Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 1:1 | These are the wordes of the Preather, the sonne of Dauid, kynge of Ierusalem. |
| 1:2 | All is but moste vayne vanite (sayeth the Preacher) & al is moste vayne (I say) & but plaine vanite. |
| 1:3 | For what els hath a man, of all the labour that he taketh vnder the Sunne? |
| 1:4 | One generacyon passeth awaye, another commeth, but the earth abydeth styll. |
| 1:5 | The Sunne aryseth, the sunne goeth downe, & returneth to hys place, that he maye there rise vp againe. |
| 1:6 | The winde goeth toward the South, & turneth vnto the northe, fetchith his compasse, whirleth aboute, & goth forth, & his circuite returneth agayne to him selfe. |
| 1:7 | All floudes runne into the see, & yet the see yt selfe is not fylled: for loke vnto what place the waters runne, thence they come to flowe agayne. |
| 1:8 | All thinges are so harde to be knowen, that no man can expresse them. The eye is not satisfyed wt syght, the eare is not fylled wt hearinge. |
| 1:9 | The thing that hath bene, commeth to passe agayne: & the thinge that hath bene done, shall be done agayne, there is no new thing vnder the sunne. |
| 1:10 | Is there eny thing wherof it maye be sayde: lo, this is new? For it was longe agoo in the times that haue bene before vs. |
| 1:11 | The thing that is past, is out of remembraunce: Euen so the thinges that are for to come, shal no more be thought vpon amonge them that come after. |
| 1:12 | I my selfe the Preacher, was kyng of Israel at Ierusalem, |
| 1:13 | & dyd applie my mynde to seke out & search for the knowledge of all thinges that are done vnder heauen. Soch trauayle and labour hath God geuen vnto the children of men, to excercyse them selues therin. |
| 1:14 | Thus I haue consydred all the thinges that come to passe vnder the Sunne, and lo, they are all but vanite, & vexacion of minde. |
| 1:15 | The croked cannot be made strayght, nor the thinge that is vnperfecte, cannot be acompted wt thinges that are perfecte. |
| 1:16 | I commoned wt mine awne herte, sayinge: lo, I am come to a great estate, & haue gotten more wysdome, then all they that haue bene before me in Ierusalem. Yee my herte had greate experience of wisdome & knowledge, |
| 1:17 | for there vnto I applied my mynde: that I myght knowe what were wisdome & vnderstanding, what were errour & folishnes: & I perceaued, that this also was but a vexacyon of minde: |
| 1:18 | for where moch wisdome is, there is also greate trauaile & disquietnes: & the more knowledge a man hath, the more is hys care. |
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."