« | Revelation 20 | » |
1 And I sawe an angel come downe from heauen hauyng the key of the bottomelesse pytte, and a great chaine in his hand
2 And he toke the dragon, that olde serpent, which is the deuyll and Satanas, and he bounde hym a thousand yeres.
3 And cast hym into the bottomlesse pit, and he shut hym vp, and set a seale on hym, that he shoulde deceaue the people no more, tyll the thousande yeres were fulfylled: and after that, he must be loosed for a litle season.
4 And I sawe thrones, and they sate vpon them, and iudgement was geuen vnto them: and I sawe the soules of them that were beheaded for the witnesse of Iesus, and for the word of God, and whiche had not worshipped the beast neither his image, neither had taken his marke vpon their foreheads, or in their handes: and they lyued and raigned with Christe a thousand yeres.
5 But the other of the dead men shall not lyue agayne, vntyll the thousande yeres be finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: For on such shal the seconde death haue no power, but they shalbe the priestes of God and of Christe, and shall raigne with hym a thousande yeres.
7 And when the thousande yeres are expired, Satan shalbe loosed out of his pryson.
8 And shall go out to deceaue the people which are in the foure quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battayle, whose number is as the sande of the sea.
9 And they went vp in the playne of the earth, and compassed the tentes of the saintes about, and the beloued citie: and fire came downe from God out of heauen, and deuoured them:
10 And the deuyll that deceaued them, was cast into a lake of fire & brymstone, where the beast and the false prophete shalbe tormented day & nyght for euermore.
11 And I sawe a great whyte throne, and him that sate on it, fro whose face fledde away both the earth and heauen, and their place was no more founde.
12 And I sawe the dead both great and small stand before God, and the bookes were opened: and another booke was opened, which is [the booke] of lyfe, and the dead were iudged of those thynges whiche were written in the bookes, accordyng to their deedes.
13 And the sea gaue vp her dead whiche were in her, and death and hell delyuered vp the dead whiche were in them: and they were iudged euery man accordyng to his deedes.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fyre. This is the seconde death.
15 And whosoeuer was not founde written in the booke of lyfe, was cast into the lake of fire.
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.