« | Isaiah 41 | » |
1 Be styll you Ilandes and hearken vnto me: let the people lay their strength together, let them come hither, and then shew their cause: we will go to the lawe together.
2 Who raysed vp the iust man from the east, and called hym to go foorth? who cast downe the people, and subdued the kynges before him? that he may throw them al to the ground with his sworde, and scatter them lyke stubble with his bowe.
3 He foloweth vpon them, and goeth safely him selfe, & that in a way where before his foote had not troden.
4 Who hath made and created these thinges? euen he that called the generations from the beginning, euen I the Lorde whiche am the first, and with the last.
5 The Isles sawe and did feare, and the endes of the earth were abashed, drewe nye, and came hither.
6 Euery man helped his neighbour, and sayd to his brother, be strong.
7 The carpenter comforted the goldsmith, and the goldsmith the hammerman, saying, sowder wyll do very well in it: and they fastened it with nayles, that it shoulde not be moued.
8 But thou Israel art my seruaunt, thou Iacob whom I haue chose, thou art the seede of Abraham my beloued.
9 Thou art he whom I led from the endes of the earth: for I called thee euen from among the glorious men of it, and sayd vnto thee, Thou art my seruaunt, I haue chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Be not afraide, for I am with thee: Melt not away as waxe, for I am thy God to strength thee, helpe thee, and kepe thee with the right hande of my righteousnesse.
11 Beholde, all they that resist thee shall come to confusion and shame, and thine aduersaries shalbe destroyed & brought to naught.
12 So that who so seeketh after them, shall not finde them, thy destroyers shall perishe: and so shall they that vndertake to make battayle against thee be as that is not, & as a thing of naught.
13 For I the Lorde thy God wyll strengthen thy right hande, euen I that say vnto thee, Feare not, I wyll helpe thee.
14 Be not afraide thou litle worme Iacob, and thou despised Israel: for I wil helpe thee saith the Lorde, and the holy one of Israel thy redeemer.
15 Beholde, I will make thee a treading cart and a newe flaile, that thou mayest threshe and grinde the mountaines, and bring the hilles to powder.
16 Thou shalt fanne them, and the winde shall carrie them away, and the whirle winde shall scatter them: but thou shalt reioyce in the Lorde, and shalt delight in the holy one of Israel.
17 When the thirstie and poore seeke water and finde none, and when their tongue is drye of thirst, I geue it them saith the Lorde, I the God of Israel forsake them not.
18 I bryng foorth fluddes in the hilles, and welles in the playne fieldes: I turne the wildernesse to riuers, and the drye lande to conduites of water.
19 I plant in the waste grounde trees of Cedar, Boxe, Myrre, and Oliues, and in the drie I set Firre trees, Elmes, and Hawthornes together.
20 All this do I, that they altogether may see and marke, perceaue with their heartes and consider that the hande of the Lorde maketh these thinges, and that the holy one of Israel bringeth them to passe.
21 Stande at your cause saith the Lord, & bryng foorth your strongest grounde, saith the kyng of Iacob.
22 Let them bring foorth their gods, and let their gods tel vs what shall chaunce hereafter, yea let them shewe vs the thinges that are past what they be, let them declare them vnto vs, that we may take them to heart, and knowe them hereafter.
23 Either shewe vs thinges for to come, and tell vs what shall be done hereafter, so shall we know that ye are gods: do something either good or bad, so wyl we both knowledge the same, and tell it out.
24 Beholde ye are gods of naught, and your making is of naught: yea abhomible is the man that hath chosen you.
25 Neuerthelesse, I haue waked vp one from the north, and he shall come from the east, he shal call vpon my name, and shall treade vpon princes as vpon clay, and as the potter treadeth downe the mire.
26 Who declared this from the beginning, and we will knowe hym: or from the olde times, and we wil confesse and say that he is righteous? but there is none that sheweth or declareth any thing, there is none also that heareth your wordes.
27 The first is he that shall say to Sion, beholde, beholde, they are present: and to Hierusalem it selfe wyll I geue an euangelist.
28 But when I consider, there is not a man among them, nor any that can geue counsayle, nor that when I examine them that can aunswere one worde.
29 Lo wicked are they, and vayne, with the thinges also that they take in hand, yea their images are but winde and vayne thinges.
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.