Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | Nowe after the death of Moses the seruant of the Lord, the Lord spake vnto Ioshua the sonne of Nun, Moses minister, saying, |
| 1:2 | Moses my seruant is dead: nowe therefore arise, go ouer this Iorden, thou, and all this people, vnto the lande which I giue them, that is, to ye children of Israel. |
| 1:3 | Euery place that the sole of your foote shall treade vpon, haue I giuen you, as I said vnto Moses. |
| 1:4 | From the wildernesse and this Lebanon euen vnto the great riuer, the riuer Perath: all the land of the Hittites, euen vnto the great Sea towarde the going downe of the sunne, shalbe your coast. |
| 1:5 | There shall not a man be able to withstande thee all the dayes of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leaue thee, nor forsake thee. |
| 1:6 | Be strong and of a good courage: for vnto this people shalt thou deuide the lande for an inheritance, which I sware vnto their fathers to giue them. |
| 1:7 | Onely be thou strong, and of a most valiant courage, that thou mayest obserue and doe according to all the Lawe which Moses my seruant hath commanded thee: thou shalt not turne away from it to the right hande, nor to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoeuer thou goest. |
| 1:8 | Let not this booke of the Law depart out of thy mouth, but meditate therin day and night, that thou mayest obserue and doe according to all that is written therein: for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou haue good successe. |
| 1:9 | Haue not I commanded thee, saying, Be strong and of a good courage, feare not, nor be discouraged? for I the Lord thy God will be with thee, whithersoeuer thou goest. |
| 1:10 | Then Ioshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, |
| 1:11 | Passe through the hoste, and commande the people, saying, Prepare you vitailes: for after three dayes ye shall passe ouer this Iorden, to goe in to possesse the lande, which the Lord your God giueth you to possesse it. |
| 1:12 | And vnto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to halfe the tribe of Manasseh spake Ioshua, saying, |
| 1:13 | Remember the worde, which Moses the seruant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath giuen you rest, and hath giuen you this land. |
| 1:14 | Your wiues, your children, and your cattell shall remaine in the land which Moses gaue you on this side Iorden: but ye shall goe ouer before your brethren armed, all that be men of warre, and shall helpe them, |
| 1:15 | Vntill the Lord haue giuen your brethren rest, as well as to you, and vntill they also shall possesse the land, which the Lord your God giueth them: then shall ye returne vnto the lande of your possession and shall possesse it, which land Moses the Lordes seruant gaue you on this side Iorden toward the sunne rising. |
| 1:16 | Then they answered Ioshua, saying, Al that thou hast commanded vs, we will doe, and whithersoeuer thou sendest vs, we will goe. |
| 1:17 | As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee: onely the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. |
| 1:18 | Whosoeuer shall rebell against thy commandement, and will not obey thy wordes in all that thou commaundest him, let him bee put to death: onely be strong and of good courage. |
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.