« | Revelation 21 | » |
1 And I sawe a newe heauen & a new earth: for the first heauen & the first earth were vanisshed awaye, & there was no more sea.
2 And I Iohn sawe the holy citie newe Hierusalem come downe from God out of heauen, prepared as a bride garnisshed for her husbande.
3 And I hearde a great voyce out of heauen, saying: Beholde, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he wyll dwell with them, and they shalbe his people, and God hym selfe shalbe with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wype away all teares from their eyes: and there shalbe no more death, neither sorowe, neither crying, neither shall there be any more payne, for the former thynges are gone.
5 And he that sate vpon the throne, said: Beholde, I make all thynges newe. And he sayde vnto me, write: for these wordes are faythfull and true.
6 And he sayde vnto me, it is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the begynnyng and the ende: I wyll geue to hym that is a thirst of the well of the water of lyfe freely.
7 He that ouercommeth, shall inherite all thynges, and I wyl be his God, and he shalbe my sonne.
8 But the fearefull and vnbeleuing, and the abhominable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, & all lyers, shall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brymstone: which is the seconde death.
9 And there came vnto me one of the seuen angels whiche had the seuen vyals full of the seuen last plagues, and talked with me, saying: Come hyther, I wyll shewe thee the bryde, the lambes wyfe.
10 And he caryed me away in the spirite to a great and an hye mountayne, and he shewed me the great citie holy Hierusalem, descendyng out of heauen fro God,
11 Hauing the glorie of God: and her shining was lyke vnto a stone most precious, euen lyke a Iasper, cleare as Cristall.
12 And had walles great and hye, & had 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels, & names written, which are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.
13 On the east syde three gates, and on the north syde three gates, and towards the south three gates, and fro the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the citie had 12 foundations, and in them the 12 names of the lambes 12 Apostles.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reede to measure the citie withall, and the gates thereof, and the wall therof.
16 And the citie was buylt foure square, & the length was as large as ye breadth: and he measured the citie with the reede twelue thousande furlonges, and the length, and the breadth, and the heyght of it were equall.
17 And he measured the wall thereof an hundreth and fourtie and foure cubites, by the measure of man, that is of the angell.
18 And the buylding of the wall of it was of Iasper, and the citie was pure golde lyke vnto cleare glasse.
19 And the foundations of the wall of the citie were garnisshed with all maner of precious stones. The first foundation was Iasper, the seconde Saphire, the third a Chalcedonie, the fourth an Emeralde,
20 The fifth Sardonix, ye sixth Sardius, the seuenth Chrysolite, the eygth Beryl, the ninth a Topas, the tenth a Chrysoprasus, the eleueth a Iacinct, ye twelfth an Amatist.
21 The 12 gates were 12 pearles, euery gate was of one pearle. and the streate of the citie was pure golde, as through shynyng glasse.
22 And I sawe no temple therin: For the Lorde God almightie and the Lambe, are the temple of it.
23 And the citie hath no neede of the sunne, neither of the moone to lighten it: For the glorie of God dyd lighten it, and the Lambe is the lyght of it.
24 And the people which are saued, shall walke in the lyght of it: and the kynges of the earth shall bryng their glorie and honor vnto it.
25 And the gates of it are not shut by day, for there shalbe no nyght.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the gentiles vnto it.
27 And there shall enter into it none vncleane thyng, neither whatsoeuer worketh abhomination, or maketh lyes: but they only which are written in the lambes booke of lyfe.
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.