« | Ezekiel 19 | » |
1 Thou also take vp a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say: wherfore lay thy mother that lionesse among the lions? she norished her young ones among the lions whelpes.
3 One of her whelpes she brought vp, and it be came a lion, it learned to catche the pray and to deuour folke.
4 The heathen hearde of hym, and caught hym in their snare, and brought hym in hookes vnto the lande of Egypt.
5 Nowe when she sawe that she had wayted and her hope was lost, she toke another of her whelpes and made a lion of hym.
6 Which went among the lions, and became a fearce lion, learned to catche the pray, and to deuour folke,
7 He destroyed their palaces and made their cities waste, insomuch that the whole lande and euery thyng therin were vtterly desolate through the voyce of his roaryng.
8 Then set the heathen together on euery side of the countreis agaynst him, layde their nettes for him, and toke him in their pit.
9 So they put him in prison in chaynes, and brought him to the kyng of Babylon: they put him in holdes, that his voyce shoulde no more be hearde vpon the mountaynes of Israel.
10 As for thy mother, she is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she brought foorth fruite and braunches by the aboundaunt waters.
11 And she had strong roddes for the scepters of them that beare rule, and her stature was exalted on hye among the braunches, & she appeared in her height with the multitude of her braunches.
12 But she was pluckt vp in wrath, cast out vpon the grounde, the east wynde dryed vp her fruite [her braunches] were broken of & withered, as for the roddes of her strength, the fire consumed them.
13 And nowe she is planted in the wildernesse, in a dry and thirstie grounde.
14 And there is a fire gone out of the rodde of her brauches, it hath deuoured her fruite, so that she hath no strong rodde for a scepter to rule: This is a lamentation, and shalbe for a lamentation.
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.