« | Revelation 8 | » |
1 And when he had opened the seuenth seale, ther was scilence in heaue about the space of halfe an houre:
2 And I sawe the seuen angels standyng before God, and to them were geuen seuen trumpets.
3 And another angell came and stoode before the aulter, hauyng a golden senser, and much of odours was geuen vnto hym, that he should offer of the prayers of all saintes vpon the golden aulter which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the odours whiche came of the prayers of all saintes, ascended vp before God, out of the angels hande.
5 And the angel toke the senser, and fylled it with fire of the aulter, and cast it into the earth: and voyces were made, and thundrynges, and lyghtnynges, & earthquake.
6 And the seuen angels whiche had the seuen trumpettes, prepared them selues to blowe.
7 The first angell blewe, & there was made hayle & fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast into the earth, and the thirde part of trees was burnt, and all greene grasse was burnt.
8 And the seconde angell blewe, and as it were a great mountayne burnyng with fire was cast into the sea, and the thirde part of the sea turned to blood.
9 And the thirde part of the creatures whiche were in the sea, and hadde lyfe, dyed, and the thirde part of shippes were destroyed.
10 And the third angell blewe, and there fell a great starre from heauen, burning as it were a lampe, and it fell into the thirde part of the ryuers, and into fountaynes of waters:
11 And the name of the starre is called wormewood, and the thirde part was turned to wormewood, and many men dyed of the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth angell blewe, and the thirde part of the sunne was smytten, and the thirde part of the moone, and the thirde part of starres, so that the thirde part of them was darkened: and the day was smitten, that the third part of it shoulde not shyne, and lykewise the nyght.
13 And I behelde, and hearde an angell fleyng through the myddes of heauen, saying with a loude voyce, wo, wo, wo to the inhabiters of the earth, because of the voyces to come of the trumpe of the three angels which were yet to blowe.
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.