« | Deuteronomy 17 | » |
1 Thou shalt offer vnto the Lorde thy God no oxe nor sheepe wherin is blemishe or any euyll fauourednesse: for that is an abhomination vnto the Lorde thy God.
2 If there be founde among you within any of thy gates which the Lorde thy God geueth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickednesse in the sight of the Lorde thy God, in transgressyng his couenaunt:
3 And gone and serued straunge gods, and worshipped them, as the sunne or moone, or any of the hoast of heauen, which I haue not commaunded:
4 And it is tolde thee, & thou hast hearde of it, then shalt thou enquire diligently: and if it be true, & the thyng of a suretie that such abhomination is wrought in Israel:
5 Then shalt thou bryng foorth that man or that woman (which haue committed that wicked thyng) vnto the gates, and shalt stone them with stones tyll they dye.
6 At the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death, dye: and at the mouth of one witnesse, let no man dye.
7 The handes of the witnesses shalbe first vpon him, to kyll him, & afterward the handes of all the people: and thou shalt put the wicked away from thee.
8 If there rise a matter to harde for thee in iudgement betweene blood and blood, betweene plea and plea, betweene plague and plague, and the matters come to strife within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee vp vnto the place whiche the Lorde thy God hath chosen,
9 And come vnto the priestes the Leuites, and vnto the iudge that shalbe in those dayes, and aske: and they shall shewe thee the sentence of iudgement.
10 And thou must do accordyng to that which they of that place (which the Lord had chosen) shewe thee, and thou shalt obserue to do accordyng to all that they enfourme thee:
11 Accordyng to the sentence of the lawe which they tell thee, shalt thou do: and bowe not from that which they shewe thee, neither to the right hande nor to the left.
12 And that man that wyll do presumptuously, and wyll not hearken vnto the priest (that standeth there before the Lorde thy God to minister) or vnto the iudge: that man shall dye, and thou shalt put away euyll from Israel.
13 And all the people shall heare, & feare, and shall do no more presumptuously.
14 When thou art come vnto the lande which the Lorde thy God geueth thee, and enioyest it, and dwellest therin, and if thou shalt say, I wyll set a king ouer me, lyke as all the nations that are about me:
15 Then thou shalt make hym king ouer thee whom the Lorde thy God shall choose: Euen one from among thy brethren shalt thou make kyng ouer thee, and thou mayest not set a straunger ouer thee, which is not of thy brethren.
16 But he shall not multiplie horses to hym selfe, nor bryng the people agayne to Egypt to increase the number of horses: forasmuch as the Lorde hath sayde vnto you, ye shall hencefoorth go no more agayne that way.
17 Also he ought not to multiplie wyues to him selfe, lest his heart turne away, neither shall he gather hym siluer and golde to much.
18 And when he is set vpon the seate of his kingdome, he shall write hym out a copie of this lawe in a booke before the priestes the Leuites:
19 And it shalbe with hym, and he ought to reade therin all the dayes of his life, that he may learne to feare the Lorde his God, and to kepe all the wordes of this lawe and these ordinaunces, for to do them:
20 And that his heart arise not aboue his brethren, and that he turne not from the commaundement to the right hand or to the left: but that he may prolong his dayes in his kyngdome, he and his children in the middes of Israel.
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.