« | Job 5 | » |
1 Crye I pray thee, if there be any that will aunswere thee, & loke thou vpon any of the holy.
2 As for the foolish ma, wrathfulnesse killeth him, and enuie slayeth the ignorant.
3 I haue seene my selfe when the foolish was deepe rooted, and sodenly I cursed his habitation.
4 His children were without prosperitie, and they were slayne in the gate, and there was no man to deliuer them.
5 His haruest was eaten of the hungrie, & taken from among the thornes, and the thurstie drunke vp their labour: It is not the earth that bringeth foorth iniquitie,
6 Neither commeth sorowe out of the ground:
7 But man is borne vnto labour, like as the sparkes flee vp [out of the hot coles,]
8 But I woulde aske counsell at the Lorde, and talke with God?
9 Whiche doth great thinges and vnsearcheable, [and] maruels without number.
10 He geueth rayne vpon the earth, and powreth water vpon the streetes,
11 To set vp them that be of lowe degree, and that those which are in heauinesse may be exalted to saluation.
12 He destroyeth the deuices of the subtyll, so that their handes are not able to perfourme that which they do enterprise.
13 He compasseth the wise in their owne craftinesse, & maketh foolishe the counsell of the wicked.
14 They runne into darknesse by fayre day, and grope at the noone day as in the night.
15 But he deliuereth the poore from the sworde, from their threatninges, and from the violence of the mightie.
16 He is the hope of the poore, & the mouth of the wicked shalbe stopped.
17 Behold, blessed is the man whom God correcteth, therefore refuse not thou the chastening of the almightie:
18 For be maketh a wounde and he healeth: he smiteth, and his hande maketh whole againe.
19 He shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles, & in the seuenth there shall no euil come to thee.
20 In hunger he shall saue thee from death, and when it is warre, from the power of the sworde.
21 Thou shalt be hyd from the scourge of the tongue, & when destruction commeth thou shalt not neede to feare.
22 In destruction and dearth thou shalt be mery, and shalt not be afrayde of the beastes of the earth.
23 For the stones of the land shalbe confederate with thee, and the beastes of the fielde shalbe at peace with thee.
24 And thou shalt knowe that thy dwelling place shalbe in rest, and thou shalt visite thy habitation, & shalt not sinne.
25 Thou shalt see also that thy seede shall be great, and thy posteritie as the grasse vpon the earth.
26 Thou shalt come also to thy graue in a full age, like a corne sheafe cut downe in due season.
27 Lo, this we our selues haue proued by experience, and euen thus it is: Hearken thou to it also, that thou mayest take heede to thy selfe.
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.