« | Job 3 | » |
1 After this opened Iob his mouth, and cursed his day,
2 And Iob aunswered, and sayde:
3 Let the day perishe wherin I was borne, and the night in the whiche it was sayd, There is a man childe conceaued.
4 The same day be [turned to] darknesse, and not regarded of God from aboue, neither let the light shyne vpon it:
5 But let it be stayned with darknesse and the shadowe of death, let the [dimme] cloude fall vpon it, whiche may make it terrible as a most bitter day.
6 Let the darke storme ouercome that night, and let it not be ioyned vnto the dayes of the yere, nor counted in the number of the monethes.
7 Desolate be that night, and without gladnesse.
8 Let them that curse the day, and that be redy to rayse vp mourning, geue it also their curse.
9 Let the starres of that night be dimme thorowe darkenesse of it, let it loke for light, but haue none, neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 Because it shut not vp the doores of my mothers wombe, nor hyd sorowe from myne eyes.
11 [Alas] why died I not in the birth? why dyd not I perishe assoone as I came out of [my mothers] wombe?
12 Why set they me vpon their knees? why gaue they me sucke with their brestes?
13 Then should I nowe haue lyen stil, I shoulde haue slept, and ben at rest,
14 Lyke as the kinges and lordes of the earth, which haue buylded them selues speciall places,
15 Or as the princes that haue had golde, and their houses full of siluer:
16 Or [why] was not I hyd, as a thing borne out of tune, [either] as young children which neuer sawe the light?
17 There must the wicked ceasse from their tyrannie, and there such as laboured valiauntly be at rest:
18 There the prisoners rest together, they heare no more the voyce of the oppressour:
19 There are small and great, and the seruaunt [is] free from his maister.
20 Wherefore is the light geuen to hym that is in miserie? & lyfe vnto them that haue heauy heartes?
21 Whiche long for death and finde it not, though they search more for it than for treasures:
22 Which reioyce exceedingly, and be glad when they can finde the graue,
23 From whom their endes are hyd, and consealed by God?
24 For my sighes come before I eate, and my roringes are powred out like the water:
25 For the thing that I feared is come vpon me, and the thing that I was afrayde of is happened vnto me,
26 Was I not happy? Had I not quietnesse? Was I not in rest? And nowe commeth such miserie vpon me.
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.