« | Psalm 94 | » |
1 O God the Lord of [all] auengeaunce: the Lorde of [all] auengeaunce shewe thy [glorious maiestie.]
2 Be exalted O thou iudge of the world: and rewarde the proude after their deseruyng.
3 O God howe long shall the vngodly: howe long shall the vngodly triumph?
4 All such as be workers of iniquitie: they babble, they prate shoutly, they make boastes of them selues.
5 They oppresse thy people O God: and they afflict thine heritage.
6 They murther the wyddowe and the straunger: & put the fatherlesse to death.
7 And they say, tushe the Lorde seeth it not: neither doth the God of Iacob vnderstande it.
8 Understande ye vnwyse among the people: O ye fooles, when wyll ye be well aduised?
9 He that hath planted the eare, shall he not heare? yf he shapeth the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that chasteneth the heathen, shall not he punishe? it is he that teacheth man knowledge.
11 God knoweth the thoughtes of man: that they are but vanitie.
12 Blessed is the man O Lorde, whom thou wylt chasten: and whom thou wylt instruct in thy lawe.
13 That thou mayest geue hym patience in tyme of aduersitie: vntyll the pyt be digged vp for the vngodly.
14 For God wyll not reiect his people: neither wil he forsake his inheritaunce.
15 For iudgement shalbe reduced vnto iustice: and after it shall all such as be vpryght of heart [be iudged.]
16 Who will ryse vp with me agaynst the malicious? or who wyll take my part agaynst workers of wickednesse?
17 If God had not ben an ayde vnto me: it had not fayled much but my soule had dwelled in silence.
18 But when I sayde my foote hath slypped: thy mercy O God helde me vp.
19 In the multitude of my cogitations from the bottome of my heart: thy comfortes dyd recreate my soule.
20 Shall the seate of wickednesse haue any thyng to do with thee: which [seate] maketh wrong to be enacted for a law?
21 They flocke together agaynst the soule of the ryghteous: and condemne the innocent blood.
22 But God is to me a refuge: and my Lorde is the rocke of my confidence.
23 And he wyll recompence them their wickednesse, and destroy them in their owne malice: God our Lorde wyll destroy them.
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.