« | Deuteronomy 7 | » |
1 When the Lord thy God shall bryng thee into ye lande whither thou goest to possesse it, and hath cast out many nations before thee: Namely the Hethites, the Gergesites, the Amorites, the Chanaanites, the Pherezites, the Heuites, & the Iebusites, seuen nations, greater and mightier then thou:
2 And when the Lorde thy God hath set them before thee, thou shalt smyte them, and vtterly destroy them, & make no couenaunt with them, nor haue compassion on them.
3 Thou shalt make no mariages with them: neither geue thy daughter vnto his sonne, nor take his daughter vnto thy sonne.
4 For they wyll deceaue thy sonne, that he shoulde not folowe me, and they shal serue straunge gods: and then wyll the wrath of the Lorde waxe hot agaynst thee, and destroy thee sodenly.
5 But thus ye shall deale with them: Ye shall ouerthrowe their aulters, & breake downe their pillers, cut downe their groues, and burne their grauen images with fire:
6 For thou art an holy people vnto the Lorde thy God, the Lorde thy God hath chosen thee, to be a speciall people vnto hym selfe, aboue all nations that are vpon the earth.
7 The Lorde dyd not set his loue vpon you, nor chose you because ye were mo in number then any people (for ye were the fewest of all people)
8 But because the Lorde loued you, and because he would kepe the othe which he had sworne vnto your fathers, therfore hath the Lorde brought you out through a mightie hande, and deliuered you out of the house of bondage, euen from the hande of Pharao kyng of Egypt.
9 Understande therfore, that the Lorde thy God he is God, and that a true God, which kepeth appoyntment and mercie vnto them that loue hym and kepe his commaundementes, euen throughout a thousande generations:
10 And rewardeth them that hate hym to their face, so that he bryngeth them to naught, and doth not deferre the tyme, but rewardeth hym that hateth hym before his face.
11 Kepe thou therfore the commaundementes, and ordinaunces, and lawes, which I commaunde thee this day, that thou do them.
12 If ye hearken vnto these lawes, and obserue & do them: the Lord thy God also shall kepe vnto thee the appoyntment and the mercie which he sware vnto thy fathers.
13 He wyll loue thee, and blesse thee, and multiplie thee: he wyll also blesse the fruite of thy wombe, and the fruite of thy lande, thy corne, thy wine, and thine oyle, and the increase of thy kine, and the flockes of thy sheepe, in the lande which he sware vnto thy fathers to geue thee.
14 Thou shalt be blessed aboue all nations: there shalbe neither man nor woman vnfruitfull among you, nor any of your cattell shalbe barren.
15 Moreouer the Lorde wyll take away from thee all maner infirmities, & wyll put none of the euyll diseases of Egypt (which thou knowest) vpon thee: but wil sende them vpon all them that hate thee.
16 Thou shalt consume all the nations which the Lorde thy God shall deliuer thee: thine eye shall haue no pitie vpon them, neither shalt thou serue their gods, for that shalbe thy decay.
17 If thou say in thine heart: these nations are mo then I, howe can I cast them out?
18 Thou shalt not feare them: but remember what the Lorde thy God dyd vnto Pharao and vnto all Egypt.
19 The great temptations which thine eyes sawe, and the signes, & wonders, and the mightie hande, and stretched out arme, wherby the Lorde thy God brought thee out: euen so shall the Lord thy God do vnto all nations of whom thou art afrayde.
20 Moreouer the Lorde thy God wyll sende hornets among them, vntil they that are left, and hide them selues from thee, be destroyed.
21 Thou shalt not feare the: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mightie God and a terrible.
22 For the Lorde thy God wyll put out these nations before thee by a litle and a litle: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beastes of the fielde increase vpon thee.
23 But the Lorde thy God shall geue them ouer before thee, and shall destroy them with a mightie destruction, vntyll he haue brought them to naught.
24 And he shall deliuer their kynges into thine hande, and thou shalt destroye their name from vnder heauen: There shall no man be able to stande before thee, vntyll thou haue destroyed them.
25 The graue images of their gods shalt thou burne with fire: and couet not the golde and siluer that is on them, nor take it vnto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abhomination before the Lorde thy God.
26 Bryng not therfore abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thyng as it is: but vtterly defie it and abhorre it, for it is a cursed thyng.
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.