Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 3:1 | My sonne, forget not thou my Lawe, but let thine heart keepe my commandements. |
| 3:2 | For they shall increase the length of thy dayes and the yeeres of life, and thy prosperitie. |
| 3:3 | Let not mercie and trueth forsake thee: binde them on thy necke, and write them vpon the table of thine heart. |
| 3:4 | So shalt thou finde fauour and good vnderstanding in the sight of God and man. |
| 3:5 | Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and leane not vnto thine owne wisdome. |
| 3:6 | In all thy wayes acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy wayes. |
| 3:7 | Be not wise in thine owne eyes: but feare the Lord, and depart from euill. |
| 3:8 | So health shalbe vnto thy nauel, and marowe vnto thy bones. |
| 3:9 | Honour the Lord with thy riches, and with the first fruites of all thine increase. |
| 3:10 | So shall thy barnes be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall burst with newe wine. |
| 3:11 | My sonne, refuse not the chastening of the Lord, neither be grieued with his correction. |
| 3:12 | For the Lord correcteth him, whome he loueth, euen as the father doeth the childe in whom he deliteth. |
| 3:13 | Blessed is the man that findeth wisedome, and the man that getteth vnderstanding. |
| 3:14 | For the marchandise thereof is better then the marchandise of siluer, and the gaine thereof is better then golde. |
| 3:15 | It is more precious then pearles: and all things that thou canst desire, are not to be compared vnto her. |
| 3:16 | Length of dayes is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory. |
| 3:17 | Her wayes are wayes of pleasure, and all her pathes prosperitie. |
| 3:18 | She is a tree of life to them that lay holde on her, and blessed is he that retaineth her. |
| 3:19 | The Lord by wisdome hath layde the foundation of the earth, and hath stablished the heauens through vnderstanding. |
| 3:20 | By his knowledge the depthes are broken vp, and the cloudes droppe downe the dewe. |
| 3:21 | My sonne, let not these things depart from thine eyes, but obserue wisdome, and counsell. |
| 3:22 | So they shalbe life to thy soule, and grace vnto thy necke. |
| 3:23 | Then shalt thou walke safely by thy way: and thy foote shall not stumble. |
| 3:24 | If thou sleepest, thou shalt not bee afraide, and when thou sleepest, thy sleepe shalbe sweete. |
| 3:25 | Thou shalt not feare for any sudden feare, neither for the destruction of the wicked, when it commeth. |
| 3:26 | For the Lord shall be for thine assurance, and shall preserue thy foote from taking. |
| 3:27 | Withhold not the good from the owners thereof, though there be power in thine hand to doe it. |
| 3:28 | Say not vnto thy neighbour, Go and come againe, and to morow wil I giue thee, if thou now haue it. |
| 3:29 | Intend none hurt against thy neighbour, seeing he doeth dwell without feare by thee. |
| 3:30 | Striue not with a man causelesse, when he hath done thee no harme. |
| 3:31 | Bee not enuious for the wicked man, neither chuse any of his wayes. |
| 3:32 | For the frowarde is abomination vnto the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous. |
| 3:33 | The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the righteous. |
| 3:34 | With the scornefull he scorneth, but hee giueth grace vnto the humble. |
| 3:35 | The wise shall inherite glorie: but fooles dishonour, though they be exalted. |
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.