« | Joel 3 |
1 For beholde, in those dayes and in that time when I shall bryng agayne the captiuitie of Iuda & Hierusalem,
2 I wyll also gather all the gentiles, and cause them to come into the valley of Iehosaphat, and I will pleade with them there for my people and heritage Israel, which they haue scattered amongst the nations, and haue parted my lande.
3 And thei haue cast lottes for my people, and chaunged the boy for an harlot, and solde the gyrle for wine, that they might drynke.
4 And what haue you to do with me O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coastes of Palestine? wyll ye render me recompence? and if you recompence me, I shal swiftly [and] speedyly returne your recompence vpon your owne heades.
5 For ye haue taken my siluer and my golde, my pleasaunt & pretious thinges, & haue caryed them into your temples.
6 You haue solde also the children of Iuda and the children of Hierusalem to the Gretians, that you might send them farre from their owne countrey.
7 Beholde, I will rayse them out of that place whither you haue solde them, and wyll returne your recompence vpon your owne heades.
8 And I wyll sell your sonnes and your daughters into the handes of the children of Iuda, and they shall sell them vnto the Sabeans, to a nation that dwelleth farre of: for the Lorde hath spoken it.
9 Publishe this thyng among the gentiles, proclayme warre, wake vp the mightie men, let all the men of warre drawe neare and come vp.
10 Breake your plowe shares into swordes, and your sithes into speares, let the weake say, I am strong.
11 Assemble your selues and come all you heathen, and gather your selues together rounde about, there shall the Lord cast downe thy mightie men.
12 Let the heathen arise and come vp to the valley of Iehosaphat: for there will I sit to iudge all nations rounde about.
13 Put in your sithes, for ye haruest is ripe: come ye [and] descende, for the wine presse is full, [yea] the presses ouerflowe: for their wickednesse is multiplied.
14 O people, people [come] into the valley of finall iudgement: for the day of the Lorde is at hande in the valley of finall iudgement.
15 The sunne and the moone shalbe darkned, and the starres shall withdrawe their light.
16 The Lord also shall rose out of Sion, and out of Hierusalem shall he geue his voyce, the heauens and the earth shall shake: but the Lorde wyll be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall you knowe that I am the Lorde your God dwellyng in Sion my holy mountayne: then shall Hierusalem be holy, and there shall no straungers passe through here any more.
18 And in that day shall the mountaynes drop downe sweete wine, and the hylles shall flowe with mylke, & all the riuers of Iuda shall runne with water, and a fountayne shall come out of the house of the Lorde, and shall water the valley of Sittim.
19 Egypt shalbe waste, and Edom shalbe a desolate wildernesse: for the iniuries [done] to the children of Iuda: because they haue shed innocent blood in their lande.
20 But Iuda shal dwel for euermore, and Hierusalem from generation to generation.
21 I wil also clense the blood of them [that] I haue not clensed, and the Lord dwelleth in Sion.
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.