Textus Receptus Bibles
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
| 1:1 | That thing that was fro the bigynnyng, which we herden, which we sayn with oure iyen, which we bihelden, and oure hondis touchiden, of the word of lijf; and the lijf is schewid. |
| 1:2 | And we sayn, and we witnessen, and tellen to you the euerlastynge lijf, that was anentis the fadir, and apperide to vs. |
| 1:3 | Therfor `we tellen to you that thing, that we seyn, and herden, that also ye haue felowschipe with vs, and oure felowschip be with the fadir, and with his sone Jhesu Crist. |
| 1:4 | And we writen this thing to you, that ye haue ioye, and that youre ioye be ful. |
| 1:5 | And this is the tellyng, that we herden of hym, and tellen to you, that God is liyt, and ther ben no derknessis in him. |
| 1:6 | If we seien, that we han felawschip with hym, and we wandren in derknessis, we lien, and don not treuthe. |
| 1:7 | But if we walken in liyt, as also he is in liyt, we han felawschip togidere; and the blood of Jhesu Crist, his sone, clensith vs fro al synne. |
| 1:8 | If we seien, that we han no synne, we disseyuen vs silf, and treuthe is not in vs. |
| 1:9 | If we knowlechen oure synnes, he is feithful and iust, that he foryyue to vs oure synnes, and clense vs from al wickidnesse. |
| 1:10 | And if we seien, we han not synned, we maken hym a liere, and his word is not in vs. |
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.