Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | In the thirde yeere of the reigne of Iehoiakim king of Iudah, came Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel vnto Ierusalem and besieged it. |
| 1:2 | And ye Lord gaue Iehoiakim king of Iudah into his hand; with parte of the vessels of the house of God, which he caryed into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into his gods treasurie. |
| 1:3 | And the King spake vnto Ashpenaz the master of his Eunuches, that he shoulde bring certeine of the children of Israel, of the Kings seede, and of the princes: |
| 1:4 | Children in whome was no blemish, but well fauoured, and instruct in all wisedome, and well seene in knowledge, and able to vtter knowledge, and such as were able to stande in the kings palace, and whome they might teach the learning, and the tongue of the Caldeans. |
| 1:5 | And the King appointed them prouision euery day of a portion of the Kings meate, and and of the wine, which he dranke, so nourishing them three yeere, that at the ende thereof, they might stande before the King. |
| 1:6 | Nowe among these were certeine of the children of Iudah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. |
| 1:7 | Vnto whome the chiefe of the Eunuches gaue other names: for hee called Daniel, Belteshazzar, and Hananiah, Shadrach, and Mishael, Meshach, and Azariah, Abednego. |
| 1:8 | But Daniel had determined in his heart, that hee woulde not defile him selfe with the portion of the Kings meate, nor with the wine which he dranke: therefore he required the chiefe of the Eunuches that he might not defile himselfe. |
| 1:9 | (Nowe God had brought Daniel into fauour, and tender loue with the chiefe of the Eunuches) |
| 1:10 | And the chiefe of the Eunuches sayd vnto Daniel, I feare my lord the King, who hath appointed your meate and your drinke: therefore if he see your faces worse liking then the other children, which are of your sort, then shall you make me lose mine head vnto the King. |
| 1:11 | Then sayd Daniel to Melzar, whome the chiefe of the Eunuches had set ouer Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, |
| 1:12 | Proue thy seruants, I beseeche thee, ten dayes, and let them giue vs pulse to eate, and water to drinke. |
| 1:13 | Then let our countenances bee looked vpon before thee, and the countenances of the children that eate of the portion of the Kings meate: and as thou seest, deale with thy seruantes. |
| 1:14 | So hee consented to them in this matter, an proued them ten dayes. |
| 1:15 | And at the end of ten dayes, their countenances appeared fayrer, and in better liking then all the childrens, which did eate the portion of the Kings meate. |
| 1:16 | Thus Melzar tooke away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drinke, and gaue them pulse. |
| 1:17 | As for these foure children, God gaue them knowledge, and vnderstanding in al learning and wisedome: also he gaue Daniel vnderstanding of all visions and dreames. |
| 1:18 | Nowe when the time was expired, that the King had appoynted to bring them in, the chiefe of the Eunuches brought them before Nebuchad-nezzar. |
| 1:19 | And the King communed with them: and among them al was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stoode they before the king. |
| 1:20 | And in all matters of wisedome, and vnderstanding that the King enquired of them, hee founde them tenne times better then all the inchanters and astrologians, that were in all his realme. |
| 1:21 | And Daniel was vnto the first yeere of king Cyrus. |
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.