Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 3:1 | My brethren, be not euery man a master, knowinge how that we shal receaue the greater damnacion: |
| 3:2 | for in many thinges we synne all. If a man synne not in worde, the same is a perfecte man, & able also to tame all the body. |
| 3:3 | Beholde, we put bittes in to the horses mouthes, that they maye obeye vs, & we turne aboute all the body of them. |
| 3:4 | Beholde also the shyppes, whych though they be so great, & are dryuen of fearce wyndes, yet are they turned about wyth a very small helme whyther soeuer the violence of the gouerner will. |
| 3:5 | Euen so the tonge is a lytel member also, and boasteth great thynges. Beholde, how gret a thynge a lytell fyre kyndleth, |
| 3:6 | and the tonge is fyre, euen a world of wyckednes. So is the tonge set amonge oure membres, that it defyleth the whole body, and setteth a fyre all that we haue of nature, and is it selfe set a fyre euen of hell. |
| 3:7 | All the natures of beastes, and of byrdes, and of serpentes, & thinges of the see are meked and tamed of the nature of man. |
| 3:8 | But the tonge can no man tame. It is an vnruely euyll, full of deedly poyson. |
| 3:9 | Ther wt blesse we God the father, and therwith cursse wemen, which are made after the symilitude of God. |
| 3:10 | Out of one mouth proceadeth blessing and cursyng. My brethren, these thinges ought not so to be. |
| 3:11 | Doth a fountayne send forth at one place swete water and bytter also. |
| 3:12 | Can the fygge tree (my brethren) beare olyue beries: ether a a vyne beare fygges? |
| 3:13 | So can no fountayne geue bothe salt water & fresshe also. Yf eny man be wyse & endued wt knowledge amonge you, let hym shewe his workes out of good conuersacion with mekenes of wysdome. |
| 3:14 | But yf ye haue bytter enuyeng & stryfe in your herte, reioyce not: nether be lyars agaynst the trueth: |
| 3:15 | For soch wysdome descendeth not from aboue: but is erthy, naturall, & diuelisshe. |
| 3:16 | For wher enuyeng & strife is, there is vnstablenes, & all manner of euyll workes. |
| 3:17 | But the wysdome that is from aboue, is first pure, then peasable, gentle, & easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good frutes, without iudging, without simulacion: |
| 3:18 | yee, & the frute of ryghtewesnes is sowen in peace, of them that mayntene peace. |
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."