« | Judges 2 | » |
1 And the angel of the Lorde came vp from Gilgal to Bochim, and sayde: I made you to go out of Egipt, & haue brought you vnto the lande whiche I sware vnto your fathers: And I sayde, I will neuer breake myne appoyntment that I made with you.
2 And ye also shall make no couenaunt with the inhabitours of this lande, but shall breake downe their aulters: Neuerthelesse, ye haue not hearkened vnto my voyce: why haue ye this done?
3 Wherfore I haue lykewyse determined, that I will not cast them out before you: but they shalbe as thornes vnto you, and their goddes shalbe a snare vnto you.
4 And when the angel of the Lord spake these wordes vnto all the children of Israel, the people cryed out and wept:
5 And called the name of the sayd place Bochim, & offered sacrifices vnto the Lorde.
6 And whe Iosuah had sent the people away, the children of Israel went euery man into his inheritaunce to possesse the lande.
7 And the people serued the Lorde all the dayes of Iosuah, & all the dayes of the elders that outlyued Iosuah, & had seene al the great workes of the Lorde that he dyd for Israel.
8 And Iosuah the sonne of Nun, the seruaunt of the Lorde died, when he was an hundreth and ten yeres olde:
9 Whom they buried in the coastes of his inheritaunce [euen] in Thimnath Heres in mount Ephraim, on the northside of the hil Gaas.
10 And euen so all that generation were put vnto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which neither knewe the Lorde, nor yet the workes whiche he had done for Israel.
11 And then the children of Israel dyd wickedly in the sight of the Lorde, and serued Baalim,
12 And forsoke the Lord God of their fathers, whiche brought them out of the lande of Egypt, and folowed straunge goddes, euen of the goddes of the nations that were rounde about them, and bowed them selues vnto them, and angred the Lorde:
13 They forsoke the Lorde, and serued Baal and Astharoth.
14 And the wrath of the Lord waxed hot agaynst Israel, and he deliuered them into the handes of raueners, that spoyled them, & solde them into the handes of their enemies rounde about them, so that they had no power any longer to stande before their enemies.
15 But whythersoeuer they went out, the hand of the Lord was sore against them, euen as the Lord promised them, and as he sware vnto them: And he punished them sore.
16 Neuerthelesse the Lorde raysed vp iudges, which deliuered them out of the handes of their oppressers.
17 And yet for all that they woulde not hearken vnto their iudges: but rather went a whoring after straunge goddes, and bowed them selues vnto them, and turned quickly out of the way, whiche their fathers walked in, obeying the comaundementes of the Lorde: But they dyd not so.
18 And when the Lorde raysed them vp iudges, he was with the iudge, and deliuered them out of the handes of their enemies all the dayes of the iudge: ( for the Lord had compassion ouer their sorowinges, whiche they had by the reason of them that oppressed them & vexed them:)
19 Yet for all that, assoone as the iudge was dead, they returned, and dyd worse then their fathers, in folowing straunge goddes, to serue them & worship them: and ceassed not from their owne inuentions, nor from their malitious way.
20 And the wrath of the Lorde was moued against Israel, and he sayde: Because this people hath trasgressed myne appoyntment whiche I commaunded their fathers, and haue not hearkened vnto my voyce:
21 I will hencefoorth not cast out before them one man of the nations whiche Iosuah left when he dyed:
22 That through them I may proue Israel, whether they wil kepe the way of the Lorde, and walke therin as their fathers dyd, or not.
23 And so the Lorde left those nations, and droue them not out immediatly, neither deliuered them into the hande of Iosuah.
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.