Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 11:1 | Open thy doores, O Lebanon, and the fire shall deuoure thy cedars. |
| 11:2 | Houle, firre trees: for the cedar is fallen, because all the mightie are destroyed: houle ye, O okes of Bashan, for ye defesed forest is cut downe. |
| 11:3 | There is the voyce of the houling of the shepherdes: for their glorie is destroyed: the voyce of ye roaring of lyons whelpes: for the pride of Iorden is destroyed. |
| 11:4 | Thus sayeth the Lord my God, Feede the sheepe of the slaughter. |
| 11:5 | They that possesse them, slay them and sinne not: and they that sell them, say, Blessed be the Lord: for I am riche, and their owne shepherds spare them not. |
| 11:6 | Surely I wil no more spare those that dwell in the land, sayth the Lord: but loe, I will deliuer the men euery one into his neighbours hand, and into the hand of his King: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hands I wil not deliuer them. |
| 11:7 | For I fed the sheepe of slaughter, euen the poore of the flocke, and I tooke vnto me two staues: the one I called Beautie, and the other I called Bandes, and I fed the sheepe. |
| 11:8 | Three shepherdes also I cut off in one moneth, and my soule lothed them, and their soule abhorred me. |
| 11:9 | Then said I, I will not feede you: that that dyeth, let it dye: and that that perisheth, let it perish: and let the remnant eate, euery one the flesh of his neighbour. |
| 11:10 | And I tooke my staffe, euen Beautie, and brake it, that I might disanull my couenant, which I had made with all people. |
| 11:11 | And it was broken in that day: and so the poore of the sheepe that waited vpon me, knew that it was the worde of the Lord. |
| 11:12 | And I said vnto them, If ye thinke it good, giue me my wages: and if no, leaue off: so they weighed for my wages thirtie pieces of siluer. |
| 11:13 | And the Lord said vnto me, Cast it vnto the potter: a goodly price, that I was valued at of them. And I tooke the thirtie pieces of siluer, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. |
| 11:14 | Then brake I mine other staffe, euen the Bandes, that I might dissolue the brotherhood betweene Iudah and Israel. |
| 11:15 | And the Lord said vnto me, Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepheard. |
| 11:16 | For loe, I will rayse vp a shepheard in the land, which shall not looke for the thing, that is lost, nor seeke the tender lambes, nor heale that that is hurt, nor feede that that standeth vp: but he shall eate the flesh of the fat, and teare their clawes in pieces. |
| 11:17 | O idole shepheard that leaueth the flocke: the sword shalbe vpon his arme, and vpon his right eye. His arme shall be cleane dryed vp, and his right eye shall be vtterly darkened. |
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.