« | Matthew 14 | » |
1 At that tyme Herode the Tetrarch, hearde of the fame of Iesu.
2 And sayde vnto his seruauntes: this is Iohn the Baptist, he is risen from the dead, and therfore great workes do shewe foorth them selues in hym.
3 For Herode had taken Iohn, and bounde hym, and put hym in prison, for Herodias sake, his brother Philips wyfe.
4 For Iohn sayde vnto hym: it is not lawfull for thee to haue her.
5 And when he woulde haue put hym to death, he feared the people: because they counted hym as a prophete.
6 But when Herodes birth day was kept, the daughter of Herodias daunsed before them, and pleased Herode.
7 Wherfore he promised with an othe, that he woulde geue her whatsoeuer she woulde aske.
8 And she, beyng instruct of her mother before, sayde: geue me here Iohn Baptistes head in a platter.
9 And the kyng was sory: Neuerthelesse, for the othes sake, and them which sate also at the table, he commaunded it to be geuen her:
10 And sent, and beheaded Iohn in the pryson.
11 And his head was brought in a platter, and geuen to the damsell: and [she] brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came, and toke vp his body, and buryed it: and went, and tolde Iesus.
13 When Iesus hearde of it, he departed thence in a shyp, vnto a desert place, out of the way: And when the people had hearde therof, they folowed hym on foote out of the cities.
14 And Iesus went foorth, and sawe much people: and was moued with mercye towarde them, and he healed their sicke.
15 And when the euen drewe on, his disciples came to hym, saying: this is a desert place, and the hour is nowe past, let the people depart, that they may go into the townes, and bye them vittels.
16 But Iesus sayde vnto them: They haue no nede to go away, geue ye them to eate.
17 They saye vnto hym: we haue here but fyue loaues, and two fisshes.
18 He sayde: bryng them hyther to me.
19 And he commaunded the people to sit downe on the grasse, and he toke the fyue loaues, and the two fisshes, and lift vp his eyes towarde heauen, & blessed: And when he had broken [them], he gaue the loaues to his disciples, and his disciples to the people.
20 And they dyd all eate, and were suffised. And they gathered vp (of the fragmentes that remayned) twelue baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten, were about fyue thousande men, besyde women and chyldren.
22 And strayghtway Iesus constrayned his disciples to get vp into a shippe, and to go before hym vnto the other syde, whyle he sent the people away.
23 And when the people were sent away, he went vp into a mountayne alone to pray: And when nyght was come, he was there hym selfe alone.
24 But the shippe was nowe in the middes of the sea, & was tost with waues: for it was a contrary wynde.
25 And in the fourth watch of the nyght, Iesus went vnto them, walkyng on the sea.
26 And when the disciples sawe hym walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirite: and they cryed out for feare.
27 But strayght way, Iesus spake vnto them, saying: be of good cheare, it is I, be not afrayde.
28 Peter aunswered hym, and sayde: Lorde, yf it be thou, byd me come vnto thee, on the water.
29 And he sayde: come. And when Peter was come downe out of the shippe, he walked on the water, to go to Iesus.
30 But when he sawe a myghty wynde, he was afrayde: And when he began to sincke, he cryed, saying, Lorde saue me.
31 And immediatly Iesus stretched foorth his hande, and caught hym, and sayde vnto hym: O thou of litle fayth, wherefore diddest thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the shippe, the wynde ceassed
33 Then they that were in the shippe, came and worshypped hym, saying: of a trueth thou art the sonne of God.
34 And when they were gone ouer, they came into the lande of Gennezaret.
35 And when the men of that place, had knowledge of hym, they sent out into all that countrey rounde about: and brought vnto hym all that were sicke.
36 And besought hym, that they myght touche the hemme of his garment only: And as many as touched [it] were made whole.
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.