« | Ecclesiastes 5 | » |
1 (4:17) When thou commest into the house of God, kepe thy foote and drawe nye, that God which is at hande may heare that thou geue not the offerynges of fooles: for they knowe naught but to do euyll.
2 (5:1) Be not hastye with thy mouth, and let not thine heart speake any thyng rashly before God: For God is in heauen, and thou vpon earth, therfore let thy wordes be fewe.
3 (5:2) For where much carefulnesse is, there are many dreames: and where many wordes are, there men may heare fooles.
4 (5:3) If thou make a vowe vnto God, be not slacke to perfourme it: As for foolish vowes he hath no pleasure in them: yf thou promise any thyng, pay it.
5 (5:4) For better is it that thou make no vowe, then that thou shouldest promise and not pay.
6 (5:5) Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy fleshe for to sinne, neither say thou before the angell that it is thy ignoraunce: for then God wyll be angry at thy voyce, and destroy all the worke of thyne handes.
7 (5:6) And why? wheras are many dreames and many wordes, there are also diuers vanities: but loke that thou feare God.
8 (5:7) If thou seest the poore to be oppressed, and wrongfully dealt withall, so that equitie and right of the lawe is wrested in the lande, maruayle not thou at such a thyng: for he that is higher then the hyghest regardeth, and there be hygher then they.
9 (5:8) The encrease of the earth vpholdeth all thyng: yea the kyng hym selfe is maynteyned by husbandry.
10 (5:9) He that loueth money, wyll neuer be satisfied with money: and he that loueth riches, shalbe without the fruite therof: This is also a vayne thyng.
11 (5:10) Wheras much riches is, there are many also that spende them away: And what pleasure more hath he that possesseth them, sauyng that he may loke vpon them with his eyes?
12 (5:11) A labouryng man sleepeth swetely, whether it be litle or much that he eateth: but the aboundaunce of the riche wyll not suffer him to sleepe.
13 (5:12) Yet is there a sore plague which I haue seene vnder the sunne [namely] riches kept to the hurt of him that hath them in possession:
14 (5:13) For oft tymes they perishe with his great miserie and trouble: and yf he haue a chylde, it getteth nothyng.
15 (5:14) Lyke as he came naked out of his mothers wombe, so goeth he thyther agayne, and caryeth nothyng away with him of all his labour.
16 (5:15) This is a miserable plague, that he shall go euen as he came away: What helpeth it him then that he hath laboured in the wynde?
17 (5:16) All the dayes of his lyfe also he dyd eate in the darke, with great carefulnesse, sicknesse, and sorowe.
18 (5:17) Therfore me thinke it a better and a fayrer thyng, a man to eate and drynke, and to be refresshed of all his labour that he taketh vnder the sunne, all the dayes of his lyfe which God geueth him: for this is his portion.
19 (5:18) For vnto whom soeuer God geueth riches, goodes, and power, he geueth it him to enioy it, to take it for his portion, and to be refresshed of his labour: this is the gyft of God.
20 (5:19) For he thinketh not much howe long he shall lyue, forasmuch as God fylleth his heart with gladnesse.
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.