« | Genesis 9 | » |
1 And god blessed Noah, and his sonnes, & saide vnto them, be fruitfull and multiplie, and replenishe the earth.
2 The feare of you, & the dread of you, shalbe vpon euery beast of the earth, and vpon euery foule of the ayre, vpon al that moueth vpon the earth, and vpon all the fishes of the sea, into your hande are they deliuered.
3 Euery thyng that moueth it selfe, and that liueth, shall be meate for you, euen as the greene hearbe haue I geue you all thinges.
4 But flesh in the life therof [which is] the blood therof, shall ye not eate.
5 And surely your blood of your lyues wyl I require: at the hande of euery beast wyll I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hande of mans brother wyll I require the life of man.
6 Who so sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man.
7 But be fruitefull, and multiplie you, breede in the earth, and increase therein.
8 God spake also vnto Noah, & to his sonnes with hym, saying:
9 Beholde, I, euen I establishe my couenaunt with you, and with your seede after you:
10 And with euery liuing creature that is with you, in foule, in cattell, in euery beast of the earth whiche is with you, of all that go out of the arke, whatsoeuer liuing thyng of the earth it be.
11 And my couenaunt I make with you, that from hencefoorth euery fleshe be not rooted out with the waters of a fludde, neither shall there be a fludde to destroy the earth any more.
12 And God sayde: this is the token of the couenaut which I make betweene me and you, and euery lyuyng creature that is with you, for euer.
13 I do set my bowe in the cloude, and it shall be for a token betweene me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to passe, that when I bryng a cloude vpon the earth, the bowe also shalbe seene in ye same cloude.
15 And I wyll thinke vpon my couenaunt whiche is betweene me and you, and euery liuing creature in all fleshe: and it shall no more come to passe, that waters make a fludde to destroy all fleshe.
16 And the bowe shalbe in the cloude, and I wyll loke vpon it, that I may thinke vpon the euerlasting couenaunt, betweene god and euery liuing creature in all fleshe that is vpon the earth.
17 And God sayd vnto Noah, This is the token of the couenaunt which I haue made betweene me and all fleshe that is vpon earth.
18 The sonnes of Noah goyng foorth of the arke, were Sem, Ham, & Iapheth: and Ham is the father of Chanaan.
19 These are the three sonnes of Noah, & of them was the whole earth ouerspread.
20 Noah also began to be an husbandman, and planted a vineyarde.
21 And he drynkyng of the wyne, was dronken, and vncouered within his tent.
22 And Ham the father of Chanaan, seeyng the nakednesse of his father, tolde his two brethren without.
23 And Sem and Iapheth takyng a garment, layde it vpon their shoulders, and commyng backwarde, couered the nakednesse of their father, namely their faces beyng turned away, lest they should see their fathers nakednesse.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knewe what his younger sonne had done vnto him.
25 And he sayde: cursed be Chanaan, a seruaunt of seruauntes shall he be vnto his brethren.
26 He sayde moreouer: blessed be the Lord God of Sem, and Chanaan shalbe his seruaunt.
27 God shall enlarge Iapheth: and he shall dwell in the tentes of Sem, and Chanaan shalbe his seruaunt.
28 Noah liued after the fludde three hundred and fiftie yeres.
29 And all the dayes of Noah, were nine hundred and fiftie yeres, and he dyed.
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.