Textus Receptus Bibles
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
| 4:1 | I turnede me to othere thingis, and Y siy fals chalengis, that ben don vndur the sunne, and the teeris of innocentis, and no man coumfortour; and that thei forsakun of the help of alle men, moun not ayenstonde the violence of hem. |
| 4:2 | And Y preiside more deed men than lyuynge men; |
| 4:3 | and Y demyde hym, that was not borun yit, and siy not the yuels that ben don vndur the sunne, to be blisfulere than euer eithir. |
| 4:4 | Eft Y bihelde alle the trauelis of men, and bisynesses; and Y perseyuede that tho ben opyn to the enuye of neiybore; and therfor in this is vanyte, and superflu bisynesse. |
| 4:5 | A fool foldith togidere hise hondis, and etith hise fleischis, |
| 4:6 | and seith, Betere is an handful with reste, than euer either hondful with trauel and turment of soule. |
| 4:7 | I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne; |
| 4:8 | oon is, and he hath not a secounde; not a sone, not a brother; and netheles he ceesith not for to trauele, nether hise iyen ben fillid with richessis; nether he bithenkith, and seith, To whom trauele Y, and disseyue my soule in goodis? In this also is vanyte, and the worste turment. |
| 4:9 | Therfor it is betere, that tweyne be togidere than oon; for thei han profite of her felouschipe. |
| 4:10 | If oon fallith doun, he schal be vndurset of the tothere; wo to hym that is aloone, for whanne he fallith, he hath noon reisynge him. |
| 4:11 | And if tweyne slepen, thei schulen be nurschid togidere; hou schal oon be maad hoot? |
| 4:12 | And if ony man hath maistri ayens oon, tweyne ayen stonden hym; a threfolde corde is brokun of hard. |
| 4:13 | A pore man and wijs is betere than an eld kyng and fool, that kan not bifore se in to tyme to comynge. |
| 4:14 | For sum tyme a man goith out bothe fro prysoun and chaynes to a rewme; and anothir borun in to a rewme is wastid bi nedynesse. |
| 4:15 | I siy alle men lyuynge that goen vndur the sunne, with the secounde yong wexynge man, that schal rise for hym. |
| 4:16 | The noumbre of puple, of alle that weren bifore hym, is greet with outen mesure, and thei that schulen come aftirward, schulen not be glad in hym; but also this is vanyte and turment of the spirit. |
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.