« | Psalm 65 | » |
1 [To the chiefe musition, the psalme of Dauid, a song.] O Lorde thou wylt be greatly praysed in Sion: and vnto thee shal vowes be perfourmed
2 Thou that hearest a prayer: vnto thee shall all fleshe come.
3 [My] misdeedes haue preuayled against me: oh be thou mercifull vnto our wicked transgressions.
4 Blessed is the man [whom] thou choosest and receauest vnto thee: he shall dwell in thy court, and we shalbe satisfied with the goodnes of thy house, euen of thy holy temple.
5 Thou wylt heare vs, doyng wonderfull thinges in righteousnes O Lorde of our saluation: thou [art] the hope of all endes of the earth, and of them that dwell farre of at the sea coast.
6 Thou art he who in his strength setleth fast the mountaines: and is gyrded about with power.
7 Who stilleth the raging of the sea, and the noyse of his waues: and the vprore of the people.
8 They also that dwel in the vtmost partes [of the earth] be afrayde at thy signes: thou makest them reioyce at the going foorth of the morning and euenyng.
9 Thou visitest the earth, and thou makest it ouerflowne, thou enrichest it greatly: the riuer of God is full of water, thou preparest their corne, for so thou ordaynest it.
10 Thou waterest her forowes, thou breakest downe her hillockes: thou makest it soft with the drops of rayne, and blessest the increase of it.
11 Thou crownest the yere with thy goodnes: and thy cloudes drop fatnes.
12 They drop vpon the dwellinges of the wyldernesse: and hilles be compassed with ioy.
13 The downes be couered with sheepe: the valleys stande thicke with corne [so that] they showte [for ioy] and also sing.
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.