Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 24:1 | When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to blesse Israel, then he went not, as certaine times before, to set diuinations, but set his face toward the wildernesse. |
| 24:2 | And Balaam lift vp his eyes, and looked vpon Israel, which dwelt according to their tribes, and the Spirit of God came vpon him. |
| 24:3 | And he vttered his parable, and sayd, Balaam the sonne of Beor hath sayde, and the man, whose eyes were shut vp, hath sayd, |
| 24:4 | He hath sayde, which heard the wordes of God, and sawe the vision of the Almightie, and falling in a traunce had his eyes opened: |
| 24:5 | How goodly are thy tentes, O Iaakob, and thine habitations, O Israel! |
| 24:6 | As the valleis, are they stretched forth, as gardes by the riuers side, as the aloe trees, which the Lord hath planted, as the cedars beside the waters. |
| 24:7 | The water droppeth out of his bucket, and his seede shalbe in many waters, and his king shall be hier then Agag, and his kingdome shall bee exalted. |
| 24:8 | God brought him out of Egypt: his strength shalbe as an vnicorne: he shall eate the nations his enemies, and bruise their bones, and shoote them through with his arrowes. |
| 24:9 | He coucheth and lieth downe as a yong lion, and as a lion: who shall stirre him vp? blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. |
| 24:10 | Then Balak was very angry with Balaam, and smote his handes together: so Balak sayde vnto Balaam, I sent for thee to curse mine enemies, and beholde, thou hast blessed them nowe three times. |
| 24:11 | Therefore nowe flee vnto thy place: I thought surely to promote thee vnto honour, but loe, the Lord hath kept thee backe from honour. |
| 24:12 | Then Balaam answered Balak, Tolde I not also thy messengers, which thou sentest vnto me, saying, |
| 24:13 | If Balak would giue me his house ful of siluer and gold, I can not passe the commandement of the Lord, to doe either good or bad of mine owne minde? what the Lord shall commaund, the same will I speake. |
| 24:14 | And nowe behold, I goe vnto my people: come, I will aduertise thee what this people shall doe to thy folke in the later dayes. |
| 24:15 | And he vttered his parable, and sayd, Balaam the sonne of Beor hath sayde, and the man whose eyes were shut vp, hath sayd, |
| 24:16 | He hath said that heard the words of God, and hath the knowledge of the most High, and sawe the vision of the Almightie, and falling in a traunce had his eyes opened: |
| 24:17 | I shall see him, but not nowe: I shall behold him, but not neere: there shall come a starre of Iaakob, and a scepter shall rise of Israel, and shall smite the coastes of Moab, and destroy all the sonnes of Sheth. |
| 24:18 | And Edom shalbe possessed, and Seir shall be a possession to their enemies: but Israel shall do valiantly. |
| 24:19 | He also that shall haue dominion shall bee of Iaakob, and shall destroy the remnant of the citie. |
| 24:20 | And when he looked on Amalek, he vttered his parable, and sayd, Amalek was the first of the nations: but his latter ende shall come to destruction. |
| 24:21 | And he looked on the Kenites, and vttered his parable, and sayde, Strong is thy dwelling place, and put thy nest in the rocke. |
| 24:22 | Neuerthelesse, the Kenite shalbe spoyled vntill Asshur cary thee away captiue. |
| 24:23 | Againe he vttered his parable, and sayd, Alas, who shall liue when God doeth this? |
| 24:24 | The ships also shall come from the coastes of Chittim, and subdue Asshur, and shall subdue Eber, and he also shall come to destruction. |
| 24:25 | Then Balaam rose vp, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way. |
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.