« | Amos 5 | » |
1 Heare ye this worde whiche I lift vp vpon you, [euen] a lamentation of the house of Israel.
2 The virgin Israel is fallen, & shall no more rise: she is left vpon her lande, and there is none to rayse her vp.
3 For thus sayth the Lorde God, The citie which went out by a thousand, shall leaue an hundreth, & that whiche went foorth by an hundreth, shall leaue ten, to the house of Israel.
4 For thus sayth the Lord vnto the house of Israel, Seke ye me, and ye shall liue.
5 But seke not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and go not to Beerseba: for Gilgal shall go into captiuitie, and Bethel shall come to naught.
6 Seke the Lord, and ye shall liue: lest he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph, and deuoure it, and there be noone to quenche it in Bethel.
7 They turne iudgement to wormewood, and forsake righteousnesse in the earth.
8 He maketh the seuen starres and Orion, and he turneth the shadowe of death into the morning, and he maketh the day darke as night: he calleth the waters of the sea, and powreth them out vpon the open earth, the Lorde is his name.
9 He strengthneth the destroyer against the mightie, & the destroyer shall come against the fortresse.
10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhorre him that speaketh vprightly.
11 Forasmuch then as your treading is vpon the poore, and ye take from hym burdens of wheate: ye haue buylt houses of hewen stone, but ye shall not dwell in them: ye haue planted pleasaunt vineyardes, but ye shall not drinke wine of them.
12 For I knowe your manyfolde transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewardes, and they oppresse the poore in the gate.
13 Therfore the wise shall kepe scilence in that time: for it is an euyll time.
14 Seke good and not euill, that ye may liue: & so the Lord God of hoastes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken.
15 Hate the euill and loue the good, and establishe iudgement in the gate: it may be, that the Lord God of hoastes wilbe mercifull vnto the remnaunt of Ioseph.
16 Therfore the Lorde God of hoastes the Lord sayth thus, Mourning shalbe in all streetes, and they shall say in al the hye wayes, Alas, alas: and they shall cal the husbandman to lamentation, and such as can mourne, to mourning.
17 And in all the vines shalbe lamentation: for I will passe through thee, sayth the Lorde.
18 Wo vnto you that desire the day of the Lorde, what haue ye to do with it? the day of the Lorde is darkenes, and not light.
19 As if a man dyd flee from a lion, and a beare meete him, & went into the house, and leaned his hand vnto the wal, and a serpent bite hym.
20 Shall not the day of the Lorde be darkenesse, and not light? euen darkenesse and no light in it.
21 I hate, I abhorre your feast dayes, and I will not smell in your solemne assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offeringes, and meate offeringes, I will not accept them, neither will I regarde the peace offering of your fat beastes.
23 Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songues, for I will not heare the melodie of thy violes.
24 And let iudgement run downe as water, and righteousnesse as a mightie riuer.
25 Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offringes in the wildernesse fourtie yeres, O house of Israel?
26 But ye haue borne Siccuth your king, and Chiun your images, and the starre of your gods, which ye made to your selues.
27 Therfore will I cause you to go into captiuitie beyonde Damascus, sayth the Lorde, whose name is the God of hoastes.
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.