Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | I have made the former treatise, O Theophilus, of al that Jesus began to doe and teach, |
| 1:2 | Vntill the day that hee was taken vp, after that hee through the holy Ghost, had giuen commandements vnto the Apostles, whome hee had chosen: |
| 1:3 | To whome also he presented himselfe aliue after that he had suffered, by many infallible tokens, being seene of them by the space of fourtie daies, and speaking of those thinges which appertaine to the kingdome of God. |
| 1:4 | And when he had gathered them together, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Hierusalem, but to waite for the promise of the Father, which sayde hee, yee haue heard of me. |
| 1:5 | For Iohn in deede baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost within these fewe daies. |
| 1:6 | When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdome to Israel? |
| 1:7 | And hee saide vnto them, It is not for you to know the times, or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his owne power, |
| 1:8 | But yee shall receiue power of the holy Ghost, when he shall come on you: and ye shalbe witnesses vnto me both in Hierusalem and in all Iudea, and in Samaria, and vnto the vttermost part of the earth. |
| 1:9 | And when he had spoken these things, while they behelde, he was taken vp: for a cloude tooke him vp out of their sight. |
| 1:10 | And while they looked stedfastly towarde heauen, as hee went, beholde, two men stoode by them in white apparell, |
| 1:11 | Which also sayde, Yee men of Galile, why stande yee gasing into heauen? This Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen, shall so come, as yee haue seene him goe into heauen. |
| 1:12 | Then returned they vnto Hierusalem from the mount that is called the mount of Oliues, which is neere to Hierusalem, being from it a Sabbath daies iourney. |
| 1:13 | And when they were come in, they went vp into an vpper chamber, where abode both Peter and Iames, and Iohn, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartlemew, and Matthewe, Iames the sonne of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Iudas Iames brother. |
| 1:14 | These all continued with one accorde in prayer and supplication with the women, and Marie the mother of Iesus, and with his brethren. |
| 1:15 | And in those dayes Peter stoode vp in the middes of the disciples, and sayde (nowe the nomber of names that were in one place were about an hundreth and twentie.) |
| 1:16 | Yee men and brethren, this scripture must needes haue beene fulfilled, which the holy Ghost by the mouth of Dauid spake before of Iudas, which was guide to them that tooke Iesus. |
| 1:17 | For hee was nombred with vs, and had obteined fellowship in this ministration. |
| 1:18 | He therefore hath purchased a field with the reward of iniquitie: and when he had throwen downe himselfe headlong, hee brast asunder in the middes, and all his bowels gushed out. |
| 1:19 | And it is knowen vnto all the inhabitants of Hierusalem, in so much, that that field is called in their owne language, Aceldama, That is, the field of blood. |
| 1:20 | For it is written in the booke of Psalmes, Let his habitation be void, and let no man dwel therein: also, Let another take his charge. |
| 1:21 | Wherefore of these men which haue companied with vs, all the time that the Lord Iesus was conuersant among vs, |
| 1:22 | Beginning from the baptisme of Iohn vnto the day that hee was taken vp from vs, must one of them bee made a witnesse with vs of his resurrection. |
| 1:23 | And they presented two, Ioseph called Barsabas, whose surname was Iustus, and Matthias. |
| 1:24 | And they praied, saying, Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shewe whether of these two thou hast chosen, |
| 1:25 | That he may take the roume of this ministration and Apostleship, from which Iudas hath gone astray, to goe to his owne place. |
| 1:26 | Then they gaue foorth their lottes: and the lotte fell on Matthias, and hee was by a common consent counted with the eleuen Apostles. |
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.