« | Jeremiah 16 | » |
1 Thus sayde the Lorde vnto me:
2 Thou shalt take thee no wife, nor beget children in this place.
3 For of the children that are borne in this place, of their mothers that haue borne them, and of their fathers that haue begotten them in this lande, thus saith the Lorde.
4 They shall dye an horrible death, no man shall weepe for them, nor bury them, but they shall lye as dunge vpon the earth: they shall perishe through the sworde & hunger, and their bodyes shalbe meate for the fowles of the ayre, and beastes of the earth.
5 For thus saith the Lorde, Go not thou into the house of mournyng, nor come to mourne and weepe for them: for I haue taken my peace from this people saith the Lorde, yea my fauour and my mercies.
6 And in this lande shall they dye olde and young, and shall not be buryed: no man shall beweepe them, no man shall clippe or shaue hym selfe for them.
7 They shall not wryng their handes in mournyng wise on their dead one to comfort another: one shall not offer another the cup of consolation, to forget their heauinesse for their father and mother.
8 Thou shalt not go into their feast house, to sit downe to eate or drynke with them:
9 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde, I shall take away out of this place the voyce of mirth and gladnesse, the voyce of the bridegrome and of the bride, yea and that in your dayes, that ye may see it.
10 Nowe when thou shewest this people all these wordes, and they say vnto thee, Wherfore hath the Lord deuised all this great plague for vs? or what is the offence and sinne that we haue done agaynst the Lorde our God?
11 Then make thou them this aunswere: Because your fathers haue forsaken me, saith the Lorde, and haue walked after straunge gods, whom they honoured and worshipped: but me haue they forsaken, and haue not kept my lawe.
12 And ye with your shamefull blasphemies haue exceeded the wickednesse of your fathers: for euery one of you hath folowed the frowarde and euyll imaginations of his owne heart, and is not obedient vnto me.
13 Therfore wyll I cast you out of this lande, into a lande that ye and your fathers knowe not: and there shall ye serue straunge gods day and nyght, there wyll I shewe you no fauour.
14 Beholde therfore saith the Lorde, the dayes are come that it shall no more be sayd: The Lorde liueth which brought the children of Israel out of the lande of Egypt:
15 But it shalbe sayde, The Lorde liueth that brought the children of Israel from the north, and from all landes where he had scattered them: for I wyll bryng them agayne into the lande that I gaue their fathers.
16 Beholde, saith the Lorde, I wyll sende out many fisshers to take them, and after that wyll I sende out many hunters, to hunt them out from all mountaynes and hylles, and out of the caues of stone.
17 For mine eyes behold all their wayes, and they can not be hyd fro my face: neither can their wicked deedes be kept close out of my sight.
18 But first wyll I sufficiently rewarde their shameful blasphemies and sinnes, because they haue defiled my lande with their stinckyng carions and their abhominations, wherwith they haue filled mine heritage.
19 O Lorde my strength, my power and refuge in tyme of trouble: the gentiles shall come vnto thee from the endes of the worlde, and say, Ueryly our fathers haue cleaued vnto lyes, their idols are but vayne and vnprofitable.
20 Howe can a man make those his gods, which are not able to be gods?
21 And therfore I wyll once teach them, saith the Lorde, I wyll shewe them my hande and my power, and they shall knowe that my name is 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.