Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 3:1 | This seconde Epistle I nowe write vnto you, beloued, wherewith I stirre vp, and warne your pure mindes, |
| 3:2 | To call to remembrance the wordes, which were tolde before of the holy Prophetes, and also the commandement of vs the Apostles of the Lord and Sauiour. |
| 3:3 | This first vnderstande, that there shall come in the last dayes, mockers, which wil walke after their lustes, |
| 3:4 | And say, Where is the promise of his comming? for since the fathers died, all things continue alike from the beginning of the creation. |
| 3:5 | For this they willingly know not, that the heauens were of olde, and the earth that was of the water and by the water, by the word of God. |
| 3:6 | Wherefore the worlde that then was, perished, ouerflowed with the water. |
| 3:7 | But the heauens and earth, which are nowe, are kept by the same word in store, and reserued vnto fire against the day of condemnation, and of the destruction of vngodly men. |
| 3:8 | Dearely beloued, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord, as a thousande yeeres, and a thousande yeeres as one day. |
| 3:9 | The Lord of that promise is not slacke (as some men count slackenesse) but is pacient toward vs, and would haue no man to perish, but would all men to come to repentance. |
| 3:10 | But the day of the Lord will come as a thiefe in the night, in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the earth with the workes that are therein, shalbe burnt vp. |
| 3:11 | Seeing therefore that all these thinges must be dissolued, what maner persons ought ye to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse, |
| 3:12 | Looking for, and hasting vnto the comming of that day of God, by the which the heauens being on fire, shall be dissolued, and the elements shall melt with heate? |
| 3:13 | But wee looke for newe heauens, and a newe earth, according to his promise, wherein dwelleth righteousnesse. |
| 3:14 | Wherefore, beloued, seeing that yee looke for such thinges, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blamelesse. |
| 3:15 | And suppose that the long suffering of our Lord is saluation, euen as our beloued brother Paul according to the wisedome giuen vnto him wrote to you, |
| 3:16 | As one, that in all his Epistles speaketh of these thinges: among the which some thinges are hard to be vnderstand, which they that are vnlearned and vnstable, wrest, as they do also other Scriptures vnto their owne destruction. |
| 3:17 | Ye therefore beloued, seeing ye know these thinges before, beware, lest ye be also plucked away with the errour of the wicked, and fall from your owne stedfastnesse. |
| 3:18 | But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ: to him be glory both now and for euermore. 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.