Textus Receptus Bibles
Matthew's Bible 1537
| 1:1 | The Prouerbes of Salomon the sonne of Dauid king of Israell: |
| 1:2 | too lerne wisdome instruccion, vnderstanding prudence, |
| 1:3 | righteousnesse, iudgement & equite. |
| 1:4 | That the very babes might haue wit, and that yongmen might haue knowlege & vnderstanding. |
| 1:5 | By hearing, the wyse man shall come by more wysedome: & by experience |
| 1:6 | he shalbe more apte to vnderstande a parable, & the interpretacion therof, the wordes of the wise, & the darke speaches of the same. |
| 1:7 | The feare of the Lord is the begynnynge of wysdome. But fooles despise wysdome & destruccion. |
| 1:8 | My sonne, heare thy fathers doctryne, & forsake not the lawe of thy mother: |
| 1:9 | for that shall bryng grace vnto thy head, & shall be a cheyne about thy necke. |
| 1:10 | My sonne, consent not vnto sinners, |
| 1:11 | if they entise the, & say: come with vs, let vs leye wayte for bloud, and lurke preuely for the innocent without a cause: |
| 1:12 | let vs swalow them vp like the hel, let vs deuour them quicke & whole, as those that go doune into the pyt. |
| 1:13 | So shal we finde al maner of costely riches, & fil our houses wt spoiles. |
| 1:14 | Cast in thy lot among vs, we shall haue all one purse. |
| 1:15 | My sonne, walke not thou with them, refrayn thy fote from their ways. |
| 1:16 | For their fete runne to euel, & are hasty to shed bloud. |
| 1:17 | But in vayn is the net laied forth before the byrdes eyes. |
| 1:18 | Yea, they themselfes laye wayte one for anothers bloud, & one of them wolde sley another. |
| 1:19 | These are the ways of all suche as be couetous, that one wolde rauish anothers life. |
| 1:20 | Wisdome crieth without, & putteth forth her voyce in the stretes. |
| 1:21 | She calleth before the congregacion in the open gates, & sheweth her wordes thorow the citie, saying: |
| 1:22 | O ye chyldren, how longe will ye loue chyldyshnesse? how long wil the, scorners delite in scorning & the vnwise be enemies vnto knowlege? |
| 1:23 | O turne you vnto my correccion: lo. I wil expres my mynde vnto you, & make you vnderstande my wordes. |
| 1:24 | Seing then that I haue called & ye refused it: I haue stretched out my hand, & no man regarded it, |
| 1:25 | but all my counsayls haue ye despysed, & set my corrections at naught. |
| 1:26 | Therfore shall I also laugh in your destruccion, & mocke you, when the thyng that ye feare cometh vpon you: |
| 1:27 | euen when the thing that ye be afrayed of, falleth in sodenly lyke a storme, & your miseri like a tempest: yea, when trouble & heuinesse commeth vpon you. |
| 1:28 | Then shal they call vpon me, but I will not heare: they shal seke me early, but thei shal not find me: |
| 1:29 | And that because thei hated knowlege, & receyued not the feare of the Lord, |
| 1:30 | but abhorred my counsail, & despised my correction. |
| 1:31 | Therfore shal they eate the frutes of their owne way, & be filled with their oune counsayls: |
| 1:32 | for the turning away of the vnwyse shal sley them, & the prosperitie of foles shalbe their owne destruccion. |
| 1:33 | But who so harkeneth vnto me shal dwel safely, and haue ynough without any feare of euell. |
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.