« | Matthew 4 | » |
1 Then was Iesus ledde away of the spirite into wyldernesse, to be tempted of the deuyll.
2 And when he had fasted fourtie dayes, and fourtie nightes, he was afterwarde an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to hym, he sayde: If thou be the sonne of God, commaunde that these stones be made breade.
4 But he aunswered, and sayde, it is written: Man shall not lyue by breade only, but by euery worde that proceadeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the deuyll taketh hym vp into the holy citie, and setteth hym on a pinacle of the temple,
6 And saith vnto hym: If thou be the sonne of God, cast thy selfe downe. For it is written: He shall geue his Angels charge ouer thee, & with their handes they shall lyft thee vp, lest at any tyme thou dashe thy foote agaynst a stone.
7 And Iesus sayde to hym. It is written agayne: Thou shalt not tempt the Lorde thy God.
8 Agayne, the deuyll taketh hym vp, into an exceadyng hye mountayne, and sheweth hym all the kyngdomes of the worlde, and the glorie of them,
9 And sayth vnto hym: All these wyll I geue thee, yf thou wylt fall downe, and worshyp me.
10 The sayth Iesus vnto hym: Auoyde Sathan. For it is written: Thou shalt worshyp the Lorde thy God, and hym only shalt thou serue.
11 Then the deuyll leaueth him, and beholde, the Angels came, and ministred vnto hym.
12 When Iesus had hearde that Iohn was delyuered vp, he departed into Galilee,
13 And left Nazareth, and went & dwelt in Capernaum, whiche is (a citie) vpon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim.
14 That it myght be fulfylled, whiche was spoken by Esayas the prophete, saying:
15 The lande of Zabulon, & Nephthalim, (by) the way of the sea beyonde Iordane, Galilee of the Gentiles.
16 The people, which sate in darknesse, sawe great lyght: And to them whiche sate in the region and shadowe of death, lyght is sprong vp.
17 From that tyme, Iesus began to preache, and to saye: Repent, for the kyngdome of heauen is at hande.
18 And Iesus, walkyng by the sea of Galilee, sawe two brethren, Simon (which was) called Peter, and Andrewe his brother, castyng a nette into the sea, (for they were fysshers.)
19 And he saith vnto them: Folowe me, and I wyl make you fysshers of men.
20 And they strayghtwaye lefte their nettes, and folowed hym.
21 And when he was gone foorth from thence, he sawe other two brethren, Iames, the sonne of Zebedee, & Iohn his brother, in the shippe with Zebedee their father, mendyng their nettes, and he called them.
22 And they immediatly, left the shippe and their father, and folowed hym.
23 And Iesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preachyng the Gospell of the kingdome, and healyng all maner of sicknesse, and all maner of disease among the people.
24 And his fame spread abrode, throughout all Syria: and they brought vnto hym all sicke people, that were taken with diuers diseases, and grypynges, and them that were possessed with deuyls, and those which were lunaticke, and those that had the paulsie, and he healed them.
25 And there folowed him great multitudes of people, from Galilee, and from the ten cities, and from Hierusalem, and from Iurie, and from the regions (that lye) beyonde 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.