« | Revelation 13 | » |
1 (12:18) And I stoode on the sea sande. (13:1) And I sawe a beast ryse out of the sea, hauing seuen heades, and ten hornes, & vpon his hornes ten crownes, and vpon his head the name of blasphemie.
2 And the beast which I sawe, was like a Leoparde, and his feete were as [the feete] of a Beare, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion: And the dragon gaue hym his power, and his seate, and great aucthoritie.
3 And I sawe one of his heades, as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wounde was healed: And all the world wondred after the beast.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gaue power vnto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying: Who is lyke vnto the beast? who is able to warre with hym?
5 And there was geuen vnto hym a mouth, that spake great thynges and blasphemies, and power was geuen vnto hym, to do .xlij. monethes.
6 And he opened his mouth vnto blasphemie agaynst God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heauen.
7 And it was geuen vnto hym to make warre with the saintes, & to ouercome them: And power was geuen him ouer all kinredes, and tongues, and nations,
8 And al yt dwel vpon the earth, worshipped him whose names are not writte in the booke of lyfe of ye lambe, which was killed from the beginnyng of the world.
9 If any man haue an eare, let hym heare.
10 He that leadeth into captiuitie, shall go into captiuitie: He that kylleth with a sworde, must be kylled with a sworde. Here is the patience and the fayth of the saintes.
11 And I behelde another beast commyng vp out of the earth, and he had two hornes lyke a lambe, and he spake as dyd the dragon.
12 And he dyd all that ye first beast coulde do in his presence, & he caused the earth and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he dyd great wonders, so that he made fyre come downe from heauen on the earth in the syght of men.
14 And deceaued them that dwelt on the earth, by the meanes of those signes which he had power to do in the syght of the beast, saying to them that dwelt on the earth, that they shoulde make the image of the beast which had the wounde of a sworde, and dyd lyue.
15 And he had power to geue a spirite vnto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast shoulde speake, and shoulde cause that as many as woulde not worship the image of the beast, shoulde be kylled.
16 And he made all both smal & great, rich & poore, free & bonde, to receaue a marke in their right hand, or in their forheads.
17 And that no man myght bye or sell, saue he that had the marke or ye name of the beast, other ye number of his name.
18 Here is wisdome. Let hym that hath witte, count ye number of the beast: For it is the number of a man, & his number is sixe hundred threescore and sixe.
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.