« | Exodus 13 | » |
1 And the Lord spake vnto Moyses, saying:
2 Sanctifie vnto me al the first borne, what so euer openeth the wombe among ye chyldren of Israel, aswell of man as of beast, for it is mine.
3 And Moyses saide vnto the people: ye ought to remember this day in whiche ye came out of Egypt out of ye house of bondage: for through a myghtie hande the Lorde brought you from thence: there shall no leauened bread be eaten.
4 This daye came ye out, in the month Abib
5 When the Lorde hath brought thee into the lande of the Chanaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Heuites, and Iebusites, which he sware vnto thy fathers that he would geue thee, a lande wherin mylke and hony floweth: thou shalt kepe this seruice in this same month.
6 Seuen dayes thou shalt eate vnleauened bread, and in the seuenth daye it is the feast of the Lorde.
7 Unleauened bread shalbe eaten seuen dayes, and there shal no leauened bread be seene nor yet eaten with thee in al thy quarters.
8 And thou shalt shewe thy sonne in that day, saying: This is done because of that whiche the Lorde dyd vnto me when I came out of Egypt.
9 And it shalbe as a signe vnto thee vppon thyne hande, and as a remembraunce betweene thyne eyes, that the Lordes lawe may be in thy mouth: for in a strong hande the Lorde brought thee out of Egypt.
10 Kepe therfore this ordinaunce in his season from yere to yere.
11 And it wyll come to passe that ye Lord shal bryng the land of the Chanaanites, which he sware vnto thee and to thy fathers, and shall geue it thee.
12 And then thou shalt appoynt vnto the Lorde all that openeth the matrice, and euery firstlyng that commeth of a beast which thou hast, yf it be a male, it shalbe the Lordes.
13 And euery firstlyng of an asse, thou shalt redeeme with a lambe: yf thou redeeme hym not, thou shalt breake his necke: All the first borne amongst thy chyldren also shalt thou bye out.
14 And when thy sonne aske thee in time to come, saying: what is this? Thou shalt saye vnto hym: With a myghtie hande the Lorde brought vs out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
15 And when Pharao was very loth to let vs go, the Lorde slewe all the first borne in the lande of Egypt, aswell the first borne of man, as the firstlyng of beast: Therefore I sacrifice vnto the Lorde all the males that open the matrice: but all the first borne of my chyldren I redeeme.
16 This shalbe as a token vppon thyne hande, & as a remembraunce betweene thyne eyes, that the Lorde brought vs out of Egypt through a myghtie hande.
17 It came to passe, that when Pharao had let the people go, God caryed them not through the way of the lande of the Philistines, which was the more nygh way. But God saide: lest peraduenture the people repent whe they see warre, and so turne agayne to Egypt.
18 But God led the people about through the way of the wyldernesse of the redde sea, and the chyldren of Israel went vp harnessed out of the lande of Egypt.
19 And Moyses toke the bones of Ioseph with him: for he made the children of Israel sweare, saying: God wyl surely visite you, and ye shall take my bones away hence with you.
20 And they toke their iourney from Sucoth, and abode in Etham in the edge of the wyldernesse.
21 And the Lorde went before them by day in a pyller of a cloude to leade them the way, and by nyght in a pyller of fire to geue them lyght, that they myght go both by day and nyght.
22 The piller of the cloude departed not by daye, nor the pyller of fire by nyght, out of the syght of the people.
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.