Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 31:1 | THE WORDS OF KING LEMUEL: The prophecie which his mother taught him. |
| 31:2 | What my sonne! and what ye sonne of my wombe! and what, O sonne of my desires! |
| 31:3 | Giue not thy strength vnto women, nor thy wayes, which is to destroy Kings. |
| 31:4 | It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, it is not for Kings to drink wine nor for princes strog drinke, |
| 31:5 | Lest he drinke and forget the decree, and change the iudgement of all the children of affliction. |
| 31:6 | Giue ye strong drinke vnto him that is readie to perish, and wine vnto them that haue griefe of heart. |
| 31:7 | Let him drinke, that he may forget his pouertie, and remember his miserie no more. |
| 31:8 | Open thy mouth for the domme in the cause of all the children of destruction. |
| 31:9 | Open thy mouth: iudge righteously, and iudge the afflicted, and the poore. |
| 31:10 | Who shall finde a vertuous woman? for her price is farre aboue the pearles. |
| 31:11 | The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall haue no neede of spoyle. |
| 31:12 | She will doe him good, and not euill all the dayes of her life. |
| 31:13 | She seeketh wooll and flaxe, and laboureth cheerefully with her handes. |
| 31:14 | She is like the shippes of marchants: shee bringeth her foode from afarre. |
| 31:15 | And she riseth, whiles it is yet night: and giueth the portion to her houshold, and the ordinarie to her maides. |
| 31:16 | She considereth a field, and getteth it: and with the fruite of her handes she planteth a vineyarde. |
| 31:17 | She girdeth her loynes with strength, and strengtheneth her armes. |
| 31:18 | She feeleth that her marchandise is good: her candle is not put out by night. |
| 31:19 | She putteth her handes to the wherue, and her handes handle the spindle. |
| 31:20 | She stretcheth out her hand to the poore, and putteth foorth her hands to the needie. |
| 31:21 | She feareth not the snowe for her familie: for all her familie is clothed with skarlet. |
| 31:22 | She maketh her selfe carpets: fine linen and purple is her garment. |
| 31:23 | Her husband is knowen in the gates, when he sitteth with the Elders of the land. |
| 31:24 | She maketh sheetes, and selleth them, and giueth girdels vnto the marchant. |
| 31:25 | Strength and honour is her clothing, and in the latter day she shall reioyce. |
| 31:26 | She openeth her mouth with wisdome, and the lawe of grace is in her tongue. |
| 31:27 | She ouerseeth the wayes of her housholde, and eateth not the bread of ydlenes. |
| 31:28 | Her children rise vp, and call her blessed: her husband also shall prayse her, saying, |
| 31:29 | Many daughters haue done vertuously: but thou surmountest them all. |
| 31:30 | Fauour is deceitfull, and beautie is vanitie: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praysed. |
| 31:31 | Giue her of the fruite of her hands, and let her owne workes prayse her in the gates. |
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.