Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 21:1 | And euery man of Israel sware in Mizpa, sayinge: there shall none of vs geue hys daughter vnto any of BenIamin to wyfe. |
| 21:2 | And the people came to Bethell & abode there tyll euen before God, & lyfte vp theyr voyces and wept sore, |
| 21:3 | and sayde. O Lorde God of Israel, why is thys chaunced in Israel, that there shulde be thys daye one trybe lackynge in Israell? |
| 21:4 | And on the morow the people rose vp by tyme, and made there an altare, and offered burntofferinges and peaceofferynges. |
| 21:5 | And the chyldren of Israell asked, who are they amonge all the tribes of Israel, that came not vp with the congregacyon vnto the Lorde? for they had made a greate othe concernynge him that came not vp to the Lord to Mizpa, sayinge: he shall suerlye dye. |
| 21:6 | And the chyldren of Israell had pytie on BenIamin theyr brethren, and sayde: there is one trybe cut of from Israell thys daye: |
| 21:7 | what shall we do vnto the remnaunt of them, that they maye haue wyues? we haue sworne by the Lorde, that we will not geue them of oure daughters to wyues. |
| 21:8 | And they sayde: Is there any of the trybes of Israel, that came not vp to Mizpa to the Lorde? |
| 21:9 | And beholde, ther came none of the enhabitoures of Iabes Gilead vnto the hoost and congregacyon. For the people were vewed: and beholde, there were none of the enhabiters of Iabes Gilead there. |
| 21:10 | And they sent thether a multitude, euen .xij. thousande men of the strongest of them, and commaunded them, sayinge: go and smyte the enhabiters of Iabes Gilead with the edge of the swerde, both wemen and chyldren. |
| 21:11 | And this is it that ye shall do: vtterlye destroye all the males and all the wemen that haue lyen by men. |
| 21:12 | And they founde amonge the in habiters of Iabes Gilead foure hundred damoselles, virgines, that had knowen no man, by lyeng with any male. And they brought them vnto the host to Silo, which is in the lande of Canaan. |
| 21:13 | And the hole congregacion sent and spake with the chyldren of BenIamin that were in the Rocke of Rymmon, and called peceablye vnto them: |
| 21:14 | and BenIamin came agayne at that tyme, and they gaue them wyues, which they had saued alyue of the wemen of Iabes Gilead. But they suffysed them not. |
| 21:15 | And the people had compassyon on BenIamin, because that God had made a gappe in the trybes of Israel. |
| 21:16 | And then the elders of the congregacyon, sayde: what shall we do to the remnaunt of them, to get them wyues, seinge all the wyues of BenIamin are destroyed? |
| 21:17 | And they sayde: there must be an enheritaunce for them that be escaped of BenIamin, that a trybe be not destroyed out of Israell: |
| 21:18 | howbeit, we maye not geue them wyues of oure daughters. For the chyldren of Israell had sworne, sayinge: curssed be he, that geueth a wyffe to BenIamin. |
| 21:19 | Then they sayde: beholde, there is a feast of the Lord yearly in Sylo, which is on the northsyde of Bethel, and on the east syde of the waye that goeth from Bethel to Sichen and south from Libanon. |
| 21:20 | Therfore they commaunded the chyldren of BenIamin, saying: go and lye in wayte in the vynyardes. |
| 21:21 | And when ye se that the daughters of Silo come out to daunce in a rowe, then come ye out of the vyneyardes, and catch you euerye man a wyfe of the daughters of BenIamin. |
| 21:22 | And whan theyr fathers or brethren come vnto vs to complayne, we wyll saye vnto them: haue pytie on vs for theyr sakes, because we reserued not to eche man his wyfe in tyme of warre, Neither haue ye geuen vnto them, that ye shulde synne at this tyme. |
| 21:23 | And the chyldren of BenIamin dy euen so: and toke them wyues accordynge to the nombre of them that daunced, whom they caught. And they went, and returned vnto theyr enheritaunce, and repayred the cyties, and dwelt in them. |
| 21:24 | And the chyldren of Israell departed thence at that tyme, and went euery man to hys trybe, and to hys kynred, and went out from thence euery man to hys enheritaunce. |
| 21:25 | In those dayes there, was no kynge in Israel: but euery man dyd that which semed ryght in his awne eyes. |
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."