« | Acts 26 | » |
1 Then Agrippa sayde vnto Paul, thou art permitted to speake for thy selfe. Then Paul stretched foorth the hande, and aunswered [for hym selfe]
2 I thynke my selfe happy, king Agrippa, because I shall aunswere this day before thee, of all the thynges whereof I am accused of the Iewes:
3 Namely, because thou art expert in all customes and questions, whiche are among the Iewes: Wherefore I beseche thee to heare me patiently.
4 My lyfe, that I haue led of a chylde, which was at the first among myne owne nation at Hierusalem, knowe all the Iewes,
5 Which knewe me from the beginning, (yf they woulde testifie) that after the most straytest sect of our religion, I lyued a pharisee.
6 And nowe I stande and am iudged, for the hope of the promise made of God vnto our fathers:
7 Unto which promise, our twelue tribes instantly seruyng God day & nyght, hope to come. For which hopes sake, kyng Agrippa, I am accused of the Iewes.
8 Why shoulde it be thought a thyng incredible vnto you, that God shoulde rayse agayne the dead?
9 I also veryly thought in my selfe that I ought to do many contrary thynges, cleane agaynst the name of Iesus of Nazareth:
10 Which thyng I also dyd in Hierusalem. And many of the Saintes dyd I shut vp in pryson, hauyng receaued aucthoritie of the hye priestes: And when they were put to death, I gaue the sentence.
11 And I punished them oft in euery synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme: and was yet more mad vpon them, and persecuted them, euen vnto straunge cities.
12 About which thynges, as I went to Damascus, with auctoritie and commission of the hye priestes:
13 Euen at mydday, O kyng, I sawe in the way, a lyght from heauen, aboue the bryghtnesse of the Sunne, shyne rounde about me and them which iourneyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I hearde a voyce speakyng vnto me, and saying in the Hebrewe tongue: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is harde for thee to kicke agaynste the prickes.
15 And I sayde: Who art thou Lorde? And he sayde: I am Iesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But ryse and stande vpon thy feete. For I haue appeared vnto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witnesse, both of those thynges which thou hast seene, and of those thynges in the which I wyll appeare vnto thee,
17 Delyueryng thee from the people, and from the gentiles, vnto whom nowe I sende thee,
18 To open their eyes, that they may be turned from darknesse to lyght, & from the power of Satan vnto God, that they may receaue forgeuenes of sinnes, & inheritaunce among them which are sanctified by fayth that is towarde me.
19 Wherfore, O kyng Agrippa, I was not disobedient vnto the heauenly visio:
20 But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, & at Hierusalem, and throughout all the coastes of Iurie, and then to the gentiles, that they shoulde repent, and turne to God, and do such workes as become them that repent.
21 For this cause the Iewes caught me in the temple, & went about to kyll me.
22 Seyng therefore, that I haue obtayned helpe of God, I continue vnto this day, witnessyng both to small and to great, saying none other thynges, then those which the prophetes and Moyses dyd say shoulde come:
23 That Christe shoulde suffer, and that he shoulde be the first that shoulde ryse from the dead, and shoulde shewe lyght vnto the people, and to the gentiles.
24 And as he thus spake for hym selfe, Festus sayde with a loude voyce: Paul, thou art besyde thy selfe, much learnyng doth make thee mad.
25 But he sayde: I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speake foorth the wordes of trueth and sobernesse.
26 For the kyng knoweth of these thynges, before whom also I speake freely, neither thynke I, that any of these thynges are hydden from him: For this thyng was not done in a corner.
27 Kyng Agrippa, beleuest thou the prophetes? I wote wel that thou beleuest.
28 Then Agrippa sayde vnto Paul: Somewhat thou perswadest me to be a christian.
29 And Paul sayde: I woulde to God, that not only thou, but also all that heare me to day, were both somewhat, and also in a great deale, such as I am, except these bondes.
30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose vp, and the deputie, & Bernice, and they that sate with them.
31 And when they were gone apart, they talked betwene the selues, saying: This man doth nothyng worthy of death, or of bondes.
32 Then sayde Agrippa vnto Festus: This man myght haue ben let loose, yf he had not appealed vnto Caesar.
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.