« | Isaiah 11 | » |
1 And there shall come a sprig foorth of the stemne of Esai, and a young shoote shall growe out of his roote.
2 The spirite of the Lorde shall rest vpon him, the spirite of wysdome and vnderstanding, the spirite of counsaile and strength, the spirite of knowledge and of the feare of the Lorde,
3 And shall make hym of deepe iudgement in the feare of God: For he shall not geue sentence after the thing that shalbe brought before his eyes, neither reproue after the hearing of his eares:
4 But with righteousnesse shal he iudge the poore, and with equitie shall he refourme the simple of the worlde, and he shall smyte the worlde with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his mouth shall he slay the vngodly.
5 Righteousnesse shalbe the gyrdle of his loynes, and faythfulnesse the gyrding vp of his raynes.
6 The Woolfe shall dwell with the Lambe, and the Leoparde shall lye downe by the Goate: Bullockes, Lions, and cattell, shall kepe company together, so that a litle chylde shall leade them.
7 The Cowe and the Beare shall feede together, and their young ones shall lye together: the Lion shall eate strawe, lyke the Oxe or the Cowe.
8 The chylde whyle he sucketh shall haue a desire to the serpentes nest, and when he is weaned, he shall put his hande into the Cockatrice denne.
9 No man shall do euill vnto another, no man shall destroy another in all the hyll of my holynes: for the earth shalbe full of the knowledge of the Lorde: euen as the sea floweth ouer with water.
10 And in that day shall the gentiles enquire after the roote of Iesse, whiche shalbe set vp for a token vnto the people, and his rest shalbe glorious.
11 At the same time shall the Lord take in hande agayne to recouer the remnaunt of his people, whiche shalbe left aliue from the Assirians, Egyptians, Arabians, Morians, Elamites, Chaldees, Antiochians, & from the Ilandes of the sea,
12 And he shall set vp a token among the gentiles, and gather together the dispearsed of Israel, yea and the outcastes of Iuda from the foure corners of the worlde.
13 The hatred of Ephraim also and enemies of Iuda shalbe cleane rooted out: Ephraim shall beare none euyll wyll to Iuda, & Iuda shall not vexe Ephraim.
14 But they both together shall flee vppon the shoulders of the Philistines towarde the west, and spoyle them together that dwell towarde the east: The Idumites and the Moabites shal come vnder their handes, and the Amonites shalbe obedient vnto them.
15 The Lord also shal cleaue the tongues of the Egyptians sea, and with his mightie winde shall he lyft vp his hand ouer Nilus, and shall smyte his seuen streames, and make men go ouer drye shod.
16 And thus shall there be a way for his people that remayneth from the Assirians, lyke as it happened to the Israelites what tyme they departed out of the lande of Egypt.
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.