« | Joshua 4 | » |
1 And so when the people were al gone ouer Iordane (after ye Lord had spoken vnto Iosuah, saying:
2 Take you twelue men out of the people, out of euery tribe a man,
3 And commaunde you them, saying: Take you hence out of the middes of Iordane [euen] out of the place where the priestes stoode in a redinesse, twelue stones, which ye shall take away with you, and leaue them in the lodgyng where you shall lodge this nyght)
4 Then Iosuah called the twelue men, which he had prepared of the chyldren of Israel, out of euery tribe a man.
5 And Iosuah sayde vnto them: Get you before the arke of the Lorde your God, euen through the middes of Iordane, and take vp euery man of you a stone vpon his shoulder, accordyng vnto the number of the tribes of the chyldren of Israel,
6 That this may be a signe among you: That when your chyldren aske their fathers in tyme to come, saying, What [meane] these stones with you?
7 Ye maye aunswere them: howe that the waters of Iordane deuided at the presence of the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde, (For when it went ouer Iordane, the waters of Iordane deuided) And these stones are become a memoriall vnto the chyldren of Israel for euer.
8 And the chyldren of Israel dyd euen so as Iosuah commaunded, and toke vp twelue stones out of the middes of Iordane as the Lorde sayde vnto Iosuah, accordyng to the number of the tribes of the chyldren of Israel, and caryed them away with them vnto the place where they lodged, & layde them downe there.
9 And Iosuah set vp twelue stones in the middes of Iordane, in the place where the feete of the priestes whiche bare the arke of the testament stoode: and there haue they continued vnto this day.
10 For the priestes whiche bare the arke stoode in the middes of Iordane, vntyll all was finished that the Lorde commaunded Iosuah to saye vnto the people, accordyng to all that Moyses charged Iosuah: And the people hasted, & went ouer.
11 And when all the people were cleane passed ouer, the arke of the Lord went ouer also, and the priestes before the people.
12 And the chyldren of Ruben, and the chyldren of Gad, and halfe the tribe of Manasse, went before the chyldren of Israel armed, as Moyses charged the.
13 Euen fourtie thousande prepared for warre, went before the Lorde vnto battayl, through the plaine of Iericho.
14 That day the Lorde magnified Iosuah in the syght of all Israel: and they feared hym, as they feared Moyses all dayes of his lyfe.
15 And the Lorde spake vnto Iosuah, saying:
16 Commaunde the priestes that beare the arke of the testimonie to come vp out of Iordane.
17 Iosuah therefore commaunded the priestes, saying: Come ye vp out of Iordane.
18 And when the priestes that bare the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde, were come vp out of the middes of Iordane, and assoone as the soles of the priestes feete were set on ye drie land, the waters of Iordane returned vnto their place, and went ouer all their bankes as they dyd before.
19 And the people came vp out of Iordane the tenth [day] of the first moneth, and pitched in Gilgal, euen in the east border of the citie Iericho.
20 And the twelue stones whiche they toke out of Iordane, dyd Iosuah pitch in Gilgal.
21 And he spake vnto the chyldren of Israel, saying: If your chyldren aske their fathers in tyme to come, and saye: What [meane] these stones?
22 Ye shall shewe your chyldren, and say: Israel came ouer this Iordane on drye lande.
23 For the Lorde your God dried vp the water of Iordane before you, vntill ye were gone ouer, as ye Lorde your God dyd the red sea, which he dried vp before vs, tyll we were gone ouer.
24 That all the people of ye world may knowe the hande of the Lorde howe mightie it is, and that ye might feare the Lorde your God for euer.
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.