Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 23:1 | And Balaam sayd vnto Balac: bylde me here seuen alters and prepare me here seuen oxen and seuen rammes. |
| 23:2 | And Balac dyd as Balaam sayde. And Balac and Balaam offered on euery alter an oxe and a ram. |
| 23:3 | And Balaam sayd vnto Balac: stande by the sacrifyce, and I wyll goo yf happly the Lorde wyll mete me: and whatsoeuer he sheweth me, I will tell the, and he went forth alone. |
| 23:4 | But God met Balaam, and Balaam sayde vnto hym: I haue prepared seuen alters, and haue offered vpon euery alter, an oxe and a ram. |
| 23:5 | And the Lorde put a sayinge in Balams mouth, and sayde: go agayn to Balac and saye on thys wyse. |
| 23:6 | And whan he went agayne vnto him, loo, he stode by hys sacrifice, he and all the Lordes of Moab. |
| 23:7 | And he toke vp hys parable and sayde Balac the kynge of Moab hath fett me from Mesopotamia out of the mountaynes of the east (sayinge:) come, curse Iacob for my sake: come, & defye Israel. |
| 23:8 | Howe shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? or howe shall I defye him, whom God hath not defyed? |
| 23:9 | from the toppe of the rockes I se hym, and from the hylles I beholde hym: loo, the people shall dwell by them selfe, and shall not be rekened among the nacyons. |
| 23:10 | Who can tell the dust of Iacob, and the nombre of the fourth parte of Israel? I praye God, that my soule maye dye the death of the ryghteous, & that my last ende maye be lyke hys. |
| 23:11 | And Balac sayde vnto Balaam: what hast thou done vnto me? I fett the to curse myne enemyes, and beholde, thou hast blessed them. |
| 23:12 | He answered and sayde: must I not kepe that & speake it, whych the Lorde hath put in my mouthe? |
| 23:13 | And Balac sayde vnto hym: Come I praye the with me vnto another place, whence thou mayest se them, and thou shalt se but the vtmost parte of them, and shalt not se them all: curse them out of that place for my sake. |
| 23:14 | And he brought him into a felde (where men myght se farre of) euen to the toppe of an hyll, and bylt seuen alters, and offered an oxe and a ram on euery alter. |
| 23:15 | And he sayd vnto Balac: stande here by thy sacrifyce, whyle I go yonder. |
| 23:16 | And the Lord mett Balaam, and put a worde in hys mouth & sayd: go agayne vnto Balac, and thus saye. |
| 23:17 | And when he came to hym: beholde, he stode by his sacrifyce, & the Lordes of Moab with hym. And Balac sayde vnto him: what hath the Lorde sayde? |
| 23:18 | And he toke vp his parable & answered: ryse vp Balac and heare, and herken vnto me thou sonne of Ziphor. |
| 23:19 | God is not a man that he shulde lye, nether the sonne of a man that he shulde repent: shulde he saye, and not doo? or shulde he speake, and not make it good? |
| 23:20 | beholde, I haue taken vpon me to blesse, for he hath blessed, and it is not in my power to alter it. |
| 23:21 | He behelde no vanyte in Iacob, nor sawe trauayll in Israel. The Lorde hys God is wt him, and the presence of the kyng is amonge them. |
| 23:22 | God brought them oute of Egypte, he hath strength as an vnicorne. |
| 23:23 | There is no sorcery in Iacob, nor sothsaying in Israel. It is nowe tolde vnto Iacob & Israel, what God hath wrought. |
| 23:24 | Beholde, the people shal ryse vp as a lyonesse, and heue vp hym selfe as a lyon. He shall not lye downe, vntill he eate of the praye, and drynke the bloude of them that are slayne. |
| 23:25 | And Balac sayde vnto Balaam: nether curse them nor blesse them. |
| 23:26 | But Balaam answered and sayde vnto Balac: tolde not I the sayinge: all that the Lorde speaketh, that I must doo? |
| 23:27 | And Balac sayde vnto Balaam: come I praye the, and I wyll brynge the yet vnto another place: yf peraduenture it shall please God, that thou mayst thence curse them for my sake. |
| 23:28 | And Balac broughte Balaam vnto the toppe of Peor, that boweth toward the wyldernesse of Iesymmom. |
| 23:29 | And Balaam sayde vnto Balac: make me here seuen alters, and prepare me here seuen oxen, and seuen rammes. |
| 23:30 | And Balac dyd as Balaam had sayde, and offered an oxe and a ram on euery alter. |
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."