Textus Receptus Bibles
John Wycliffe Bible 1382
| 31:1 | Forsothe Filisteis fouyten ayens Israel, and the men of Israel fledden bifor the face of Filisteis, and felden slayn in the hil of Gelboe. |
| 31:2 | And Filisteis hurliden on Saul, and on hise sones, and smytiden Jonathas, and Amynadab, and Melchisua, sones of Saul. |
| 31:3 | And al the weiyte of batel was turned `in to Saul; and men archeris pursueden hym, and he was woundid greetli of the archeris. |
| 31:4 | And Saul seide to his squyer, Drawe out thi swerd, and sle me, lest perauenture these vncircumcidid men come, and sle me, and scorne me. And his squyer nolde, for he was aferd bi ful grete drede; therfor Saul took his swerd, and felde theronne. |
| 31:5 | And whanne his squyer hadde seyn this, `that is, that Saul was deed, also he felde on his swerd and was deed with hym. |
| 31:6 | Therfor Saul was deed, and hise thre sones, and his squyer, and alle his men in that dai togidere. |
| 31:7 | Forsothe the sones of Israel, that weren biyendis the valei, and biyendis Jordan, sien that the men of Israel hadden fled, and that Saul was deed, and hise sones, and thei leften her citees and fledden; and Filisteis camen, and dwelliden there. |
| 31:8 | Forsothe in `the tother dai maad, Filisteis camen, that thei schulden dispuyle the slayn men, and thei founden Saul, and hise thre sones, liggynge in the hil of Gelboe; and thei kittiden awei the heed of Saul, |
| 31:9 | and dispuyliden hym of armeris; and senten in to the lond of Filisteis bi cumpas, that it schulde be teld in the temple of idols, and in the puplis. |
| 31:10 | And thei puttiden hise armeris in the temple of Astoroth; sotheli thei hangiden his bodi in the wal of Bethsan. |
| 31:11 | And whanne the dwellers of Jabes of Galaad hadden herd this, what euer thingis Filisteis hadden do to Saul, |
| 31:12 | alle the strongeste men risiden, and yeden in al that nyyt, and token the deed bodi of Saul, and the deed bodies of hise sones fro the wal of Bethsan; and the men of Jabes of Galaad camen, and brenten tho deed bodies bi fier. |
| 31:13 | And thei token the boonus of hem, and birieden in the wode of Jabes, and fastiden bi seuene daies. |
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.