill way, and from the man that speaketh froward things, |
| 2:13 | And from them that leaue the wayes of righteousnes to walke in the wayes of darkenes: |
| 2:14 | Which reioyce in doing euill, and delite in the frowardnesse of the wicked, |
| 2:15 | Whose wayes are crooked and they are lewde in their paths. |
| 2:16 | And it shall deliuer thee from the strange woman, euen from the stranger, which flattereth with her wordes. |
| 2:17 | Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the couenant of her God. |
| 2:18 | Surely her house tendeth to death, and her paths vnto the dead. |
| 2:19 | All they that goe vnto her, returne not againe, neither take they holde of the wayes of life. |
| 2:20 | Therefore walke thou in the way of good men, and keepe the wayes of the righteous. |
| 2:21 | For the iust shall dwell in the land, and the vpright men shall remaine in it. |
| 2:22 | But the wicked shalbe cut off from ye earth, and the transgressours shalbe rooted out of it. |
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.