Textus Receptus Bibles
Matthew's Bible 1537
| 20:1 | And Benhadad kynge of Siria gathered al his hoste together, and .xxxij. kinges wyth hym, with horse and charet, and went vp and beseged Samaria, and warred agaynst it. |
| 20:2 | And he sent messengers to Ahab kinge of Israel into the citie, and sayde vnto him: thus sayth Benhadad: |
| 20:3 | Thy siluer & goulde is myne, and the best of thy wyues, and the best of thy children be myne. |
| 20:4 | And the kinge of Israel answered and saide: my lorde kinge accordinge to thy sayinge: I am thyne with all I haue. |
| 20:5 | And the messengers came agayne to Ahab and sayde: thus saith Benhadad: I haue therfore sent vnto the, sayinge: delyuer then thy syluer and thy goulde, and thy wiues, and thy children. |
| 20:6 | Or else I wil sende my seruauntes vnto the by to morow this tyme: & they shal cherse thyne house, and the houses of thy seruauntes, whiche shall take all that is glorious in thyne eyes, and brynge it awaye wt them. |
| 20:7 | Then the kynge of Israel sent for the elders of the lande and sayed: take hede I pray you, and se, howe this felowe goeth aboute myscheue. For he sent vnto me, for my wiues and my children, & my siluer and my goulde, and I denyed him nothinge of it. |
| 20:8 | And all the elders of Israel and all the people sayde: herken not to him, nor consent. |
| 20:9 | Whervpon he sayde vnto the messengers of Benhadad: tell my Lorde the kinge, al that he sent for the fyrst tyme, that I wyll do: but this request I maye not do. And the messengers departed and brought hym worde. |
| 20:10 | Then Benhadad sent vnto him and said: thus do the Gods to me and so therto, yf the dust of Samaria be ynough for al the people that folow me, that euery man maye haue an handfull. |
| 20:11 | And the kynge of Israel answered and sayd: tell hym, let not him that putteth on hys harnesse bost him self, as he that putteth it of. |
| 20:12 | And when Benhadad hearde that tidinges, as he and the kinges were drinckinge in the pauilions, he sayde vnto his seruauntes: put ye in araye. And they put them selues in araye against the cytye. |
| 20:13 | And beholde there came a Prophet vnto Ahab kynge of Israel, and saide to him: thus sayth the Lorde: Seyst thou all this greate multitude? beholde, I will delyuer them into thyne hande this daye, that thou mayest knowe that I am the Lorde. |
| 20:14 | And Ahab sayde: by whome? And he sayd: thus sayeth the Lorde: euen by the men of the gouernoures of the shires And Ahab sayde: who shall ioyne batayle? And he sayde: thou. |
| 20:15 | Then he nombred the men of the gouerners of the shires: and they were two hundred and .xxxij. And after them he nombred al the people, and al the children of Israel were seuen thousand. |
| 20:16 | And they went out at none when Benhadad was drinckynge stronge dryncke in the pauilions with the two and thyrtye kynges that holpe hym. |
| 20:17 | And the men of the shrifes of the shires went out fyrste. And Benhadad sent out, and they shewed him saying: there came men out e Samaria. |
| 20:18 | And he sayd: yf they come out of for peace, take them aliue. And also yf they come for warre take them yet alyue. |
| 20:19 | And when those men of the shrifes of the shires were come out of the citie and the host after them, they slue euery one of them his man. |
| 20:20 | And the Siriens fled, and Israel folowed after them. And Benhadad the kinge of Siria scaped on a horsse with hys horsemen. |
| 20:21 | And the kinge of Israel went out and smote horsse and charet, & slue a great slaughter of the Sirians. |
| 20:22 | Then there came a Prophete to the kinge of Israel, and sayde to him: go forth and play the man, be wyse & take hede what thou doest for when the yeare is about, the kinge of Siria will come against the agayne. |
| 20:23 | Then saide the seruauntes of the kinges of Siria to him: the Gods of the hylles are their Gods, and therfore they had the better of vs. But let vs fight with them in the playne, and for what ye will, we shall haue the better of them. |
| 20:24 | And this do: take the kinges awaye euery man out of his place, and put dukes in their roumes. |
| 20:25 | And thou nombre the an hoste, lyke the hoste that thou hast loste, and horse for horse, and charet for charet, and let vs fyght wyth them in the plaine, and for a wager, we get the better of them. And the king herkened vnto their voyce and dyd euen so. |
| 20:26 | And as sone as the yeare was aboute, Benhadad nombred the Siriens and went vp to Aphek to warre wyth Israel. |
| 20:27 | And the children of Israel were nombred and prouided of vytayle, and went against them, and pitched before them lyke two lytle flockes of kiddes: but the Sirians fylled the countrey. |
| 20:28 | Then there came a man of God and sayde vnto the kyng of Israel: thus sayeth the Lorde? Because the Siriens saye, the Lorde is but a God of the hylles, and not God of the valeys to: therfore wyl I delyuer all thys great multytude into thyne hande that ye may know that I am the Lorde. |
| 20:29 | And they pitched one ouer agaynst the other .vij. dayes, and the seuenth day ioyned batayle. And the chyldren of Israell slue of the Sirians an hundred thousande fote men in one daye. |
| 20:30 | And the reste fled to Aphek into the cytye. And there fel a walle vpon .xxvij. thousande of them that were lefte. And Benhadad fled and went into the cytye, from chambre to chambre. |
| 20:31 | Then sayde hys seruauntes vnto hym: beholde, we haue hearde saye, that the kynges of the house of Israel are mercifull kynges. Let vs put sacke cloth aboute our Loines and ropes about oure heades, and go out to the kynge of Israel: happlye he wil saue thy lyfe. |
| 20:32 | And they gyrded sacke clothe aboute theyr loynes, and put ropes about their heades, and went oute to the kynge of Israel, and sayde: thy seruaunt Benhadad sayth: I pray the, let me lyue. And he sayde: is he yet alyue? what he is my brother. |
| 20:33 | And they toke that word for good lucke and hastely caught it out of hys mouth and sayde? ye thy brother Benhadad. Then he sayde: go and brynge hym. And Benhadad came out to hym, and the other toke him vp into the charet. |
| 20:34 | And Benhadad saide: the cytyes whiche my father toke from thy father, I wyll restore agayne. And thou shalt make streates for the in Damasco, as my father dyd in Samaria. And I wyll make an appointment with the and sent the away. And so made an appoyntment with him and sent hym awaye. |
| 20:35 | Then a certaine man of the children of the Prophetes said vnto his felow with the word of the Lorde, smyte me I pray the. And the man woulde not smyte him. |
| 20:36 | And he sayde, because thou hast not obeyed the voyce of the Lorde: beholde, as sone as thou arte departed from me, a lyon shal slaye the. And as sone as he was departed from him, a lyon found him and slue him. |
| 20:37 | Then he founde another man & sayd to him: smyte me I pray the. And the man gaue him a good stripe and wounded him. |
| 20:38 | And the Prophete wente forth & wayted for the kynge by the waye, and put ashes vpon his eyes, and put him selfe out of knowledge. |
| 20:39 | And when the kinge came by, he cryed vnto hym and sayde: thy seruaunt went out in the myddes in the battel. And se, there was one beganne to flee. And there came a man to me and sayde: kepe this man. And yf he be missed thy lyfe shall go for hys, or else thou shalte paye a talent of syluer. |
| 20:40 | And as thy seruaunt had here and there to do, he was gone. And the kynge of Israel sayde vnto hym: euen so shall the iudgement be as thou hast defyned it thy selfe. |
| 20:41 | And he hasted and toke the ashes away from his eyes, and the kinge of Israel knewe hym, that he was of the Prophetes. |
| 20:42 | And he sayde vnto the kinge: thus sayeth the Lorde: because thou hast let go a man, that ought to haue dyed, thy lyfe shal go for his lyfe, and thy people for hys. |
| 20:43 | And the kynge of Israell went to hys house waywarde and heauy, and entred into Samaria. |
Matthew's Bible 1537
The Matthew Bible, also known as Matthew's Version, was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been able to translate before being captured and put to death, with the translations of Myles Coverdale as to the balance of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, except the Apocryphal Prayer of Manasses. It is thus a vital link in the main sequence of English Bible translations.