Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 12:1 | O Lord, if I dispute with thee, thou art righteous: yet let mee talke with thee of thy iudgements: wherefore doeth the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they in wealth that rebelliously transgresse? |
| 12:2 | Thou hast planted them, and they haue taken roote: they grow, and bring forth fruite: thou art neere in their mouth, and farre from their reines. |
| 12:3 | But thou, Lord, knowest me: thou hast seene me, and tried mine heart towarde thee: pull them out like sheepe for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. |
| 12:4 | Howe long shall the lande mourne, and the herbes of euery fielde wither, for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein? the beastes are consumed and the birdes, because they sayd, He wil not see our last ende. |
| 12:5 | If thou hast runne with the footemen and they haue wearied thee, then howe canst thou match thy selfe with horses? and if thou thoughtest thy selfe safe in a peaceable lande, what wilt thou do in the swelling of Iorden? |
| 12:6 | For euen thy brethren, and the house of thy father, euen they haue delt vnfaithfully with thee, and they haue cryed out altogether vpon thee: but beleeue them not, though they speake faire to thee. |
| 12:7 | I haue forsaken mine house: I haue left mine heritage: I haue giuen the dearely beloued of my soule into the hands of her enemies. |
| 12:8 | Mine heritage is vnto mee, as a lion in the forest: it crieth out against mee, therefore haue I hated it. |
| 12:9 | Shall mine heritage bee vnto mee, as a bird of diuers colours? are not the birdes about her, saying, Come, assemble all ye beastes of the fielde, come to eate her? |
| 12:10 | Many pastors haue destroyed my vineyarde, and troden my portion vnder foote: of my pleasant portion they haue made a desolate wildernesse. |
| 12:11 | They haue layde it waste, and it, being waste, mourneth vnto me: and the whole lande lyeth waste, because no man setteth his minde on it. |
| 12:12 | The destroyers are come vpon all the high places in the wildernesse: for the sworde of the Lord shall deuoure from the one end of the land, euen to the other ende of the lande: no flesh shall haue peace. |
| 12:13 | They haue sowen wheate, and reaped thornes: they were sicke, and had no profite: and they were ashamed of your fruites, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord. |
| 12:14 | Thus sayeth the Lord against all mine euill neighbours, that touch the inheritance, which I haue caused my people Israel to inherite, Beholde, I will plucke them out of their lande, and plucke out the house of Iudah from among them. |
| 12:15 | And after that I haue plucked them out, I will returne, and haue compassion on them, and will bring againe euery man to his heritage, and euery man to his land. |
| 12:16 | And if they will learne the wayes of my people, to sweare by my Name, (The Lord liueth, as they taught my people to sweare by Baal) then shall they be built in the middes of my people. |
| 12:17 | But if they will not obey, then will I vtterly plucke vp, and destroy that nation, sayeth the Lord. |
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.