Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 1:1 | After the deeth of Saul when Dauid was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and had bene two dayes in Zikleg: |
| 1:2 | Beholde, there came a man the thyrde daye out of the hoste from Saul, with his clothes rent and erth vpon hys heed. And when he came to Dauid, he fell to the erth and dyd obeysaunce. |
| 1:3 | Dauid sayde vnto him: whence comest thou? He sayde vnto him: Out of the hoste of Israel am I escaped. |
| 1:4 | And Dauid sayde vnto him. And what is chaunced? tell me. He sayde: the people is fled from the battell: and many of the people are ouerthrowen, and deed: and Saul & Ionathas his sonne are deed also. |
| 1:5 | And Dauid sayde vnto the younge man that tolde him these thynges: How knowest thou that Saul and Ionathas hys sonne be deed? |
| 1:6 | The younge man that tolde him, answered: I came by chaunce to mount Gilboa: And beholde, Saul leaned vpon his speare. For the charettes and companyes of horsemen folowed harde after him. |
| 1:7 | And whan he loked backe he sawe me, and called me. And I answered: here am I. |
| 1:8 | And he sayde vnto me: what art thou? I answered hym: I am an Amalekite. |
| 1:9 | He sayde vnto me agayne: Stonde vpon me, and slee me: For anguysshe is come vpon me, though my lyfe be yet all in me. |
| 1:10 | And so I stode vpon hym, and slue him: for I was sure that he coulde not lyue, after that he had fallen. And I toke the crowne that was vpon hys heed, and the Braselet that was on hys arme, and haue brought them hyther vnto my Lorde. |
| 1:11 | Then Dauid toke holde on hys clothes, and rent them, and so dyd all the men that were wt him |
| 1:12 | And they mourned, and wepte, and fasted vntyll euen, for Saul and Ionathas his sonne, & for the people of the Lorde, and for the house of Israel, because they were ouerthrowen with the swerde. |
| 1:13 | And Dauid sayde vnto the younge man that brought him these tydinges. Whence art thou? And he answered. I am the sonne of an alyaunt an Amalekite. |
| 1:14 | And Dauid sayde vnto him: Howe is it that thou wast not afrayed, to laye thyne hande on the Lordes anoynted, to destroye hym? |
| 1:15 | And Dauid called one of his younge men and sayde: Go to, and runne vpon him. And he smote hym: that he dyed: |
| 1:16 | then sayde Dauid vnto him: thy bloude be vpon thyne awne heed. For thyne awne mouth hath testyfied agaynst the sayinge: I haue slayne the Lordes anoynted. |
| 1:17 | And Dauid mourned with thys lamentacyon ouer Saul and ouer Ionathas hys sonne, |
| 1:18 | and bad teache the chyldren of Israel the vse of the bowe. And Beholde, it is wrytten in the boke of the ryghtwes. |
| 1:19 | O noble Israell, the wounded are slayne vpon thy hilles: Oh howe are the myghtie ouerthrowen. |
| 1:20 | Tell yt not in Gath, nor publishe it in the streats of Ashalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines reioyse, and lest the daughters of the vncircumcysed triumphe. |
| 1:21 | Ye mountaynes of Gilboa, vpon you be nether dewe nor rayne, not vpon these feldes of offerynges. For there the shilde of the myghtie is cast downe: the shylde of Saul, as though he had not bene anoynted with oyle. |
| 1:22 | The bowe of Ionathas & the swerde of Saul turned neuer backe agayne emptie, from the bloude of the slayne, & from the fatte of the myghtye warryoures. |
| 1:23 | Saul and Ionathas were louely & pleasaunt in their lyues, and in their deathes they were not deuided: They were swifter then Egles, and stronger then Lyons. |
| 1:24 | Ye daughters of Israel, wepe ouer Saul, which clothed you in purple with pleasures, and hanged ornamentes of golde vpon your apparell. |
| 1:25 | Howe were the myghtye slayne in battell? Ionathas is deed on the hye hylles. |
| 1:26 | Woo is me for the (my brother Ionathas) verye kynde hast thou bene vnto me. Thy loue to me was wonderfull, passynge the loue of wemen. |
| 1:27 | O howe are the myghtie ouerthrowen, and the wepons of warre destroyed? |
The Great Bible 1539
The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Thomas, Lord Cromwell, Secretary to Henry VIII and Vicar General. In 1538, Cromwell directed the clergy to provide "one book of the bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have care of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it."