« | Hosea 9 | » |
1 Do not thou triumph O Israel, make no boastyng ouer ioyous thinges as do the heathen: for thou hast committed adulterie agaynst thy God, whorishe rewardes hast thou loued more then all the corne floores.
2 The corne floore and the wine presse shall not feede them: and the newe wine shall fayle them.
3 They shall not dwell in the Lordes lande, but Ephraim shall turne agayne into Egypt, and eate vncleane thinges among the Assyrians.
4 They powre out no wine for a drynke offeryng vnto the Lorde, neither shall their slayne offeringes be pleasaunt vnto him, they shalbe vnto them as the bread of mourners, all they that eate shalbe defiled: for their bread for their soules shall not come into the house of the Lorde.
5 What wyll ye do then in the solempne day, and in the feast day of the Lorde?
6 For beholde they are gone away for destruction, [but] Egypt shall gather them, and Memphis shall bury them: the nettles shall possesse the pleasaunt [places] of their siluer, thornes shalbe in their tabernacles.
7 The dayes of visitation are come, the dayes of recompence are come: and then shall Israel knowe that they were deceaued by a foolishe, mad, & franticke prophete: for the multitude of thine iniquitie [God] shall multiplie enemies agaynst thee.
8 The watchman of Ephraim [was] with my God [but] the prophete [is] the snare of a fouler in all his wayes, and an abhomination in the house of his God.
9 They haue gone to the bottome, they are corrupt as in the dayes of Gibea: [therfore] he wyll remember their iniquitie, and visite their sinnes.
10 I founde Israel like grapes in the wildernesse, & sawe their fathers as the first ripe in ye figge tree at her first season: but they went to Baal Peor, & seperated them selues to that shame, and became as abhominable as their louers.
11 Ephraim their glorie shall flee away like a birde: for birth, for wombe, and conception.
12 And though they bryng vp children, yet I wyll destroy them before they be men: Yea wo shall come to them when I depart from them.
13 Ephraim (as me thinke) is planted in a pleasaunt place, like as is Tyrus: but nowe must she bryng her owne children foorth to the manslayer.
14 O Lorde geue them: what shalt thou geue them? Geue them an vnfruitfull wombe, and drye breastes.
15 All their wickednesse is done at Gilgall, there do I abhorre them: for the vngratiousnesse of their owne inuentions I wyll driue them out of my house, I wyll loue them no more, for all their princes are vnfaithfull.
16 Ephraim is hewen downe, their roote is dried vp, so that they shall bryng no more fruite: yea and though they bryng foorth any, yet wyll I slay euen the best beloued of their body.
17 My God shall cast them away, for they haue not ben obedient vnto him, therfore shall they wander among the heathen.
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.