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1 About that time was Hezekia sicke vnto the death: And the prophete Isai the sonne of Amoz came to him, and sayde vnto him, Thus saith the Lord: Put thine houshold in an order, for thou shalt dye, and not lyue.
2 And Hezekia turned his face to the wal, and prayed vnto the Lord, saying.
3 I beseche the, O Lorde, remember now how I haue walked before thee in trueth and with a perfect heart, & haue done that whiche is good in thy sight. And Hezekia wept sore.
4 And it fortuned that afore Isai was gone out into the middle of the court, the word of the Lorde came to him, saying:
5 Turne againe, and tell Hezekia the captayne of my people, thus sayth the Lorde God of Dauid thy father: I haue hearde thy prayer, and seene thy teares, and beholde I will heale thee, so that on the thirde day thou shalt go vp into the house of the Lorde.
6 And I wil adde vnto thy dayes yet fifteene yeres, & I will deliuer thee & this citie out of the hand of ye king of Assyria, & will defende this citie, for myne owne sake, & for Dauid my seruauntes sake.
7 And Isai sayd: Take a lumpe of dried figges. And they toke and layed it on the sore, and he recouered.
8 And Hezekia sayde vnto Isai: What shalbe the signe that the Lorde will heale me, and that I shal go vp into the house of the Lorde the thirde day?
9 Isai aunswered: This signe shalt thou haue of the Lord, that the Lord will do that he hath spoken: Shall the shadowe go forwarde ten degrees? or go backe againe ten degrees?
10 Hezekia aunswered: It is a light thing for the shadowe to go downe ten degrees, I desire not [that:] but let the shadowe go backwarde ten degrees.
11 And Isai the prophete called vnto the Lord, and he brought the shadowe ten degrees backewarde, by whiche it had gone downe in the dyall of Ahaz,
12 The same season Berodach Baladan the sonne of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and a present vnto Hezekia: for he had hearde howe that Hezekia was sicke.
13 And Hezekia was glad of them, and shewed them all his treasure house, siluer, golde, odours, precious oyntment, all the house of his armory, and all that was found in his treasures: There was nothing in his house, & in all his realme, that Hezekia shewed them not.
14 And Isai the prophete came vnto king Hezekia, and sayd vnto him: What sayde these men? and from wence came they to thee? And Hezekia sayde: They be come from a farre countrey, euen from Babylon.
15 And he sayde againe: What haue they seene in thy house? Hezekia aunswered: All ye thinges that are in my house haue they seene: there is nothing among my treasures, that I haue not shewed the.
16 And Isai sayde vnto Hezekia: Heare the word of the Lord,
17 Beholde, the dayes come, that all that is in thy house, and whatsoeuer thy fathers haue layde vp in store vnto this day, shalbe caryed into Babylon: and nothing shalbe left sayth the Lorde.
18 And of thy sonnes that shall proceede out of thee, and which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shalbe chamberlaynes in the palace of the king of Babylon.
19 And Hezekia sayde vnto Isai: Welcome be the worde of the Lorde whiche thou hast spoken. And he sayde: Shall there not be peace & trueth in my dayes?
20 The remnaunt of the wordes that concerne Hezekia, and all his power, and howe he made a poole and a conduite, & brought water into the citie, are they not written in the booke of the cronicles of the kinges of Iuda?
21 And Hezekia slept with his fathers, & Manasse his sonne raigned in his steade
The Bishop’s Bible (BB)
The Bishop’s Bible (BB) is a significant English translation of the Bible that was first published in 1568 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was commissioned by the Church of England as a revision of the Great Bible and as a response to the Geneva Bible, which was popular among the Puritans but contained marginal notes that were considered politically and theologically contentious by the Anglican establishment. The primary goal of the Bishop’ s Bible was to create a translation that would be more acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities and suitable for use in Anglican churches.
One of the distinguishing features of the Bishop’s Bible is its effort to maintain a high level of accuracy and scholarly integrity while also ensuring that the language used was dignified and appropriate for public reading. The translation was undertaken by a team of bishops and other scholars, hence its name. The translators aimed to preserve the poetic and literary qualities of the original texts, drawing on previous translations such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, and the Great Bible, while also incorporating their scholarly insights and linguistic refinements.
The Bishop’s Bible was notable for its large, folio format, which was designed to be read from the pulpit. It included extensive marginal notes, though these were more restrained and less controversial than those found in the Geneva Bible. The translation also featured elaborate illustrations and maps, as well as a comprehensive introduction and various prefaces that provided context and guidance for readers. Despite its grandeur and scholarly merit, the Bishop’s Bible did not achieve the widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible among the general populace.
Although the Bishop’s Bible played an essential role in the religious and cultural life of Elizabethan England, it was eventually overshadowed by the King James Version (KJV), which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611. The KJV drew heavily on the Bishop’ s Bible, as well as other earlier translations, but ultimately surpassed it in both scholarly rigor and literary quality. Nonetheless, the Bishop’s Bible remains an important milestone in the history of English Bible translations, reflecting the theological and political currents of its time and contributing to the development of subsequent translations.