« | Proverbs 7 | » |
1 My sonne kepe my words, and lay vp my commaundements by thee.
2 Kepe my commaundementes & my lawe, euen as the apple of thyne eye, and thou shalt liue.
3 Binde them vpon thy fingers, and wryte them in the table of thyne heart.
4 Say vnto wysdome, thou art my sister: and call vnderstanding thy kinsewoman:
5 That they may kepe thee from the straunge woman, and from the forraine woman which geueth sweete wordes.
6 For at the windowe of my house I loked through the windowe,
7 And behelde among the simple people and among the chyldren a young man voyde of wyt,
8 Goyng ouer the streate by the corner in the way towarde her house
9 In the twylight of the euening, when it began nowe to be night and darke:
10 And behold there met hym a woman with open tokens of an harlot, onlye her heart was hid:
11 She was full of loude wordes and redye to dallie, whose feete coulde not abide in the house:
12 Nowe is she without, nowe in the streates, and lyeth in wayte at euery corner.
13 She caught hym and kissed him, and was not ashamed, saying:
14 I had a vowe of peace offeringes to pay, and this day I perfourme it:
15 Therefore came I foorth to meete thee, that I might seeke thy face, and so haue I founde thee.
16 I haue deckt my bed with coueringes of tapessarie, and clothes of Egypt.
17 My bed haue I made to smell of Myrre, Aloes, and Cinamon.
18 Come let vs take our fill of loue vntyll the morning, and let vs solace our selues with the pleasures of loue.
19 For the good man is not at home, he is gone farre of.
20 He hath taken the bagge of money with hym, and wyll returne at the appointed solempne feast.
21 Thus with many sweete wordes she ouercame him, and with her flattering lippes she entised hym.
22 Sodainly he folowed her, as it were an oxe led to the slaughter, and lyke as it were a foole [that laugheth] when he goeth to the stockes to be punished,
23 So long tyll she had wounded his lyuer with her dart: lyke as if a byrde hasted to the snare, not knowing that the perill of his life lieth thervpon.
24 Heare me now therfore O my chylde, and marke the wordes of my mouth:
25 Let not thyne heart wander in her wayes, and be not thou deceaued in her pathes.
26 For many one hath she wounded and cast downe, yea many a strong man hath ben slaine by the meanes of her.
27 Her house is the way vnto hell, and bryng men downe into the chaumbers of death.
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.