Textus Receptus Bibles
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
| 12:1 | Haue thou mynde on thi creatour in the daies of thi yongthe, bifore that the tyme of thi turment come, and the yeris of thi deth neiye, of whiche thou schalt seie, Tho plesen not me. |
| 12:2 | `Haue thou mynde on thi creatour, bifor that the sunne be derk, and the liyt, and sterrys, and the mone; and cloude turne ayen after reyn. |
| 12:3 | Whanne the keperis of the hous schulen be mouyd, and strongeste men schulen tremble; and grynderis schulen be idel, whanne the noumbre schal be maad lesse, and seeris bi the hoolis schulen wexe derk; |
| 12:4 | and schulen close the doris in the street, in the lownesse of vois of a gryndere; and thei schulen rise at the vois of a brid, and alle the douytris of song schulen wexe deef. |
| 12:5 | And hiy thingis schulen drede, and schulen be aferd in the weie; an alemaunde tre schal floure, a locuste schal be maad fat, and capparis schal be distried; for a man schal go in to the hous of his euerlastyngnesse, and weileris schulen go aboute in the street. |
| 12:6 | Haue thou mynde on thi creatour, byfore that a siluerne roop be brokun, and a goldun lace renne ayen, and a watir pot be al to-brokun on the welle, and a wheele be brokun togidere on the cisterne; |
| 12:7 | and dust turne ayen in to his erthe, wherof it was, and the spirit turne ayen to God, that yaf it. |
| 12:8 | The vanyte of vanytees, seide Ecclesiastes, the vanyte of vanytees, and alle thingis ben vanyte. |
| 12:9 | And whanne Ecclesiastes was moost wijs, he tauyte the puple, and he telde out the thingis whiche he dide, |
| 12:10 | and he souyte out wisdom, and made many parablis; he souyte profitable wordis, and he wroot moost riytful wordis, and ful of treuthe. |
| 12:11 | The wordis of wise men ben as prickis, and as nailis fastned deepe, whiche ben youun of o scheepherde bi the counsels of maistris. |
| 12:12 | My sone, seke thou no more than these; noon ende is to make many bookis, and ofte thenkyng is turment of fleisch. |
| 12:13 | Alle we here togydere the ende of spekyng. Drede thou God, and kepe hise heestis; `that is to seie, ech man. |
| 12:14 | God schal brynge alle thingis in to dom, that ben don; for ech thing don bi errour, whether it be good, ether yuel. |
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.