Textus Receptus Bibles
Matthew's Bible 1537
| 9:1 | For all these thynges purposed I in my mynd to seke out. The ryghtuous and wyse yea and their workes also are in the hande of God: and their is no man knoweth eyther the loue or hate of the thyng that he hath before him. |
| 9:2 | It happeneth vnto one as vnto another: It goeth wt the ryghtuous as wt the vngodli wt the good & cleane as wt the vncleane: wt him that offereth as wt him that offereth not: lyke as it goeth wyth the vertuous, so goeth it also wyth the sinner: As it happeneth vnto the periured, so happeneth it also vnto him that is afraied to be forsworne. |
| 9:3 | Amonge all thynges that come to passe vnder the Sunne, this is a mysery, that it happeneth vnto all alyke. This is the cause also that the hertes of men are ful of wyckednes, and mad folishnes is in their hertes as longe as they liue, vntyl they dye. |
| 9:4 | And why? As longe as a man lyueth, he is careles: for a quicke dogg (saye they) is better then a dead lyon: |
| 9:5 | for they that be lyuyng, knowe that they shall dye: but they that be dead, knowe nothinge, neyther deserne they any more. For their memoriall is forgotten, |
| 9:6 | so that they be nether loued, hated ner enuied nether haue they animore parte in the world, in al that is done vnder the Sonne. |
| 9:7 | Go thou thy waye then, eate thy bread wyth ioy, and dryncke thy wyne wyth gladnesse, for thy worckes please God. |
| 9:8 | Let thy garments be alway white, and let thy head want none oyntment. |
| 9:9 | Vse thy selfe to lyue ioyfully with thy wyfe whom thou leuest, all the dayes of thy life, which is but vaine, that God hath geuen the vnder the Sunne, all the dayes of thy vanite: for that is thy porcion in this lyfe, of all thy laboure and trauayle that thou takeste vnder the Sunne. |
| 9:10 | Whatsoeuer thou takest in hande to do, that do wyth all thy power: for among the dead, wher as thou goest vnto, ther is nether worcke, councel, knowledge ner wysdome. |
| 9:11 | So I turned me vnto other thynges vnder the Sonne, and I sawe, that in runnyng, it helpeth not to be swift: in battayll, it helpeth not to be stronge, to fedynge, it helpeth not to be wyse: to ryches, it helpeth not to be suttell: to be had in fauoure, it helpeth not to be cunnynge: but that all lyeth in tyme and fortune. |
| 9:12 | For a man knoweth not his tyme, but like as the fishes are taken wyth the angle and as the byrdes are catched with the snare Euen so are men taken in the perilous time, when it commeth sodenly vpon them. |
| 9:13 | This wysdome haue I sene also vnder the Sunne, and me thought it a great thynge. |
| 9:14 | There was a litle citie, and a fewe men within it: so there came a great kyng and beseged it, and made great bulwarkes agaynste it |
| 9:15 | And in the cytye there was founde a poore man (but he was wyse) which with hys wisdome deliuered the cytye: yet was there no body, that had any respect vnto such a symple man. |
| 9:16 | Then sayde I: wysdome is better then strengthe. Neuertheles, a simple mans wysedome is despised, & his wordes are not herde. |
| 9:17 | A wyse mans counsayl that is folowed in silence, is farre aboue the cryeng of a captayne among fooles. |
| 9:18 | For wysdome is better then harnesse: but one vnthryft alone destroyeth much good. |
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.