« | Micah 6 | » |
1 Hearken ye nowe what the Lorde sayth: Arise thou, and contend with the mountaynes, and let the hilles heare thy voyce.
2 Heare O ye mountaines the Lordes quarel, and ye mightie foundations of the earth: for the Lorde hath a quarell against his people, and wyll pleade with Israel.
3 O my people what haue I done vnto thee? or wherein haue I greeued thee? geue me aunswere.
4 For I brought thee out of the lande of Egypt, & deliuered thee out of the house of bondage, and I made Moyses, Aaron, and Miriam to leade thee.
5 Remember O my people, what Balach the king of Moab had deuised against thee, and what aunswere that Balaam the sonne of Beor gaue him, from Sethin vnto Galgal, that ye may knowe the righteousnesse of the Lorde.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lorde, and bowe my selfe to the hye God? Shall I come before him with burnt offeringes, and with calues of a yere olde?
7 Hath the Lorde a pleasure in many thousandes of Rammes, or innumerabic streames of oyle? shall I geue my first borne for myne offences, and the fruite of my body for the sinne of my soule?
8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good, and what the Lorde requireth of thee: [namely] to do iustly, to loue mercie, and to humble thy selfe to walke with thy God.
9 The Lordes voyce cryeth vnto the citie, and the man that shalbe saued considereth thy name: hearken what is your rodde, & heare him that warneth you.
10 Are not yet the treasures of wickednesse in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure which is abhominable?
11 Should I iustifie the false balaunces, and the bagge of deceitfull weightes?
12 For the riche men thereof are full of crueltie, and the inhabitantes thereof haue spoken lyes, and haue deceitfull tongues in their mouthes.
13 Therefore I wyll take in hande to punishe thee, and to make thee desolate, because of thy sinnes.
14 Thou shalt eate, and not haue inough: yea, thou shalt bring thy selfe downe in the middes of thee, thou shalt flee, but not escape, and those that thou wouldest saue, wyll I deliuer to the sworde.
15 Thou shalt sowe, but not reape, thou shalt presse out Oliues, but oyle shalt thou not haue to annoynt thy selfe withall: thou shalt tread out sweete must, but shalt drincke no wine.
16 Ye kepe the ordinaunces of Amri, and all the customes of the house of Ahab, ye walke in their counsels: therfore wyl I make thee waste, and cause thy inhabiters to be hissed at, and ye shall beare the reproche of my people.
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.