« | Romans 4 | » |
1 What shall we saye then that Abraham our father, as parteynyng to the flesshe, dyd fynde?
2 For if Abraham were iustified by workes, the hath he wherein to boaste, but not before God.
3 For what sayth the scripture? Abraham beleued God, and it was counted vnto hym for ryghteousnes.
4 To hym that worketh, is the reward not reckened of grace, but of duetie.
5 To hym that worketh not, but beleueth on hym that iustifieth the vngodly, his fayth is counted for ryghteousnes.
6 Euen as Dauid describeth the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes:
7 Blessed are they whose vnrighteousnesse are forgeuen, & whose sinnes are couered.
8 Blessed is that man to who the Lorde wyll not impute sinne.
9 Came [this] blessednes then vpon the circumcision, or vpon the vncircumcision also? For we say, that fayth was reckened to Abraham for ryghteousnes.
10 Howe was it then reckened? When he was in the circumcision? or whe he was in the vncircumcision? Not in the circumcision: but in vncircumcision.
11 And he receaued the signe of circumcision, as the seale of the ryghteousnesse of fayth, whiche he had yet beyng vncircumcised, that he shoulde be the father of al them that beleue, though they be not circumcised, that ryghteousnes myght be imputed vnto them also.
12 And that he myght be father of circumcision, not vnto them only whiche came of the circumcised: but vnto them also that walke in the steppes of the fayth that was in our father Abraham, before the time of circumcision.
13 For the promise that he shoulde be the heyre of the worlde, [was] not to Abraham or to his seede through the lawe, but through the ryghteousnes of fayth.
14 For yf they which are of the lawe be heyres, then is fayth but vayne, and the promise of none effect:
15 Because the lawe causeth wrath. For where no lawe is, there is no transgression.
16 Therefore by fayth [is the inheritaunce geuen] that it might [come] by grace, that the promise myght be sure to all ye seede, not to that only which is of the lawe, but to that also which is of the fayth of Abraham, which is the father of vs al.
17 (As it is written, that I haue made thee a father of many nations) before God, whom he beleued, which restoreth the dead vnto life, and calleth those thynges whiche be not, as though they were.
18 Who contrary to hope, beleued in hope, that he shoulde be the father of many nations, accordyng to that which was spoken: so shall thy seede be.
19 And he faynted not in the fayth, nor considered his owne body nowe dead, when he was almost an hundred yeres old, neither yet the deadnesse o Saraes wombe.
20 He stackered not at the promise of God through vnbeliefe: but was strong in fayth, geuyng glorie to God:
21 And beyng full certified, that what he had promised, he was able also to perfourme.
22 And therfore was it reckened to hym for righteousnes.
23 Neuerthelesse, it is not written for hym only, that it was reckened to him:
24 But also for vs, to whom it shalbe reckened, so that we beleue on hym that raysed vp Iesus our Lorde from the dead.
25 Which was deliuered for our sinnes, and was raysed agayne for our iustification.
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.