Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 61:1 | The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon mee, therefore hath the Lord anoynted mee: hee hath sent mee to preache good tidings vnto the poore, to binde vp the broken hearted, to preach libertie to the captiues, and to them that are bound, the opening of the prison, |
| 61:2 | To preache the acceptable yeere of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourne, |
| 61:3 | To appoint vnto them that mourne in Zion, and to giue vnto them beautie for ashes, the oyle of ioye for mourning, the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heauinesse, that they might be called trees of righteousnesse, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. |
| 61:4 | And they shall builde the olde waste places, and raise vp the former desolations, and they shall repaire the cities that were desolate and waste through many generations. |
| 61:5 | And the strangers shall stande and feede your sheepe, and the sonnes of the strangers shall be your plowmen and dressers of your vines. |
| 61:6 | But ye shall be named the Priestes of the Lord, and men shall say vnto you, The ministers of our God, Ye shall eate the riches of the Gentiles, and shalbe exalted with their glorie. |
| 61:7 | For your shame you shall receiue double, and for confusion they shall reioyce in their portion: for in their lande they shall possesse the double: euerlasting ioy shall be vnto them. |
| 61:8 | For I the Lord loue iudgement and hate robberie for burnt offering, and I wil direct their worke in trueth, and will make an euerlasting couenant with them. |
| 61:9 | And their seede shall be knowen among the Gentiles, and their buddes among the people. All that see them, shall know them, that they are the seede which the Lord hath blessed. |
| 61:10 | I will greatly reioyce in the Lord, and my soule shall be ioyfull in my God: for he hath clothed mee with the garments of saluation, and couered me with the robe of righteousnes: hee hath decked me like a bridegrome, and as a bride tireth herselfe with her iewels. |
| 61:11 | For as the earth bringeth foorth her bud, and as the garden causeth to growe that which is sowen in it: so the Lord God will cause righteousnesse to grow and praise before all the heathen. |
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.