Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 9:1 | Yet the darkenesse shall not be according to the affliction that it had when at the first hee touched lightly the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, nor afteward when he was more grieuous by the way of the sea beyond Iorden in Galile of the Gentiles. |
| 9:2 | The people that walked in darkenes haue seene a great light: they that dwelled in the land of the shadowe of death, vpon them hath the light shined. |
| 9:3 | Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased their ioye: they haue reioyced before thee according to the ioye in haruest, and as men reioyce when they deuide a spoyle. |
| 9:4 | For the yoke of their burthen, and the staffe of their shoulder and the rod of their oppressour hast thou broken as in the day of Midian. |
| 9:5 | Surely euery battell of the warriour is with noyse, and with tumbling of garments in blood: but this shall be with burning and deuouring of fire. |
| 9:6 | For vnto vs a childe is borne, and vnto vs a Sonne is giuen: and the gouernement is vpon his shoulder, and he shall call his name Wonderfull, Counseller, The mightie God, The euerlasting Father, The prince of peace, |
| 9:7 | The increase of his gouernement and peace shall haue none end: he shall sit vpon the throne of Dauid, and vpon his kingdome, to order it, and to stablish it with iudgement and with iustice, from hencefoorth, euen for euer: the zeale of the Lord of hostes will performe this. |
| 9:8 | The Lord hath sent a worde into Iaakob, and it hath lighted vpon Israel. |
| 9:9 | And all the people shall knowe, euen Ephraim, and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and presumption of the heart, |
| 9:10 | The brickes are fallen, but we will build it with hewen stones: the wilde figge trees are cut downe, but we will change them into ceders. |
| 9:11 | Neuerthelesse the Lord will raise vp the aduersaries of Rezin against him, and ioyne his enemies together. |
| 9:12 | Aram before and the Philistims behinde, and they shall deuoure Israel with open mouth: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. |
| 9:13 | For the people turneth not vnto him that smiteth them, neither doe they seeke the Lord of hostes. |
| 9:14 | Therefore will the Lord cut off from Israel head and taile, branche and rush in one day. |
| 9:15 | The ancient and the honorable man, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the taile. |
| 9:16 | For the leaders of the people cause them to erre: and they that are led by them are deuoured. |
| 9:17 | Therefore shall the Lord haue no pleasure in their yong men, neither will he haue compassion of their fatherlesse and of their widowes: for euery one is an hypocrite and wicked, and euery mouth speaketh follie: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out stil. |
| 9:18 | For wickednesse burneth as a fire: it deuoureth the briers and the thornes and will kindle in the thicke places of the forest: and they shall mount vp like the lifting vp of smoke. |
| 9:19 | By the wrath of the Lord of hostes shall the land be darkened, and the people shall be as the meate of ye fire: no man shall spare his brother. |
| 9:20 | And he shall snatch at the right hand, and be hungrie: and he shall eate on the left hand, and shall not be satisfied: euery one shall eate ye flesh of his owne arme. |
| 9:21 | Manasseh, Ephraim: and Ephraim Manasseh, and they both shall be against Iudah yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. |
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.