« | Job 39 | » |
1 Knowest thou the time whe the wylde goates bring foorth their young among the stonye rockes? or layest thou wayte when the hindes vse to calue?
2 Canst thou number the monethes that they go with young? or knowest thou the time when they bring foorth?
3 They lye downe, they calue their young ones, and they are deliuered of their trauaile and paine:
4 Yet their young ones grow vp, and waxe fatte through good feeding with corne: They go foorth, and returne not againe vnto them.
5 Who letteth the wylde asse to go free? or who looseth the bondes of the wylde mule?
6 Euen I which haue geuen the wyldernesse to be their house, and the vntilled land to be their dwelling.
7 They force not for the multitude of people in the citie, neither regarde the crying of the driuer:
8 But seeke their pasture about the mountaines, and folowe the greene grasse.
9 Wyll the vnicorne do thee seruice, or abide still by thy cribbe?
10 Canst thou binde the yoke about the vnicorne in the forowe, to make him plowe after thee in the valleyes?
11 Mayst thou trust him because he is strong, or commit thy labour vnto him?
12 Mayst thou beleue him that he wyll bring home thy corne, or carry any thing vnto thy barne?
13 Gauest thou the faire winges vnto the pecockes, or winges and fethers vnto the Estriche?
14 For she leaueth her egges in the earth, and heateth them in the dust.
15 She remembreth not that they might be troden with feete, or broken with some wilde beaste.
16 So harde is she vnto her young ones as though they were not hers, and laboureth in vaine without any feare.
17 And that because God hath taken wysdome from her, & hath not geuen her vnderstanding.
18 When her time is that she fleeth vp on hie, she careth neither for the horse nor the ryder.
19 Hast thou geue the horse his strength, or learned him to ney coragiously?
20 Canst thou make him afrayde as a grashopper? where as the stoute neying that he maketh is fearefull.
21 He breaketh the grounde with the hooffes of his feete, he reioyceth cherefully in his strength, and runneth to meete the harnest men.
22 He layeth aside all feare, his stomacke is not abated, neither starteth he backe for any sworde.
23 Though the quiuers rattle vpon him, though the speare and shielde glister:
24 Yet rusheth he in fiercely beating the grounde, he thinketh it not the noyse of the trumpettes:
25 But when the trumpettes make most noyse, he saith, tushe, for he smelleth the battaile a farre of, the noyse of the captaines and the shouting.
26 Commeth it through thy wysdome that the Goshauke flieth toward the south?
27 Doth the Egle mount vp, and make his nest on hye at thy comaundement?
28 He abydeth in stony rockes, and dwelleth vpon the hye toppes of moutaines:
29 From whence he seeketh his praye, and loketh farre about with his eyes.
30 His young ones also sucke vp blood: and where any dead body lyeth, there is he.
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.