« | Numbers 23 | » |
1 And Balaam said vnto Balac: Buylde me here seuen aulters, & prepare me here seuen oxen & seuen rammes.
2 And Balac dyd as Balaam sayde: And Balac and Balaam offred on euery aulter an oxe and a ramme.
3 And Balaam said vnto Balac: Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go, if happly the Lorde will meete me: and whatsoeuer he sheweth me, I wyll tell thee. And he went vp hyer.
4 But God met Balaam, & [Balaam] sayd vnto hym: I haue prepared seuen aulters, and haue offred vpon euery aulter an oxe and a ramme.
5 And the Lorde put a saying in Balaams mouth, and sayde: Go agayne to Balac, and say on this wyse.
6 And when he went agayne vnto him, lo, he stoode by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the lordes of Moab.
7 And he toke vp his parable, and sayd: Balac the king of Moab hath brought me fro Mesopotamia, out of the mountaynes of the east, [saying] Come, curse Iacob for my sake, come and defie Israel.
8 Howe shall I curse hym, whom God hath not cursed? or howe shall I defie hym, whom God hath not defied?
9 For from the toppe of the rockes I see hym, and from the hylles I beholde hym: lo, the people shall dwell by them selues, and shal not be reckened among the nations.
10 Who can tell the dust of Iacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? I pray God that my soule may dye the death of the righteous, and that my last ende may be like his.
11 And Balac sayd vnto Balaam: What hast thou done vnto me? I toke thee to curse myne enemies, and beholde thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 He aunswered and sayd: Must I not take heede to speake that whiche the lorde hath put in my mouth?
13 And Balac sayde vnto hym: Come I pray thee with me vnto another place, whence thou mayest see them, and thou shalt see but the vtmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: curse them out of that place for my sake.
14 And he brought hym into a fielde, where men myght see farre of, euen to the toppe of an hyll, and buylt seuen aulters, and offred an oxe and a ramme on euery aulter.
15 And he said vnto Balac: Stande here by thy burnt sacrifice, whyle I meete [the Lorde] yonder.
16 And the Lord met Balaam, and put a worde in his mouth, and sayd: Go agayne vnto Balac, and say thus.
17 And when he came to hym, beholde he stoode by his burnt sacrifice, and the lordes of Moab with hym. And Balac saide vnto hym: What hath the Lorde sayde?
18 And he toke vp his parable, and aunswered: Rise vp Balac, and heare, and hearke vnto me thou sonne of Ziphor.
19 God is not a man that he should lye, neither the sonne of a ma that he should repent: should he say & not do? or should he speake, and not make it good?
20 Beholde, I haue taken vpon me to blesse: for he hath blessed, and it is not in my power to aulter it.
21 He behelde no vanitie in Iacob, nor saw transgression in Israel: The Lord his God is with hym, and the ioyfull shout of a king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt, they haue strength as an Unicorne.
23 For there is no sorcerie in Iacob, nor soothsaying in Israel, according to this time it shalbe sayde of Iacob and Israel: What hath God wrought?
24 Beholde, the people shall ryse vp as a Lion, and heaue vp him self as a young Lion: He shall not lye downe, vntyll he eate of the pray, and drinke the blood of them that are slayne.
25 And Balac sayde vnto Balaam: Neither curse them, nor blesse them at all.
26 But Balaam aunswered and said vnto Balac: Tolde not I thee, saying, All that ye Lorde speaketh, that I must do?
27 And Balac said vnto Balaam: Come I pray thee, and I wyll bryng thee yet vnto another place, if at all it will please God, that thou mayst thence curse them for my sake.
28 And Balac brought Balaam vnto the toppe of Peor, that looketh towarde Iesimon.
29 And Balaam said vnto Balac: Make me here seuen aulters, and prepare me here seuen oxen, and seuen rammes.
30 And Balac dyd as Balaam had sayd, and offered an oxe and a ramme on euerie aulter.
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.