Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | PETER an Apostle of IESVS CHRIST, to the strangers that dwell here and there throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, |
| 1:2 | Elect according to the foreknowledge of God ye Father vnto sanctification of ye Spirit, through obedience and sprinkeling of the blood of Iesus Christ: Grace and peace bee multiplied vnto you. |
| 1:3 | Blessed bee God, euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, which according to his aboundant mercie hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead, |
| 1:4 | To an inheritance immortall and vndefiled, and that withereth not, reserued in heauen for vs, |
| 1:5 | Which are kept by the power of God through faith vnto saluation, which is prepared to be shewed in the last time. |
| 1:6 | Wherein yee reioyce, though nowe for a season (if neede require) yee are in heauinesse, through manifolde tentations, |
| 1:7 | That the triall of your faith, being much more precious then golde that perisheth (though it be tried with fire) might bee founde vnto your praise, and honour and glorie at the appearing of Iesus Christ: |
| 1:8 | Whome yee haue not seene, and yet loue him, in whome nowe, though yee see him not, yet doe you beleeue, and reioyce with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious, |
| 1:9 | Receiuing the ende of your faith, euen the saluation of your soules. |
| 1:10 | Of the which saluation ye Prophets haue inquired and searched, which prophecied of the grace that should come vnto you, |
| 1:11 | Searching when or what time the Spirite which testified before of Christ which was in them, shoulde declare the sufferings that should come vnto Christ, and the glorie that shoulde follow. |
| 1:12 | Vnto whome it was reueiled, that not vnto themselues, but vnto vs they shoulde minister the things, which are nowe shewed vnto you by them which haue preached vnto you the Gospell by the holy Ghost sent downe from heauen, the which things the Angels desire to beholde. |
| 1:13 | Wherefore, girde vp the Ioynes of your minde: bee sober, and trust perfectly on that grace that is brought vnto you, in the reuelation of Iesus Christ, |
| 1:14 | As obedient children, not fashioning your selues vnto the former lustes of your ignorance: |
| 1:15 | But as hee which hath called you, is holie, so be yee holie in all maner of conuersation; |
| 1:16 | Because it is written, Be yee holie, for I am holie. |
| 1:17 | And if ye call him Father, which without respect of person iudgeth according to euery mans woorke, passe the time of your dwelling here in feare, |
| 1:18 | Knowing that yee were not redeemed with corruptible things, as siluer and golde, from your vaine conuersation, receiued by the traditions of the fathers, |
| 1:19 | But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lambe vndefiled, and without spot. |
| 1:20 | Which was ordeined before the foundation of the world, but was declared in the last times for your sakes, |
| 1:21 | Which by his meanes doe beleeue in God that raised him from the dead, and gaue him glorie, that your faith and hope might bee in God, |
| 1:22 | Hauing purified your soules in obeying the trueth through the spirite, to loue brotherly without faining, loue one another with a pure heart feruently, |
| 1:23 | Being borne anewe, not of mortall seede, but of immortall, by the woorde of God, who liueth and endureth for euer. |
| 1:24 | For all flesh is as grasse, and all the glorie of man is as the flower of grasse. The grasse withereth, and the flower falleth away. |
| 1:25 | But the worde of the Lord endureth for euer: and this is the woorde which is preached among you. |
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.