« | Job 21 | » |
1 Iob aunswered, and saide:
2 O heare diligently my wordes, and that shalbe in steede of your consolations,
3 Suffer me that I may speake, and when I haue spoken mocke on.
4 Is it for mans sake that I make this disputation? Which if it were so, shoulde not my spirite then be in sore trouble?
5 Marke me [well] and be abashed, and lay your hande vpon your mouth.
6 For when I consider [my selfe] I am afrayde, and my fleshe is smitten with feare.
7 Wherefore do wicked men liue, come to their olde age, and increase in richesse?
8 Their children lyue in their sight, and their generation before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from all feare, and the rod of God is not vpon them.
10 Their bullocke gendreth and that not out of time, their cowe calueth and is not vnfruitfull.
11 They sende foorth their children by flockes, & their sonnes [leade the] daunce.
12 They beare with them tabrets and harpes, and reioyce in the sounde of the organs.
13 They spend their dayes in wealthines, but sodainely they go downe to the graue.
14 They say also vnto God: Go from vs, we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes.
15 Who is the almightie that we should serue him? And what profite should we haue if we should pray vnto him?
16 Lo, there is vtterly no goodnesse in their hande, therefore wyll I not haue to do with the counsaile of the vngodly.
17 How oft shall the candell of the wicked be put out, and their destruction come vpon them? O what sorowe shall God geue them for their part in his wrath?
18 Yea, they shalbe euen as hay before the winde, and as chaffe that the storme carieth away.
19 God wyll lay vp the sorowe of the father for his children: & when he rewardeth him, he shall know it.
20 Their owne miserie shal they see with their eyes, and drinke of the fearefull wrath of the almightie.
21 For what careth he for his house after his death, when the number of his monethes is cut short?
22 Seeing God hath the highest power of all, who can teache him any knowledge?
23 One dyeth in his full strength, being in all ease and prosperitie,
24 His breastes are full of milke, and his bones runne full of marowe.
25 Another dyeth in the bitternes of his soule, and neuer eateth with pleasure.
26 They shall sleepe both alyke in the earth, and the wormes shall couer them.
27 Beholde, I know what ye thinke, yea and the subtiltie that ye imagine against me.
28 For ye say where is the princes palace? and where is the dwelling of the vngodly?
29 Haue ye not asked them that go by the way? Doubtlesse ye cannot denie their tokens,
30 That the wicked is kept vnto the day of destruction, and the vngodly shalbe brought foorth to the day of wrath.
31 Who dare declare his way to his face? who wil rewarde him for that he doth?
32 Yet shall he be brought to his graue, and dwell among the heape [of the dead.]
33 Then shal the slymie valley be sweet vnto him, all men also must folowe him, as there are innumerable gone before him.
34 Howe vayne then is the comfort that ye geue me, seyng falshood remayneth in all your aunsweres?
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.