Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | Paul a prisoner of Iesus Christ, and our brother Timotheus, vnto Philemon our deare friende, and fellowe helper, |
| 1:2 | And to our deare sister Apphia, and to Archippus our fellowe souldier, and to the Church that is in thine house: |
| 1:3 | Grace be with you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Iesus Christ. |
| 1:4 | I giue thanks to my God, making mention alwaies of thee in my praiers, |
| 1:5 | (When I heare of thy loue and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Iesus, and towarde all Saintes) |
| 1:6 | That the fellowship of thy faith may bee made effectuall, and that whatsoeuer good thing is in you through Christ Iesus, may be knowen. |
| 1:7 | For we haue great ioy and consolation in thy loue, because by thee, brother, the Saintes bowels are comforted. |
| 1:8 | Wherefore, though I bee very bolde in Christ to commaund thee that which is conuenient, |
| 1:9 | Yet for loues sake I rather beseeche thee, though I be as I am, euen Paul aged, and euen nowe a prisoner for Iesus Christ. |
| 1:10 | I beseeche thee for my sonne Onesimus, whome I haue begotten in my bondes, |
| 1:11 | Which in times past was to thee vnprofitable, but nowe profitable both to thee and to me, |
| 1:12 | Whome I haue sent againe: thou therefore receiue him, that is mine owne bowels, |
| 1:13 | Whom I woulde haue reteined with mee, that in thy steade he might haue ministred vnto me in the bondes of the Gospel. |
| 1:14 | But without thy minde woulde I doe nothing, that thy benefite should not be as it were of necessitie, but willingly. |
| 1:15 | It may be that he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receiue him for euer, |
| 1:16 | Not now as a seruant, but aboue a seruant, euen as a brother beloued, specially to me: howe much more then vnto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord? |
| 1:17 | If therefore thou count our thinges common, receiue him as my selfe. |
| 1:18 | If he hath hurt thee, or oweth thee ought, that put on mine accounts. |
| 1:19 | I Paul haue written this with mine owne hande: I will recompense it, albeit I doe not say to thee, that thou owest moreouer vnto me euen thine owne selfe. |
| 1:20 | Yea, brother, let mee obteine this pleasure of thee in the Lord: comfort my bowels in the Lord. |
| 1:21 | Trusting in thine obedience, I wrote vnto thee, knowing that thou wilt do eue more then I say. |
| 1:22 | Moreouer also prepare mee lodging: for I trust through your prayers I shall be freely giuen vnto you. |
| 1:23 | There salute thee Epaphras my felowe prisoner in Christ Iesus, |
| 1:24 | Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my felowe helpers. |
| 1:25 | The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with your spirit, Amen. |
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.