« | Job 12 | » |
1 So Iob aunswered, & saide:
2 Then no doubt ye are the men alone, and wysdome shall perishe with you.
3 But I haue vnderstanding aswell as ye, and am not inferior to you: Yea who knoweth not these thinges?
4 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth vpon God, & he heareth him: The iust & the vpright is laughed to scorne.
5 Being as alight despised in the heartes of the riche, and as one redy to fall.
6 The houses of robbers are in wealth and prosperitie, and they that maliciouslie meddle against God dwell without care, in those thinges that God hath geuen richely with his hande.
7 Aske the cattaile, and they shall enfourme thee: the foules of the ayre, and they shall tell thee.
8 Or the encrease of the earth, and it shall shew thee: or the fishes of the sea, and they shall certifie thee.
9 What is he but he knoweth that the hande of the Lorde made all these?
10 In whose hande is the soule of euery liuing thing, and the breath of all mankinde.
11 Haue not the eares pleasure in hearing? and the mouth in tasting the thing that it eateth?
12 Among olde persons there is wysedome, and in age is vnderstanding.
13 Yea, with [God] is wysdome and strength, it is he that hath counsell and foreknowledge.
14 Beholde if he breake downe a thing, who can set it vp againe? yf he shut a thing, who wyll open it?
15 Beholde, if he withholde the waters, they drye vp: yf he let them go, they destroy the earth.
16 With him is strength and wysdome: both the deceauer and he that is deceaued are his.
17 He carieth away the wyse men as it were a spoyle, and bringeth the iudges out of their wittes.
18 He taketh away the subiection of the people from their kinges, and girdeth their loynes with a bonde.
19 He leadeth away the great men into captiuitie, and turneth the mightie vpside downe.
20 He stoppeth the mouth of them that speake trueth, & disapoynteth the aged of their reason.
21 He powreth contempt vpon princes, and maketh the strength of the mightie weake.
22 Loke what lyeth hid in darkenesse he declareth it openly, and the very shadowe of death bringeth he to light.
23 He [both] increaseth the people and destroyeth them, he maketh them to multiplie, and diminisheth them.
24 He taketh away the hearte of them that be heades of ye people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in the wildernesse out of the way.
25 They grope in the darke without light, and he maketh them to stacker like a drunken man.
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.