Textus Receptus Bibles
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
| 1:1 | The wordis of Ecclesiastes, sone of Dauid, the kyng of Jerusalem. |
| 1:2 | The vanyte of vanytees, seide Ecclesiastes; the vanyte of vanytees, and alle thingis ben vanite. |
| 1:3 | What hath a man more of alle his trauel, bi which he traueilith vndur the sunne? |
| 1:4 | Generacioun passith awei, and generacioun cometh; but the erthe stondith with outen ende. |
| 1:5 | The sunne risith, and goith doun, and turneth ayen to his place; |
| 1:6 | and there it risith ayen, and cumpassith bi the south, and turneth ayen to the north. The spirit cumpassynge alle thingis goith `in cumpas, and turneth ayen in to hise cerclis. |
| 1:7 | Alle floodis entren in to the see, and the see fletith not ouer the markis set of God; the floodis turnen ayen to the place fro whennus tho comen forth, that tho flowe eft. |
| 1:8 | Alle thingis ben hard; a man may not declare tho thingis bi word; the iye is not fillid bi siyt, nether the eere is fillid bi hering. |
| 1:9 | What is that thing that was, that that schal come? What is that thing that is maad, that that schal be maad? |
| 1:10 | No thing vndir the sunne is newe, nether ony man may seie, Lo! this thing is newe; for now it yede bifore in worldis, that weren bifore vs. |
| 1:11 | Mynde of the formere thingis is not, but sotheli nether thenkyng of tho thingis, that schulen come afterward, schal be at hem that schulen come in the last tyme. |
| 1:12 | I Ecclesiastes was king of Israel in Jerusalem; |
| 1:13 | and Y purposide in my soule to seke and enserche wiseli of alle thingis, that ben maad vndur the sunne. God yaf this werste ocupacioun to the sones of men, that thei schulden be ocupied therynne. |
| 1:14 | I siy alle thingis that ben maad vndur the sunne, and lo! alle thingis ben vanyte and turment of spirit. |
| 1:15 | Weiward men ben amendid of hard; and the noumbre of foolis is greet with outen ende. |
| 1:16 | I spak in myn herte, and Y seide, Lo! Y am made greet, and Y passide in wisdom alle men, that weren bifore me in Jerusalem; and my soule siy many thingis wiseli, and Y lernede. |
| 1:17 | And Y yaf myn herte, that Y schulde knowe prudence and doctryn, and errours and foli. And Y knew that in these thingis also was trauel and turment of spirit; |
| 1:18 | for in myche wisdom is myche indignacioun, and he that encressith kunnyng, encreessith also trauel. |
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
The Wycliffe Bible is the only Bible here that was not translated from the Textus Receptus. Its inclusion here is for the Bible's historic value and for comparison in the English language.
John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor produced the first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts in the 1380's. While it is doubtful Wycliffe himself translated the versions that bear his name, he certainly can be considered the driving force behind the project. He strongly believed in having the scriptures available to the people.
Wycliffe, was well-known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible. With the help of his followers (called Lollards), Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river.