« | Psalm 148 | » |
1 Prayse ye the Lorde, prayse ye God out of heauen: prayse ye hym on hygh aboue.
2 Prayse hym all ye his angels: prayse hym all ye his hoast.
3 Prayse ye hym sunne and moone: praise hym all ye starres [that geue] lyght.
4 Prayse ye hym all ye heauens: and ye waters that be aboue the heauens.
5 Euen they shoulde prayse the name of God: for he commaunded, and they were created.
6 He hath set them sure for euer and euer: he hath geuen them a lawe which shall not be broken.
7 Prayse ye God from the earth: ye dragons and all deepes.
8 Fire and hayle, snowe and vapours: stormie wynde fulfyllyng his worde.
9 Mountaynes and all hylles: fruitfull trees and all Cedars.
10 Beastes and all cattell: wormes and fethered foules.
11 Kynges of the earth and all people: princes and all iudges of the earth.
12 Young men and maydens, olde men with children,
13 (148:12) shoulde prayse the name of God: for his name only is most excellent, and his maiestie aboue earth and heauen.
14 (148:13) He hath exalted the horne of his people: the prayse of all his saintes, euen of the children of Israel, a people that is most nye vnto him. Prayse ye the Lord.
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.