« | Job 10 | » |
1 My soule is cut of though I lyue, I wil powre out my coplaynte against my selfe, and will speake out of the very heauinesse of my soule.
2 I will say vnto God: O do not condempne me, but shewe me wherefore thou contendest so with me?
3 Thinkest thou it welldone to oppresse me? to cast me of beyng the workes of thy handes? and to mayntayne the counsell of the vngodly?
4 Hast thou fleshy eyes? or doest thou loke as a man loketh?
5 Or are thy dayes as the dayes of man? and thy yeres as mans yeres?
6 That thou makest such inquisition for my wickednes, and searchest out my sinne?
7 Whereas thou knowest whether I shall do wickedly or no, and that none can deliuer me out of thyne hande.
8 Thy handes haue made me, & fashioned me altogether rounde about, wilt thou then destroy me?
9 Remember I besech thee that thou madest me as the moulde of the earth, and shalt bring me into dust againe.
10 Hast thou not powred me as it were milke, & turned me to cruddes like cheese?
11 Thou hast couered me with skinne and fleshe, and ioyned me together with bones and sinnowes.
12 Thou hast graunted me life, and done me good: and thy visitation hath preserued my spirite.
13 Thou hast hyd these thinges in thyne heart [yet] I am sure that thou remembrest this thing.
14 If I dyd sinne, thou haddest an eye vnto me, and shalt not pronounce me innocent from myne offence.
15 If I haue done wickedly, wo is me therefore: If I haue done righteously, yet dare I not lift vp my head, so full am I of confusion, and see myne owne miserie.
16 And let it increase, hunte me as a lion, & returne and shew thy selfe maruaylous vpon me.
17 Thou bringest freshe witnesse against me, and thy wrath increasest thou vpon me: diuers and many are the plagues that I am in.
18 Wherfore hast thou brought me out of the wombe? O that I had perished, and that no eye had seene me,
19 And that I were as though I had not ben, but brought from the wombe to the graue.
20 Are not my dayes fewe? Let him then leaue of fro me, and let me a lone, that I may comfort my selfe a litle,
21 Afore I go [thyther from whence] I shall not turne againe, euen to the lande of darknesse and shadowe of death:
22 Yea a lande as darke as darknesse it selfe, and into the shadowe of death where is none order, but the light is there as darknesse.
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.