« | Ecclesiastes 7 | » |
1 A good name is more worth then precious oyntment: & the day of death, is better the the day of byrth.
2 It is better to go into an house of mourning, then into a banketting house: For there is the ende of all men, and he that is liuing taketh it to heart.
3 Grauitie is better then to laugh: for when the countenaunce is heauie, the heart is refourmed.
4 The heart of the wise is in the mourning house: but the heart of the foolishe is in the house of myrth.
5 It is better to geue eare to the chastening of a wyse man, then to heare the songue of fooles:
6 For the laughyng of fooles is like the cracking of thornes vnder a pot: and that is but a vayne thing.
7 The wyse man hateth wrong dealing, and abhorreth the heart that coueteth rewardes.
8 Better is it to consider the ende of a thing then the beginning: The pacient of spirite, is better then the hye minded.
9 Be not hastyly angrie in thy minde: for wrath resteth in the bosome of fooles.
10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the dayes of the old time were better then they that be nowe? for that were no wyse question.
11 Wysdome with inheritaunce is good, yet better is it with them that without care may beholde the sunne:
12 For wysdome defendeth aswell as money, and the excellent knowledge & wysdome geueth lyfe vnto hym that hath it in possession.
13 Consider the worke of God, how that no man can make the thing straight, whiche he maketh crooked.
14 Use well the tyme of prosperitie, and remember the tyme of misfortune: for God doth so temper the one and the other, that a man can finde nothing els.
15 All thinges haue I considered in the time of my vanitie: that the iust man perisheth for his righteousnesse sake, & the vngodly liueth in his wickednesse.
16 Therfore be thou neither to righteous nor ouer wyse, that thou perishe not.
17 Be neither to vnrighteous also nor to foolishe, lest thou die before thy time.
18 It is good for thee to take holde of this, and not to let that go out of thy hande: For he that feareth God, commeth foorth with them all.
19 Wysdome geueth more courage vnto the wyse, then ten mightie men of the citie.
20 For there is not one iust vpon earth that doth good, and sinneth not.
21 Take no heede vnto euery word that is spoken, lest thou heare thy seruaunt curse thee:
22 (7:21) for thyne owne heart knoweth that thou thy self also hast ofttimes spoken euyll by other men.
23 (7:22) All these thinges haue I proued in wysdome, for I thought to be wyse, but she went farther from me then she was before:
24 (7:22) yea and so deepe, that I might not reache vnto her.
25 (7:23) I applied my minde also vnto knowledge, and to seeke and searche out science, wysdome, and vnderstanding, to knowe the foolishnesse of the vngodly, and the errour of doting fooles.
26 (7:24) And I founde that a woman is bitterer then death, the whiche hath cast abrode her heart as a net that men fishe with, and her handes are chaynes: Who so pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner wyll be taken with her.
27 (7:25) Beholde (saith the preacher) this haue I diligently searched out and proued: One thing must be considered with another, that a man may come by knowledge,
28 (7:25) which as yet I seeke, and finde it not. (7:26) Among a thousande men I haue founde one: but not one woman among all.
29 (7:27) Lo this onlye haue I founde, that God made man iust and right: but they sought many inuentions.
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.