Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 3:1 | ANd write vnto the Angel of the Church which is at Sardis, These things saith he that hath the seuen Spirits of God, and the seuen starres, I knowe thy workes: for thou hast a name that thou liuest, but thou art dead. |
| 3:2 | Be awake, and strengthen the things which remaine, that are readie to die: for I haue not found thy workes perfite before God. |
| 3:3 | Remember therefore, how thou hast receiued and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou wilt not watch, I will come on thee as a thiefe, and thou shalt not know what houre I wil come vpon thee. |
| 3:4 | Notwithstanding thou hast a few names yet in Sardis, which haue not defiled their garments: and they shall walke with me in white: for they are worthy. |
| 3:5 | He that ouercommeth, shalbe clothed in white araye, and I will not put out his name out of the booke of life, but I will confesse his name before my Father, and before his Angels. |
| 3:6 | Let him that hath an eare, heare, what the Spirite saith vnto the Churches. |
| 3:7 | And write vnto ye Angel of ye Church which is of Philadelphia, These things saith he that is Holy, and True, which hath ye keye of Dauid, which openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, |
| 3:8 | I knowe thy workes: beholde, I haue set before thee an open doore, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a litle strength and hast kept my worde, and hast not denied my Name. |
| 3:9 | Behold, I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan, which call themselues Iewes, and are not, but doe lye: beholde, I say, I will make them, that they shall come and worship before thy feete, and shall knowe that I haue loued thee. |
| 3:10 | Because thou hast kept the woorde of my patience, therefore I wil deliuer thee from the houre of tentation, which will come vpon all the world, to trie them that dwell vpon the earth. |
| 3:11 | Beholde, I come shortly: holde that which thou hast, that no man take thy crowne. |
| 3:12 | Him that ouercommeth, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall goe no more out: and I will write vpon him the Name of my God, and the name of the citie of my God, which is the newe Hierusalem, which commeth downe out of heauen from my God, and I will write vpon him my newe Name. |
| 3:13 | Let him that hath an eare, heare what ye Spirit saith vnto the Churches. |
| 3:14 | And vnto the Angell of the Church of the Laodiceans write, These things saieth Amen, the faithfull and true witnesse, that beginning of the creatures of God. |
| 3:15 | I knowe thy woorkes, that thou art neither colde nor hote: I woulde thou werest colde or hote. |
| 3:16 | Therefore, because thou art luke warme, and neither colde nor hote, it will come to passe, that I shall spewe thee out of my mouth. |
| 3:17 | For thou saiest, I am rich and increased with goods, and haue neede of nothing, and knowest not howe thou art wretched and miserable, and poore, and blinde, and naked. |
| 3:18 | I counsell thee to bye of me gold tried by the fire, that thou maiest bee made rich: and white raiment, that thou maiest be clothed, and that thy filthie nakednesse doe not appeare: and anoynt thine eyes with eye salue, that thou maiest see. |
| 3:19 | As many as I loue, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and amend. |
| 3:20 | Behold, I stand at the doore, and knocke. If any man heare my voice and open ye doore, I wil come in vnto him, and will suppe with him, and he with me. |
| 3:21 | To him that ouercommeth, will I graunt to sit with me in my throne, euen as I ouercame, and sit with my Father in his throne. |
| 3:22 | Let him that hath an eare, heare what the Spirit saieth vnto the Churches. |
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.