Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 9:1 | For as touching the ministring to the Saints, it is superfluous for me to write vnto you. |
| 9:2 | For I knowe your readinesse of minde, whereof I boast my selfe of you vnto them of Macedonia, and say, that Achaia was prepared a yeere agoe, and your zeale hath prouoked many. |
| 9:3 | Nowe haue I sent the brethren, lest our reioycing ouer you shoulde bee in vaine in this behalfe, that yee (as I haue sayde) be readie: |
| 9:4 | Lest if they of Macedonia come with me, and finde you vnprepared, we (that wee may not say, you) should be ashamed in this my constant boasting. |
| 9:5 | Wherefore, I thought it necessarie to exhort the brethren to come before vnto you, and to finish your beneuolence appointed afore, that it might be readie, and come as of beneuolence, and not as of niggardlinesse. |
| 9:6 | This yet remember, that he which soweth sparingly, shall reape also sparingly, and hee that soweth liberally, shall reape also liberally. |
| 9:7 | As euery man wisheth in his heart, so let him giue, not grudgingly, or of necessitie: for God loueth a cheerefull giuer. |
| 9:8 | And God is able to make all grace to abound towarde you, that yee alwayes hauing all sufficiencie in all thinges, may abounde in euery good worke, |
| 9:9 | (As it is written, He hath sparsed abroad and hath giuen to the poore: his beneuolence remayneth for euer. |
| 9:10 | Also hee that findeth seede to the sower, will minister likewise bread for foode, and multiplie your seede, and increase the fruites of your beneuolence,) |
| 9:11 | That on all partes yee may bee made rich vnto all liberalitie, which causeth through vs thankesgiuing vnto God. |
| 9:12 | For the ministration of this seruice not onely supplieth the necessities of the Saintes, but also aboundantly causeth many to giue thankes to God, |
| 9:13 | (Which by the experiment of this ministration praise God for your voluntarie submission to the Gospell of Christ, and for your liberall distribution to them, and to all men) |
| 9:14 | And in their praier for you, to log after you greatly, for the aboundant grace of God in you. |
| 9:15 | Thankes therefore bee vnto God for his vnspeakeable gift. |
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.