« | Isaiah 22 | » |
1 The burthen of the valley of vision. What hast thou to do here, that thou clymbest to the house toppes?
2 Thou that art full of tumultuousnes, thou troublesome and proude citie: Thy slayne men are neither put to death with the sworde, nor dead in battayle.
3 All thy captaynes are fugitiue together, the archers haue taken them prisoners: All they I say that are founde in thee are in captiuitie together, and they also that fled farre of.
4 Therfore sayde I, Let me alone, and I wyll make lamentation: Ye shall not be able to comfort me because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
5 For this is a day of trouble, of ruine, and of destruction, that the Lorde the God of hoastes wyll bryng to passe in the valley of vision, breakyng downe the citie, and crying vnto mountaynes.
6 Elam bare the quiuer with a charret of footmen and horsemen, and the citie of Kir shewed the shielde open.
7 Thy chiefe valley also was full of charrettes, and the horsemen set their faces directly towarde the gate.
8 And in that day dyd the enemie take away the couer of Iuda, and then didst thou loke towarde the armour of the house of the forest.
9 Ye haue seene also the broken places of the citie of Dauid, howe that they are many, and ye gathered together the waters of the lower poole.
10 As for the houses of Hierusalem ye haue numbred them, and the houses haue ye broken downe, to make the wall strong.
11 A pit also haue ye made betweene the two walles for the waters of the olde poole, & haue not regarded the maker therof, neither had respect vnto hym that fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day dyd the Lorde God of hoastes call men vnto weepyng and mournyng, to baldnesse and girdyng about with sackcloth.
13 And beholde they haue ioy and gladnesse, slaying oxen, and kyllyng sheepe, eatyng fleshe, and drynkyng wine: Let vs eate and drynke, for to morowe we shall dye.
14 And it came to the eares of the Lorde of hoastes, This iniquitie shall not be purged from you tyll ye dye, saith the Lorde God of hoastes.
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hoastes: Get ye vnto yonder treasurer, euen vnto Sebna, which is the ruler of the house.
16 What hast thou to do here? and whom hast thou here? that thou shouldest here hewe thee out a sepulchree, as it were one that heweth hym out a sepulchree on hye, or that graueth an habitation for hym selfe on an harde rocke?
17 Beholde O thou man, the Lorde shal cary thee away into captiuitie, and shall surely couer thee with confusion.
18 The Lorde shal turne thee ouer like a ball with his handes [and shall sende thee] into a farre countrey: there shalt thou dye, and there in steade of the charrets of thy pompe, shall the house of thy Lorde haue confusion.
19 I wyll driue thee from thy place, and out of thy dwellyng shal he ouerthrowe thee.
20 And in that day shall I call my seruaunt Eliakim the sonne of Helkia:
21 And with thy garmentes wyll I clothe hym, and with thy girdle wyll I strength hym: thy power also wyll I commit into his hande, and he shalbe a father of such as dwell in Hierusalem, and in the house of Iuda.
22 And the key of the house of Dauid wyll I lay vpon his shoulder: so that he shall open and no man shut, he shall shut and no man open.
23 And I wyll fasten hym as a nayle in a sure place, and he shalbe the glorious seate of his fathers house.
24 Moreouer, all generations and posterities shall hang vpon him all the glorie of their fathers house, all vessels both great and small, and all instrumentes of measure and musicke.
25 In that day saith the Lord of hoastes, shall the nayle that is fastened in the sure place, depart and be broken, and fall: and the burthen that was vpon it shalbe pluckt away, for so the Lorde hath spoken.
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.