Textus Receptus Bibles
King James Bible 1611
| 2:1 | And it came to passe when the Lord would take vp Elijah into heauen by a whirlewinde, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. |
| 2:2 | And Elijah said vnto Elisha, Tarie here, I pray thee: for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel: and Elisha said vnto him, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I wil not leaue thee. So they went downe to Bethel. |
| 2:3 | And the sonnes of the Prophets that were at Bethel, came foorth to Elisha, and said vnto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it, hold you your peace. |
| 2:4 | And Elijah said vnto him, Elisha, tarie here, I pray thee: for the Lord hath sent me to Iericho: And hee said, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. So they came to Iericho. |
| 2:5 | And the sonnes of the Prophets that were at Iericho came to Elisha, and said vnto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And hee answered, Yea, I knowe it, holde you your peace. |
| 2:6 | And Elijah said vnto him, Tarie, I pray thee, here: for the Lord hath sent me to Iordan. And he said, As the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, I will not leaue thee. And they two went on. |
| 2:7 | And fiftie men of the sonnes of the Prophets went, and stood to view afarre off: and they two stood by Iordan. |
| 2:8 | And Elijah tooke his mantle, and wrapt it together, and smote the waters, and they were diuided hither and thither, so that they two went ouer on drie ground. |
| 2:9 | And it came to passe when they were gone ouer, that Elijah said vnto Elisha, Aske what I shall doe for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be vpon me. |
| 2:10 | And hee said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: neuerthelesse, if thou see me, when I am taken from thee, it shall be so vnto thee: but if not, it shall not be so. |
| 2:11 | And it came to passe as they still went on and talked, that beholde, there appeared a charet of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went vp by a whirlewind into heauen. |
| 2:12 | And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the charet of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he tooke hold of his owne cloathes, and rent them in two pieces. |
| 2:13 | He tooke vp also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the banke of Iordan. |
| 2:14 | And he tooke the mantle of Eliiah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when hee also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went ouer. |
| 2:15 | And when the sonnes of the Prophets which were to view at Iericho, saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha: And they came to meet him, and bowed themselues to the ground before him. |
| 2:16 | And they said vnto him, Behold now, there bee with thy seruants fiftie strong men, let them goe, we pray thee, and seeke thy master: lest peraduenture the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him vp, and cast him vpon some mountaine, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. |
| 2:17 | And when they vrged him, till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fiftie men, and they sought three dayes, but found him not. |
| 2:18 | And when they came againe to him (for he taried at Iericho) hee said vnto them, Did I not say vnto you, Goe not? |
| 2:19 | And the men of the city said vnto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is nought, and the ground barren. |
| 2:20 | And hee said, Bring mee a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. |
| 2:21 | And he went forth vnto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I haue healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death, or barren land. |
| 2:22 | So the waters were healed vnto this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake. |
| 2:23 | And he went vp from thence vnto Bethel: and as hee was going vp by the way, there came foorth little children out of the citie, and mocked him, and said vnto him, Goe vp thou bald head, Goe vp thou bald head. |
| 2:24 | And hee turned backe, and looked on them, and cursed them in the Name of the Lord: and there came foorth two shee Beares out of the wood, and tare fortie and two children of them. |
| 2:25 | And hee went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. |
King James Bible 1611
The commissioning of the King James Bible took place at a conference at the Hampton Court Palace in London England in 1604. When King James came to the throne he wanted unity and stability in the church and state, but was well aware that the diversity of his constituents had to be considered. There were the Papists who longed for the English church to return to the Roman Catholic fold and the Latin Vulgate. There were Puritans, loyal to the crown but wanting even more distance from Rome. The Puritans used the Geneva Bible which contained footnotes that the king regarded as seditious. The Traditionalists made up of Bishops of the Anglican Church wanted to retain the Bishops Bible.
The king commissioned a new English translation to be made by over fifty scholars representing the Puritans and Traditionalists. They took into consideration: the Tyndale New Testament, the Matthews Bible, the Great Bible and the Geneva Bible. The great revision of the Bible had begun. From 1605 to 1606 the scholars engaged in private research. From 1607 to 1609 the work was assembled. In 1610 the work went to press, and in 1611 the first of the huge (16 inch tall) pulpit folios known today as "The 1611 King James Bible" came off the printing press.