Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 7:1 | Surely there be many things that increase vanitie: and what auaileth it man? |
| 7:2 | For who knoweth what is good for man in the life and in the nomber of the dayes of the life of his vanitie, seeing he maketh them as a shadowe? For who can shewe vnto man what shall be after him vnder the sunne? |
| 7:3 | A good name is better then a good oyntment, and the day of death, then the day that one is borne. |
| 7:4 | It is better to goe to the house of mourning, then to goe to the house of feasting, because this is the ende of all men: and the liuing shall lay it to his heart. |
| 7:5 | Anger is better then laughter: for by a sad looke the heart is made better. |
| 7:6 | The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning: but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth. |
| 7:7 | Better it is to heare ye rebuke of a wise man, then that a man should heare the song of fooles. |
| 7:8 | For like ye noyse of the thornes vnder the pot, so is the laughter of the foole: this also is vanitie. |
| 7:9 | Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad: and the rewarde destroyeth the heart. |
| 7:10 | The ende of a thing is better then the beginning thereof, and the pacient in spirit is better then the proude in spirit. |
| 7:11 | Be not thou of an hastie spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosome of fooles. |
| 7:12 | Say not thou, Why is it that the former dayes were better then these? for thou doest not enquire wisely of this thing. |
| 7:13 | Wisedome is good with an inheritance, and excellent to them that see the sunne. |
| 7:14 | For man shall rest in the shadowe of wisedome, and in the shadowe of siluer: but the excellencie of the knowledge of wisedome giueth life to the possessers thereof. |
| 7:15 | Beholde the worke of God: for who can make straight that which he hath made crooked? |
| 7:16 | In the day of wealth be of good comfort, and in the day of affliction consider: God also hath made this contrary to that, to the intent that man shoulde finde nothing after him. |
| 7:17 | I haue seene all things in the dayes of my vanitie: there is a iust man that perisheth in his iustice, and there is a wicked man that continueth long in his malice. |
| 7:18 | Be not thou iust ouermuch, neither make thy selfe ouerwise: wherefore shouldest thou be desolate? |
| 7:19 | Be not thou wicked ouermuch, neither be thou foolish: wherefore shouldest thou perish not in thy time? |
| 7:20 | It is good that thou lay hold on this: but yet withdrawe not thine hand from that: for he that feareth God, shall come forth of them all. |
| 7:21 | Wisedome shall strengthen the wise man more then ten mightie princes that are in ye citie. |
| 7:22 | Surely there is no man iust in the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not. |
| 7:23 | Giue not thine heart also to all ye wordes that men speake, lest thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee. |
| 7:24 | For often times also thine heart knoweth that thou likewise hast cursed others. |
| 7:25 | All this haue I prooued by wisedome: I thought I will be wise, but it went farre from me. |
| 7:26 | It is farre off, what may it be? and it is a profound deepenesse, who can finde it? |
| 7:27 | I haue compassed about, both I and mine heart to knowe and to enquire and to search wisedome, and reason, and to knowe the wickednesse of follie, and the foolishnesse of madnesse, |
| 7:28 | And I finde more bitter then death the woman whose heart is as nettes and snares, and her handes, as bands: he that is good before God, shalbe deliuered from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. |
| 7:29 | Beholde, sayth the Preacher, this haue I found, seeking one by one to finde the count: (Ecclesiastes ) And yet my soule seeketh, but I finde it not: I haue found one man of a thousand: but a woman among them all haue I not founde. : (Ecclesiastes ) Onely loe, this haue I founde, that God hath made man righteous: but they haue sought many inuentions. : |
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.