« | Amos 8 | » |
1 Thus hath the Lorde God shewed vnto me: and beholde, a basket of sommer fruite.
2 And he sayde: Amos, what seest thou? And I sayde: A basket of sommer fruite. Then sayd the Lord vnto me, The end is come vpon my people of Israel, I wil passe by them no more.
3 And the songues of the temple shalbe howlinges in that day sayth the Lorde God: many dead bodies shalbe in euery place, they shal cast them foorth with scilence.
4 Heare this, O ye that swallow vp the poore, that ye may make the needy of the lande to fayle,
5 Saying, When will the new moneth be gone, that we may sell corne? & the Sabbath, that we may set foorth wheate, and make the Epha small, & the sicle great, & falsifie the wayghtes by deceite?
6 That we may bie the poore for siluer, and the needy for shoes, yea and sell the refuse of the wheate?
7 The Lorde hath sworne by the excellencie of Iacob, surely I will neuer forget any of their workes.
8 Shall not the lande tremble for this, and euerie one mourne that dwelleth therin? And it shall rise vp wholly as a flood, and it shalbe cast out, and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And in that day, sayth the Lord God, I will euen cause the sunne to go downe at noone, and I wil darken the earth in the cleare day.
10 And I will turne your feastes into mourning, and all your songues into lamentation: and I will bring sackecloth vpon all loynes, and baldnesse vpon euery head, & I will make it as the mourning of an only sonne, and the end therof as a bitter day.
11 Behold the dayes come sayth the Lord God, that I will sende a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the worde of the Lorde.
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, & from the north euen vnto the east shal they run to and fro to seke the worde of the Lord, and shall not finde it.
13 In that day shall the fayre virgins, and the young men perishe for thirst.
14 They that swere by the sinne of Samaria, & that say, Thy God O Dan liueth, & the maner of Beerseba liueth, euen they shall fall, and neuer rise vp againe.
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.