« | Isaiah 38 | » |
1 About this tyme was Hezekia sicke vnto death, and the prophete Esai the sonne of Amos came vnto hym, and sayde, Thus commaundeth the Lorde: Set thyne house in order, for thou must dye, and shalt not escape.
2 Then Hezekia turned his face toward the wall, and prayed vnto the Lorde,
3 And sayde: Remember O Lorde I beseche thee, that I haue walked before thee in trueth and a stedfast heart, & haue done the thyng that is pleasaunt to thee. And Hezekia wept sore.
4 Then sayde God vnto Esai,
5 Go and speake vnto Ezekia: The Lord God of Dauid thy father sendeth thee this worde, I haue hearde thy prayer, and considered thy teares: beholde I wyll put fifteene yeres mo vnto thy lyfe,
6 And deliuer thee and the citie also from the hande of the kyng of Assyria: for I wyll defende the citie.
7 And take thee this token of the Lord, that he wyll do it as he hath spoken.
8 Beholde, I wyll returne the shadowe of Ahaz diall that nowe is layde out with the sunne, and bring it ten degrees backwarde: So the sunne turned ten degrees backwarde, the which he was descended afore.
9 A thankesgeuyng which Hezekia kyng of Iuda wrote, when he had ben sicke and was recouered.
10 I thought I shoulde haue gone to the gates of hell when myne age was shortened, and haue wanted the residue of my yeres.
11 I spake within my selfe, I wyll neuer visite the Lorde [the Lorde I say] in this lyfe: I wyll neuer see man among the dwellers of the worlde.
12 Myne age is folden together & taken away from me lyke a sheepheardes cotage, I haue hewen of my lyfe by my sinnes, lyke as a weauer cutteth of his webbe: He wyll with pinyng sicknesse make an ende of me, yea he wyll make an ende of me in one day.
13 I thought I woulde haue lyued vntyll the morowe, but he brused my bones lyke a lion: and in one day thou wylt make an ende of me.
14 Then chattered I lyke a swallowe, and lyke a crane, and mourned lyke a doue, I lift vp mine eyes into the heyght: O Lorde [sayde] my sicknesse kepeth me downe, ease thou me.
15 What shall I say? The Lorde hath made a promise to me, yea and he hym selfe hath perfourmed it: I shall therefore so long as I lyue remember this bitternesse of my lyfe.
16 O Lorde, to all those that shall lyue hereafter, yea to all men shall it be knowen, that euen in those yeres I haue a ioyfull lyfe, and that it was thou that causedst me to sleepe agayne, thou hast geuen lyfe to me.
17 Beholde, bitter as gall was my pensiuenesse, so sore longed I for health, and it was thy pleasure to deliuer my lyfe from the filthy pit: for thou it is [O Lorde] that hast cast all my sinnes behynde thy backe.
18 For hell prayseth not thee, death doth not magnifie thee: they that go downe into the graue prayse not thy trueth:
19 But the lyuyng, yea the lyuyng knowledge thee, as I do this day: the father telleth his children of thy faythfulnesse.
20 To heale me it is the Lordes worke, and we will sing my songes in the house of the Lorde all the dayes of our lyfe.
21 And Esai sayde: Take a plaster of figges, and lay it vpon the sore, so shall it be whole.
22 Then sayd Hezekia: O what a miracle is this, that I shall go vp into the house of the Lorde.
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.