« | Isaiah 52 | » |
1 Vp Sion, vp, take thy strength vnto thee, put on thyne honest rayment O Hierusalem, thou holy citie: for from this tyme foorth there shall no vncircumcised nor vncleane person come in thee.
2 Shake thee from the dust, arise and stande vp O Hierusalem: Plucke out thy necke from the bonde, O thou captiue daughter Sion.
3 For thus saith the Lorde: ye are solde for naught, therfore shal ye be redeemed also without any money.
4 For thus saith the Lorde God: My people went downe afore tyme into Egypt, there to be straungers, and the kyng of the Assyrians oppressed them without any cause.
5 And nowe, what profite is it to me saith the Lorde? that my people is freely caryed away, & brought into heauinesse by their rulers, and my name euer styll blasphemed saith the Lorde.
6 But that my people may knowe my name, I my selfe wyll speake in that day, Beholde here am I.
7 O howe beautifull are the feete of the embassadour that bryngeth the message from the mountayne and proclaymeth peace? that bryngeth the good tidinges, and preacheth health, and saith vnto Sion, Thy God is the kyng.
8 Thy watchmen shall lyft vp their voyce, with loude voyce they shall reioyce together: for they shall see plainly when the Lorde shall conuert Sion.
9 Be glad O thou desolate Hierusalem, and reioyce together: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath deliuered Hierusalem.
10 The Lorde hath made bare his holy arme, and shewed it foorth in the syght of all the gentiles, and all the endes of the earth hath seene the sauyng health of our God.
11 Away, away, get you out from hence, and touche no vncleane thyng: Go out from among such, and be cleane that beare the vessell of the Lorde.
12 For ye shall not escape by runnyng, nor by fleeyng away: but the Lorde shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall gather you together.
13 Beholde my seruaunt shal deale prosperously, therfore shal he be magnified, exalted, and greatly honoured.
14 Lyke as the multitude shall wonder vpon hym, because his face shalbe so defourmed and not as mans face, his beautie like no man:
15 Euen so shall the multitude of the gentiles speake of him, and kynges shall shut their mouthes before hym: for they haue seene that which was not tolde to them, and haue vnderstande that wherof they had not hearde.
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.