« | Deuteronomy 18 | » |
1 The priestes of the Leuites, & all the tribe of Leui, must haue no part nor inheritaunce with Israel: but shall eate ye fierie offeringes of the Lorde, and his inheritaunce.
2 Therfore shall they haue no inheritaunce among their brethren: but the Lorde he is their inheritaunce, as he hath sayde vnto them.
3 And the priestes duetie of the people, and of them that offer, whether it be oxe or sheepe, they must geue vnto the priest the shoulder, & the two chekes, and the mawe.
4 The first fruites also of thy corne, wine, and oyle, and the first of the fleece of thy sheepe shalt thou geue hym.
5 For the Lorde thy God hath chosen hym out of all thy tribes, to stande and to minister in the name of the Lorde, he and his sonnes for euer.
6 If a Leuite come out of any of thy cities of all Israel, where he is a soiourner, and come with all the lust of his heart vnto the place which the Lorde hath chosen:
7 He shall minister in the name of the Lorde his God, as his other brethren the Leuites do which remayne there before the Lorde.
8 And they shall haue lyke portions to eate, beside that which commeth of the sale of his patrimonie.
9 When thou art come into the lande which the Lorde thy God geueth thee, thou shalt not learne to do after the abhominations of those nations.
10 Let there not be founde among you any one that maketh his sonne or his daughter to go through the fire, or that vseth witchcraft, or a regarder of tymes, or that regardeth the fleeyng of fowles.
11 Or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or that coucelleth with spirites, or a soothsayer, or that asketh counsayle of the dead.
12 For all that do such thynges, are abhomination vnto the Lorde: and because of these abhominations, the Lorde thy God doth cast them out before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect therfore in the sight of the Lorde thy God.
14 For these nations which thou shalt possesse, hearken vnto regarders of tymes, and vnto sorcerers: but the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 The Lorde thy God wyll stirre vp vnto thee a prophete among you, euen of thy brethren like vnto me, vnto hym ye shall hearken,
16 Accordyng to all that thou desiredst of the Lorde thy God in Horeb in the day of the assemblie, when thou saydest: Let me heare the voyce of my Lorde God no more, nor see this great fire any more, that I dye not.
17 And the Lorde sayde vnto me: They haue well spoken.
18 I wyll raise them vp a prophete from among their brethren lyke vnto thee, and wyll put my wordes in his mouth, and he shall speake vnto them all that I shall commaunde hym.
19 And whosoeuer wyll not hearken vnto my wordes, which he shall speake in my name, I wyll require it of hym.
20 But the prophete which shall presume to speake a worde in my name, which I haue not comaunded hym to speake, or that speaketh in the name of strauge gods, the same prophete shall dye.
21 And if thou say in thine heart: howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken?
22 Euen when a prophete speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing folowe not, nor come to passe: that is the thyng which the Lorde hath not spoken, but the prophete hath spoken it presumptuously: Thou shalt not therfore be afrayde of hym.
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.