« | Job 30 | » |
1 But nowe they that are younger then I haue me in derision: yea euen they whose fathers I would haue thought scorne to haue set with the dogges of my cattell.
2 For wherto might the strength of their handes haue serued me? for the time was but lost among them.
3 For very miserie and hunger they fled into the wildernesse, a darke place, horrible and waste,
4 Plucking vp nettles among the busshes, and the iuniper rootes for their meate.
5 And when they were dryuen foorth, men cryed after them as it had ben afafter a thiefe.
6 Their dwelling was in the cleftes of brookes, yea in the caues and dennes of the earth.
7 Among the busshes went they about crying, and vnder the thornes they gathered them selues together.
8 They were the children of fooles and vyllaynes, which are more vile then the earth.
9 Now am I their song, & am become their yesting stocke.
10 They abhorre me and flee farre from me, and stayne my face with spittle.
11 Because God hath loosed my corde and humbled me, they haue loosed the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hande ryse the young men against me, they haue hurt my feete, treading vpon me as vpon the wayes of their destruction.
13 My pathes haue they cleane marred, it was so easye for them to do me harme, that they needed no man to help them.
14 They fell vpon me, as it had ben the breaking in of waters, and came in by heapes to destroy me.
15 Feare is turned vpon me, and they pursue my soule as the wind, and my health passeth away as a cloude.
16 Therfore is my soule now powred out vpon me, and the dayes of my trouble haue taken hold vpon me.
17 My bones are pearsed through in the night season, and my sinewes take no rest.
18 For the vehemencie of sorowe is my garment chaunged, whiche compasseth me about as the coller of my coote.
19 He hath cast me into the myre, and I am become like asshes and dust.
20 When I crie vnto thee, thou doest not heare me: and though I stande before thee, yet thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art become myne enemie, and with thy violent hande thou takest part against me.
22 [In times past] thou diddest set me vp on hye, to be caried as it were aboue the wynde, [but nowe] hast thou geuen me a very sore fall.
23 Sure I am that thou wilt bryng me vnto death, euen to the lodging that is due vnto all men liuing.
24 Notwithstanding, thou wilt not stretch out thyne hand against him that is in the graue: shal men crie out against him that is in destruction?
25 Dyd not I weepe with hym that was in trouble? Had not my soule compassion vpon the poore?
26 Yet neuerthelesse, where as I loked for good, euyll came vnto me: & where I wayted for light, there came darkenesse.
27 My bowels seethe in me without rest, for the dayes of my trouble are come vpon me.
28 I went mourning without heate, I stoode vp in the congregation, & communed with them.
29 But nowe I am a brother of dragons, and a felowe of Estriches.
30 My skinne vpon me is [turned] to blacke, and my bones are brent with heate.
31 My harpe is turned to mourning, and my organs into the voyce of them that weepe.
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.