« | Judges 4 | » |
1 And the children of Israel began agayne to do wickedly in ye sight of the Lord, when Ahud was dead.
2 And the Lorde sold them into the hand of Iabin king of Chanaan, that raigned in Hazor, whose captayne of warre was called Sisara, which dwelt in Haroseth of the gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord (for he had nine hundreth charettes of yron: & twentie yeres he troubled the children of Israel very sore.)
4 And Debora a prophetisse, the wife of Lapidoth, iudged Israel the same time.
5 And the same Debora dwelt vnder a paulme tree, betweene Ramath & Bethel, in mount Ephraim: And the children of Israel came vp to her for iudgment.
6 And she sent, and called Barak the sonne of Abinoam, out of Kedes Nephthalim, and sayd vnto him: Hath not the Lorde God of Israel commaunded, saying: Go, and drawe toward mount Thabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Nephthalim, and of the children of Zabulon?
7 And I will bring vnto thee to the riuer Kison, Sisara ye captayne of warre, vnto Iabin, with his charettes and his people, and will deliuer him into thyne handes.
8 And Barak said vnto her, If thou wilt go with me, I will go: But and if thou wilt not come with me, I will not go.
9 She sayd: I will surely go with thee, but this iourney that thou takest, shall not be for thyne honour: for the Lorde shall sell Sisara into the hande of a woman. And Debora arose and went with Barak to Kedes.
10 And Barak called Zabulon & Nephthalim to Kedes, and led after him ten thousande men: and Debora went vp with him.
11 (But Haber the Kenite which was of the childre of Hobab, the father in lawe of Moyses, remoued from the Kenites, and pitched his tent vntill the playne of Zaanaim, whiche is by Kedes.)
12 And they shewed Sisara, that Barak the sonne of Abinoam was gone vp to mount Thabor.
13 And Sisara gathered together al his charettes, euen nine hundreth charettes of iron, & all the people that were with him from of Haroseth of the gentiles, vnto the ryuer of Kison.
14 And Debora sayd vnto Barak: Up, for this is the day in which the Lorde hath deliuered Sisara into thyne hand: Is not the Lorde gone out before the? And so Barak went downe fro mount Thabor, and ten thousande men after him.
15 But the Lorde destroyed Sisara and all his charettes, and all his hoaste with the edge of the sworde, before Barak: so that Sisara lyghted downe of his charet, and fled away on his feete.
16 But Barak folowed after the charettes and after the hoast, euen vnto Haroseth of the gentiles: And all the hoast of Sisara fell vpon the edge of the sworde, and there was not a man left.
17 Howebeit Sisara fled away on his feete to the tent of Iael the wife of Haber the Kenite (for there was peace betweene Iabin the king of Hazor, and the houshoulde of Haber the Kenite.)
18 And Iael went out to meete Sisara, and sayd vnto him: Turne in my lorde, turne in to me, feare not. And whan he had turned in vnto her into her tent, she couered him with a mantell.
19 And he sayd vnto her: Geue me I pray thee a litle water to drincke, for I am thirstie. And she opened a bottle of milke, and gaue him drincke, & couered him.
20 And agayne he sayd vnto her: Stande in the doore of the tent, and whan any man doth come and enquere of thee, whether ther be any man here, thou shalt say, naye.
21 Then Iael Habers wyfe, toke a nayle of the tent, & an hammer in her hande, and went softly vnto him, and smote ye nayle into the temples of his head, and fastened it into the ground (for he slumbred sore, and was wery) and so he died.
22 And beholde, as Barak folowed after Sisara, Iael came out to meete him, & said vnto him: Come, and I will shewe thee the man whom thou sekest. And when he came in to her tent, behold Sisara lay dead, and the nayle was in his temples.
23 And so God brought Iabin the kyng of Chanaan into subiection that day before the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and preuayled against Iabin the kyng of Chanaan, vntil they had destroyed Iabin king of Chanaan.
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.