« | Revelation 14 | » |
1 And I loked, and lo, a lambe stoode on the mount Sion, and with hym an hundreth fourtie and foure thousande, hauyng his fathers name written in their foreheades.
2 And I hearde a voyce from heauen, as the sounde of many waters, and as the voyce of a great thunder: And I hearde the voyce of harpers harpyng with their harpes:
3 And they song as it were a newe song before the throne, and before the foure beastes, & the elders, and no man coulde learne that song, but the hundreth and fourtie & foure thousande, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with wome, for they are virgins: These folowe the lambe whither soeuer he goeth: These were redeemed fro men, beyng the first fruites vnto God, and to the lambe.
5 And in their mouthes was founde no guile: For they are without spot before the throne of God.
6 And I sawe another angell flee in the middes of heauen, hauyng the euerlastyng Gospell, to preache vnto them that sit and dwel on the earth, and to all nations, and kinredes, and tongues, and people,
7 Saying with a loude voyce: Feare God, and geue honour to hym, for the houre of his iudgement is come: and worshippe hym that made heauen and earth, and the sea, and fountaynes of water.
8 And there folowed another angell, saying: Babylon is fallen is fallen that great citie, for she made all nations drinke of the wyne of the wrath of her fornication.
9 And the thirde angell folowed them, saying with a loude voyce: If any man worshippe the beast and his image, and receaue his marke in his foreheade, or on his hande,
10 The same shall drynke of the wyne of the wrath of God: yea, of the pure wyne which is powred in ye cup of his wrath: And he shalbe punisshed in fyre & brimstone, before the holy angels, and before the lambe.
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth vp euermore: And they haue no rest day nor nyght which worship the beast and his image, and whosoeuer receaueth the prynt of his name.
12 Here is the pacience of the saintes: Here are they that kepe the commaundementes of God, and the fayth of Iesus.
13 And I hearde a voyce from heauen, saying vnto me, write: Blessed are the dead, which hereafter dye in the Lorde. Euen so sayth the spirite, that they rest from their laboures, and their workes folowe them.
14 And I loked, and beholde a whyte cloude, and vpon the cloude one sittyng lyke vnto the sonne of man, hauyng on his head a golden crowne, and in his hande a sharpe sickle.
15 And another angell came out of the temple, crying with a loude voyce to hym that sate on the cloude: Thrust in thy sickle & reape, for the time is come to reape: for the haruest of ye earth is ripe.
16 And he that sate on the cloude thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angell came out of the temple which is in heauen, hauyng also a sharpe sickle.
18 And I sawe another angell came out from the aulter, which had power ouer fyre, and cryed with a loude crye to hym that had the sharpe sickle, and sayde: Thrust in thy sharpe sickle, and gather the clusters of the vineyarde of ye earth, for her grapes are ripe.
19 And the angell thrust in his sharpe sickle on the earth, and cut downe the grapes of the vineyarde of the earth, and cast them into the great wynefat of the wrath of God.
20 And the wynefat was troden without the citie, and blood came out of the fat, euen vnto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand & sixe hundreth furlonges.
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.