Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 9:1 | Wisedome hath built her house, and hewen out her seuen pillars. |
| 9:2 | She hath killed her vitailes, drawen her wine, and prepared her table. |
| 9:3 | She hath sent forth her maydens and cryeth vpon the highest places of the citie, saying, |
| 9:4 | Who so is simple, let him come hither, and to him that is destitute of wisedome, she sayth, |
| 9:5 | Come, and eate of my meate, and drinke of the wine that I haue drawen. |
| 9:6 | Forsake your way, ye foolish, and ye shall liue: and walke in the way of vnderstanding. |
| 9:7 | He that reproueth a scorner, purchaseth to himselfe shame: and he that rebuketh the wicked, getteth himselfe a blot. |
| 9:8 | Rebuke not a scorner, least he hate thee: but rebuke a wise man, and he will loue thee. |
| 9:9 | Giue admonition to the wise, and he will be the wiser: teache a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. |
| 9:10 | The beginning of wisedome is the feare of the Lord, and the knowledge of holy things, is vnderstanding. |
| 9:11 | For thy dayes shalbe multiplied by me, and the yeeres of thy life shalbe augmented. |
| 9:12 | If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thy selfe, and if thou be a scorner, thou alone shalt suffer. |
| 9:13 | A foolish woman is troublesome: she is ignorant, and knoweth nothing. |
| 9:14 | But she sitteth at the doore of her house on a seate in the hie places of the citie, |
| 9:15 | To call them that passe by the way, that go right on their way, saying, |
| 9:16 | Who so is simple, let him come hither, and to him that is destitute of wisedome, shee sayth also, |
| 9:17 | Stollen waters are sweete, and hid bread is pleasant. |
| 9:18 | But he knoweth not, that ye dead are there, and that her ghestes are in the depth of hell. |
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.