« | Mark 16 |
1 And whe the Sabboth day was past, Marie Magdalen and Marie [the mother] of Iames, & Salome, bought sweete smellynge oyntmentes, that they myght come and annoynt hym.
2 And early in the mornyng, the first day of the Sabbothes, they came vnto the sepulchre, when the sunne was rysen:
3 And they sayde among them selues, who shall roule vs away the stone from the doore of the sepulchre?
4 And when they loked, they sawe how that the stone was rouled awaye, for it was a very great one.
5 And they went into the sepulchre, and sawe a young man syttyng on the ryght syde, clothed in a long whyte garment, and they were amased.
6 And he sayth vnto them, be not amased: ye seke Iesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen, he is not here, beholde the place where they had put hym.
7 But go your way, & tell his disciples, and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see hym, as he saide vnto you.
8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre, for they trembled & were amased: neither sayde they any thing to any man, for they were afraide.
9 When [Iesus] was rysen early, the first [day] after the Sabboth, he appeared firste to Marie Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seuen deuils.
10 And she went & tolde them that were with hym, as they mourned & wept.
11 And they, when they hearde that he was alyue, and had ben seene of her, beleued it not.
12 After that, appeared he vnto two of them in another fourme, as they walked and went into the countrey.
13 And they went and tolde it vnto the residue: and [they] beleued not these also.
14 Afterwarde, he appeared vnto the eleuen, as they sate at meate, and cast in their teeth their vnbeliefe and hardnes of heart, because they beleued not them whiche had seene that he was rysen agayne from the dead.
15 And he sayde vnto them: Go ye into all the worlde, and preache the Gospell to all creatures.
16 He that beleueth, and is baptized, shalbe saued: But he that beleueth not, shalbe dampned.
17 And these tokens shall folowe them that beleue. In my name they shal cast out deuils, they shall speake with newe tongues,
18 They shall driue away serpentes: and yf they drinke any deadly thyng, it shall not hurte them: They shall lay their handes on the sicke, & they shal recouer.
19 So then, when the Lorde had spoken vnto them, he was receaued into heauen, and sate hym downe on the ryght hande of God.
20 And they went foorth, and preached euerywhere, the Lorde workyng with them, and confirmyng the worde with signes folowyng.
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.