« | Exodus 20 | » |
1 And God spake all these wordes, and said.
2 I am the Lord thy GOD, whiche haue brought thee out of the lande of Egypt, out of ye house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt haue none other Gods in my sight.
4 Thou shalt make thee no grauen image, neyther any similitude that is in heauen aboue, eyther in the earth beneath, or in the waters vnder the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bowe downe to them, neyther serue them: for I the Lord thy God, am a gelous God, and visite the sinne of the fathers vpon the chyldren, vnto the thirde and fourth generation of them that hate me:
6 And shewe mercy vnto thousandes in them that loue me, and kepe my commaundementes.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lorde thy God in vayne: for the Lorde will not holde him giltlesse that taketh his name in vayne.
8 Remember the sabboth day that thou sanctifie it.
9 Sixe dayes shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do.
10 But the seuenth day is the sabboth of the Lorde thy God: in it thou shalt do no maner of worke, thou and thy sonne, and thy daughter, thy man seruaunt, and thy mayde seruaunt, thy cattel, and the straunger that is within thy gates.
11 For in sixe dayes the Lorde made heauen and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seuenth day: wherfore the Lorde blessed the seuenth day, and halowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy dayes may be long in the lande whiche the Lorde thy God geueth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kyll.
14 Thou shalt not commit adulterie.
15 Thou shalt not steale.
16 Thou shalt not beare false witnesse agaynst thy neyghbour.
17 Thou shalt not couet thy neyghbours house, neyther shalt thou couet thy neyghbours wyfe, nor his man seruaut, nor his mayde, nor his oxe, nor his asse, or whatsoeuer thy neighbour hath.
18 And all the people saw the thunder and lightning, and the noyse of the trumpet, and the mountayne smoking: And when the people sawe it, they remoued, and stoode a farre of:
19 And said vnto Moyses, Talke thou with vs, and we wyll heart: But let not God talke with vs, lest we dye.
20 And Moyses sayde vnto the people: feare not, for God is come to proue you, and that his feare may be before your eyes, that ye sinne not.
21 And the people stoode a farre of: and Moyses went into the thicke cloude where God was.
22 And the Lorde sayde vnto Moyses, Thus thou shalt say vnto the chyldren of Israel: Ye haue seene that I haue talked with you from out of heauen.
23 Ye shall not make therfore with me gods of siluer, neyther shall ye make ye gods of golde.
24 An aulter of earth thou shalt make vnto me, and theron offer thy burnt offeringes, and thy peace offeringes, thy sheepe, and thyne oxen: In all places where I shall put the remembraunce of my name, thyther I wyll come vnto thee, and blesse thee.
25 And if thou wylt make me an aulter of stone, see thou make it not of hewen stone: els if thou lyft vp thy toole vpon it, thou hast poluted it.
26 Neyther shalt thou go vp by steppes vnto myne aulter, that thy shame be not shewed theron.
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.