« | Joshua 3 | » |
1 And Iosuah rose early and they remoued fro Sittim, and came to Iordane, he and all the chyldren of Israel: and lodged there before they went ouer.
2 And after three dayes, the officers went throughout the hoaste,
3 And commaunded the people, saying: When ye see the arke of the testament of the Lorde your God, and the priestes that are Leuites bearing it, ye shall depart from your place, and go after it.
4 So yet that there shalbe a space betweene you and it, about two thousand cubites by measure: And ye shall not come nye vnto it, that ye may know the way by whiche ye must go: for ye haue not gone this way in times past.
5 And Iosuah sayde vnto the people: Sanctifie your selues, for to morowe the Lord shal do wonders among you.
6 And Iosuah spake vnto the priestes, saying: Take vp the arke of the couenaunt, and go ouer before the people. And they toke vp the arke of the testament, and went before the people.
7 And ye Lord sayd vnto Iosuah: This day will I beginne to magnifie thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may knowe howe that as I was with Moyses, so will I be with thee.
8 And thou shalt comaunde ye priestes that beare the arke of the couenaunt, saying: when ye are come to the edge of the waters of Iordane, ye shall stande still in Iordane.
9 And Iosuah saide vnto the children of Israel: Come hyther, and heare the wordes of the Lorde your God.
10 And Iosuah sayde: Hereby ye shall knowe that the liuing God is among you, and that he will without fayle cast out before you the Chanaanites, and the Hethithes, the Heuites, the Pherezites, the Gergesites, the Amorites, and the Iebusites.
11 Beholde, the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde of all the world, goeth before you into Iordane.
12 Nowe therfore take from among you twelue men out of the tribes of Israel, out of euery tribe a man.
13 And assoone as the soles of the feete of the priestes that beare the arke of the Lorde the gouernour of all the worlde, treade in the waters of Iordane, the waters of Iordane shalbe deuided: and the waters that come from aboue shall stande still vpon an heape.
14 And so, when the people were departed fro their tentes to go ouer Iordane, the priestes bearing the arke of the couenaunt, went before the people.
15 And assoone as they that bare ye arke came vnto Iordane, and the feete of the priestes that bare the arke were dypped in the brym of the water (For Iordane vseth to fyll all his banckes all the time of haruest)
16 The waters also that came downe fro aboue, did rise vp vpon an heape and departed farre from ye citie of Ada, that was beside Zarthan: And the waters that were beneath towarde ye sea of the wildernes, euen the salt sea, fayled and were cut of: and the people went right ouer against Iericho.
17 And the priestes that bare the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde, stoode drie within Iordane, redy prepared, and all the Israelites went ouer thorowe the drie, vntill all the people were gone cleane ouer thorowe Iordane.
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.