« | Isaiah 27 | » |
1 In that day the Lord with his sore, great, and mightie sworde, shall visite Leuiathan the fugitiue serpent, euen Leuiathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day see that ye sing of the congregation which is the vineyarde that bringeth foorth the best wine:
3 Euen I the Lorde do kepe it, in due seasons shall I water it: and lest the enemie do it any harme, I wyll both night and day preserue it.
4 There is no displeasure in me, els when the vineyarde bringeth me foorth bryers and thornes I woulde go thorowe it by warre, and burne it vp together.
5 Let it take holde of my strength, and it shalbe at one with me, euen at one shall it be with me.
6 The dayes are comming that Iacob shall take roote, Israel shalbe greene and florishe, and the world shalbe filled with fruite.
7 Hath he smitten hym as sore as he did the other that smote hym? Or is he slayne with so sore a slaughter as they that slue hym?
8 Thou wylt punishe it in the braunches, yet not beyonde measure: for in the day that the east winde bloweth sore, it taketh away the fruites.
9 By this meanes therfore shall the iniquitie of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruite [namely] the taking away of his sinne, if he make all the stones of the aulter of idols as chalke stones that are beaten in sunder, that their groues and images ryse not vp agayne.
10 Els shall the strong citie be desolate, and the habitation forsaken and left like a wildernesse: there shall the Calfe feede, and there shall he lye, and eate vp the graffes therof.
11 When the braunches of it are drye, they are broken of, & the women come and set them on fire: for it is a people of no vnderstanding, and therfore he that made them shall not fauour them, and he that created them shall geue them no grace.
12 And in that day shall the Lorde make a threshing, from the middest of the riuer Euphrates, vnto the riuer of Egypt, and ye chyldren of Israel shalbe gathered together one to another.
13 In that day shall the great trumpe be blowne, so that they which were lost in the lande of Assyria, and they that were banished in the lande of Egypt, shall come and worship the Lorde in the holye mount of Hierusalem.
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.