« | Zechariah 7 | » |
1 And in the fourth yere of king Darius, the word of the lorde came vnto Zacharia in the fourth [day] of the ninth moneth, which is called Casleu,
2 What time as Sarasar & Rogommelech, and the men that were with them, sent vnto the house of God for to pray before the Lorde:
3 And that they shoulde speake vnto the priestes which were in the house of the Lorde of hoastes, and to the prophetes, saying: should I wepe in the fifth moneth, & abstayne as I haue done nowe certaine yeres?
4 Then came the worde of the Lorde of hoastes vnto me, saying:
5 Speake vnto al the people of the land, and to the priestes, & say: When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth & seuenth moneth now this threescore & ten yeres, did ye fast vnto me?
6 When ye did eate also & drincke, did ye not eate & drincke for your owne selues?
7 Are not these the wordes which the Lord spake by his prophetes aforetime, when Hierusalem was yet inhabited & wealthy, she and the cities round about her, whe there dwelt men both toward the south and in the playne countreys?
8 And the worde of the Lorde came vnto Zachari, saying:
9 Thus saith the Lord of hoastes: Execute true iudgement, shew mercie & louing kindnes euery man to his brother.
10 Do the wydow, the fatherlesse, the straungers and poore no wrong, and let no man imagine euil against his brother in his heart.
11 Neuerthelesse, they would not take heede, but turned their backes, & stopped their eares that they should not heare:
12 Yea, they made their heartes as an Adamant stone, lest they should heare the law and wordes which the Lorde of hoastes sent in his holy spirite by the prophetes aforetime: Wherfore the lord of hoastes was very wroth at them.
13 And thus is it come to passe, that like as he cryed, and they would not heare: euen so they cryed, & I would not heare saith the Lord God of hoastes:
14 But scattred them among al the nations whom they knew not: Thus the land was made so desolate after them, that there trauayled no man in it neither to nor fro: for that plesaunt lande was vtterly layd waste.
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.