Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 2:1 | Now we beseech you, brethren, by the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ, and by our assembling vnto him, |
| 2:2 | That ye be not suddenly mooued from your minde, nor troubled neither by spirit, nor by worde, nor by letter, as it were from vs, as though the day of Christ were at hand. |
| 2:3 | Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition, |
| 2:4 | Which is an aduersarie, and exalteth him selfe against all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he doeth sit as God in the Temple of God, shewing him selfe that he is God. |
| 2:5 | Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I tolde you these things? |
| 2:6 | And nowe ye knowe what withholdeth that he might be reueiled in his time. |
| 2:7 | For the mysterie of iniquitie doeth already worke: onely he which nowe withholdeth, shall let till he be taken out of the way. |
| 2:8 | And then shall that wicked man be reueiled, whome the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall abolish with the brightnes of his comming, |
| 2:9 | Euen him whose comming is by the effectuall working of Satan, with all power, and signes, and lying wonders, |
| 2:10 | And in al deceiuablenes of vnrighteousnes, among them that perish, because they receiued not the loue of the trueth, that they might be saued. |
| 2:11 | And therefore God shall send them strong delusion, that they should beleeue lies, |
| 2:12 | That all they might be damned which beleeued not the trueth, but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes. |
| 2:13 | But we ought to giue thankes alway to God for you, brethren beloued of the Lord, because that God hath from the beginning chosen you to saluation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and the faith of trueth, |
| 2:14 | Whereunto he called you by our Gospel, to obtaine the glory of our Lord Iesus Christ. |
| 2:15 | Therefore, brethren, stand fast and keepe the instructions, which ye haue bene taught, either by worde, or by our Epistle. |
| 2:16 | Now the same Iesus Christ our Lord; and our God euen the Father which hath loued vs, and hath giuen vs euerlasting consolation and good hope through grace, |
| 2:17 | Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in euery word and good worke. |
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.