Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 56:1 | Thus saith the Lord, Keepe iudgement and doe iustice: for my saluation is at hand to come, and my righteousnes to be reueiled. |
| 56:2 | Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the sonne of man which layeth holde on it: hee that keepeth the Sabbath and polluteth it not, and keepeth his hand from doing any euill. |
| 56:3 | And let not the sonne of the stranger, which is ioyned to the Lord, speake and say, The Lord hath surely separate me from his people: neither let the Eunuch say, Beholde, I am a drye tree. |
| 56:4 | For thus saith the Lord vnto the Eunuches, that keepe my Sabbaths, and chuse the thing that pleaseth me, and take holde of my couenant, |
| 56:5 | Euen vnto them wil I giue in mine House and within my walles, a place and a name better then of the sonnes and of the daughters: I will giue them an euerlasting name, that shall not be put out. |
| 56:6 | Also the strangers that cleaue vnto the Lord, to serue him, and to loue the Name of the Lord, and to be his seruants: euery one that keepeth the Sabbath, and polluteth it not and imbraceth my couenant, |
| 56:7 | Them wil I bring also to mine holy mountaine, and make them ioyfull in mine House of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted vpon mine altar: for mine House shall be called an house of prayer for all people. |
| 56:8 | The Lord God sayth, which gathereth the scattered of Israel, Yet wil I gather to them those that are to be gathered to them. |
| 56:9 | All ye beastes of the fielde, come to deuoure, euen all ye beastes of the forest. |
| 56:10 | Their watchmen are all blinde: they haue no knowledge: they are all dumme dogs: they can not barke: they lie and sleepe and delite in sleeping. |
| 56:11 | And these griedy dogs can neuer haue ynough: and these shepheards cannot vnderstand: for they all looke to their owne way, euery one for his aduantage, and for his owne purpose. |
| 56:12 | Come, I wil bring wine, and we wil fill our selues with strong drinke, and to morowe shalbe as this day, and much more abundant. |
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.