Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 11:1 | Cast thy bread vpon the waters: for after many daies thou shalt finde it. |
| 11:2 | Giue a portion to seuen, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what euill shalbe vpon ye earth. |
| 11:3 | If the clouds be full, they wil powre forth raine vpon the earth: and if the tree doe fall toward the South, or toward the North, in the place that the tree falleth, there it shalbe. |
| 11:4 | He that obserueth ye winde, shall not sow, and he that regardeth the cloudes, shall not reape. |
| 11:5 | As thou knowest not which is ye way of the spirit, nor how the bones doe growe in the wombe of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the worke of God that worketh all. |
| 11:6 | In the morning sowe thy seede, and in the euening let not thine hand rest: for thou knowest not whither shall prosper, this or that, or whether both shalbe a like good. |
| 11:7 | Surely the light is a pleasant thing: and it is a good thing to the eyes to see the sunne. |
| 11:8 | Though a man liue many yeeres, and in them all he reioyce, yet hee shall remember the daies of darkenesse, because they are manie, all that commeth is vanitie. |
| 11:9 | Reioyce, O yong man, in thy youth, and let thine heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth: and walke in the waies of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but knowe that for all these things, God wil bring thee to iudgement. |
| 11:10 | Therefore take away griefe out of thine heart, and cause euil to depart from thy flesh: for childehood and youth are vanitie. |
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.