« | Ezekiel 10 | » |
1 And as I loked, beholde in the firmament that was aboue the head of the Cherubims, as it were a Saphir stone [made] lyke the similitude of a throne, was seene ouer them.
2 Then spake he to hym that had the lynnen rayment vpon hym, and sayde: Crepe in betwene the wheeles that are vnder the Cherub, and take thine hand full of hotte coales out from betwene the Cherubims, and scatter them ouer the citie. And he crept in, that I myght see.
3 (Nowe the Cherubims stoode vpon the ryght syde of the house when the man went in, and the cloude fylled the inner court.
4 And the glorie of the Lorde remoued from the Cherubims, and came vpon the doore of the house: so that the temple was full of cloudes, and the court was full of the shine of the Lordes glorie.
5 Yea and the sounde of the Cherubims winges was hearde into the fore court, lyke as it had ben the voyce of the almightie God when he speaketh.)
6 Nowe when he had bidden the man that was clothed in lynnen, saying, Take fire from the middest of the wheeles which were vnder the Cherubims: he went, and stoode besyde the wheeles.
7 Then one Cherub reached foorth his hande from betwene the Cherubims vnto the fire that was betwene the Cherubims, and toke therof, and gaue it into the handes of hym that had on the lynnen rayment: which toke it, and went out.
8 And vnder the wynges of the Cherubims there appeared the likenesse of a mans hande.
9 I loked also, and behold foure wheeles beside the Cherubims, one wheele by one Cherub, and another by another Cherub, and the wheeles were to loke vpon after the fashion of the precious stone Tharsis.
10 As touchyng their appearaunce (they were all foure of one fashion) as yf one wheele had ben in another.
11 When they went foorth, they went vpon their foure sides, not turnyng backe in their goyng: for which way the [head of the] first loked, after it they went, so that they turned not backe in their goyng.
12 And their whole bodyes, their backes, their handes, and wynges, yea and the wheeles also were full of eyes rounde about the foure wheeles.
13 And to the wheeles, he cryed to them in my hearyng, O wheele,
14 Euery one of them had foure faces, so that the face of the first was the face of a Cherub, and the face of the seconde the face of a man, and of the thirde the face of a lion, and of the fourth the face of an egle.
15 And the Cherubims were lyfted vp: This is the beast that I sawe at the water of Chebar.
16 Nowe when the Cherubims went, the wheeles went by them: and when the Cherubims lyft vp their wynges to mount vp from the earth, the same wheeles also turned not from besides them.
17 Shortly when they stoode, these stoode also, and when they were lifted vp, the wheeles lift vp them selues also with them: for the spirite of the beast was in the wheeles.
18 Then the glorie of the Lorde departed from aboue the doore of the temple, and remayned vpon the Cherubims.
19 And the Cherubims flackered with their wynges, and lyft them selues vp from the earth, so that I sawe when they went, & the wheeles besides them, and they stoode at the doore of the east gate of the house of the Lorde, so the glorie of the God of Israel was vpon them on hye.
20 This is the beast that I sawe vnder the God of Israel by the riuer of Chebar, and I perceaued that it was the Cherubims.
21 Euery one had foure faces, and euery one foure wynges, and vnder their wynges the likenesse of mens handes.
22 Touchyng the similitude of their countenaunces, they were the very same countenaunces which I sawe at the riuer Chebar, and the selfe same appearaunces: euery one in his goyng went strayght forwarde.
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.