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THE

HOLY BIBLE,

CONTAINING THE

OLD AND NEW

TESTAMENTS,

TRANSLATED FROM THE

ORIGINAL TONGUES;

AND WITH THE

FORMER TRANSLATIONS,

DILIGENTLY COMPARED AND REVISED.

-

PHILADELPHIA:

PRINTED BY AND FOR WILLIAM W. WOODWARD,
No. 52, Second, corner of Chesnut-ftreet.

1810.

ANDOVER-HARVARD THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY CAMBRIDGE, MASO

#56.487

7low. 12, 1932

TO THE READER.

THE Providence of God is particularly manifefted in the prefervation of the

or

1 Holy Scriptures. To the Jews were committed the Oracles of God, and fo faithful have they been to this facred truft, that when copies of the law the prophets were transcribed, they not only diligently compared the one with the other, but even counted the number of letters in each book, and compared

the numbers.

No fooner did the gospel spread through the nations, than it was found necef. fary to tranflate the Bible for each into its proper language. Some affirm that the five books of Moles and that of Joshua were translated into Greek before the days of Alexander the Great. But the moft remarkable tranflation of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint, which, if the opinion of fome emi. nent writers is to be credited, was made in the reign of Ptolemy Philadel phus, about 280 years before the Chriftian era. At any rate, it is undoubtedly the most ancient that is now extant, and on many accounts deserving notice, though not to be put on a level with the Hebrew text, as has been fometimes done.

Other tranflations of the Old Testament into Greek were made, from A. D. 128 to 200. It is generally believed that the church of Antioch was favoured with a Syrian version of the Bible, in the year 100. The Ethiopians, of Abyffinia, have a version of the Bible, which they afcribe to Frumentius, of the fourth century. Chryfoftom, who lived in the end of the fourth, and Theodoret who lived in the middle of the fifth century, both inform us, that they had the Syrian, Indian, Persian, Armenian, Ethiopic, Scythian, and Samaritan versions. The ancient Egyptians had the Scriptures tranflated into their language. The Georgians have a verfion in their ancient language. The Old Teftament of all these versions, except the Syrian, is taken from the Septuagint.

The famous Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate, which is now, and has been for many ages, of authority in the church of Rome, is of great antiquity. It is by fome faid to have been written, or at leaft copied and improved, by St. Jerom in the fourth century; probably the last was the cafe, for there exifted before his time a Latin version, which Augustine calls the Italian, Jerome the V ilgate, and Gregory Nazeazen, the ancient version. In the year 1290 Peter de Vaux tranflated the Bible into French; and about the fame time the Spanish tranflation was made. There have been many tranflations both into French and Spanish since that time. The Polish verfion was published A. D. 1390; and the first Italian version A. D. 1471. Luther composed his version of the Bible, in the German language, between the years 1521 and 1532; and what is remarkable, not only the Popish tranflations, but those of the Proteftants, for a confiderable time after the reformation, were made, not from the Hebrew of the Old, and Greek of the New Tefta ment, but from the Latin of the Vulgate. We are told that early in the fixteenth century ury the Bohemians took their first version from the Vulgate; but that towards the close of that century eight divines were employed to compofe another from the original text.

We will now give fome account of the tranflations of the Bible into the English language. There have been fome who have affirmed that Adelme, Bishop of Sherborn, who lived in the beginning of the eighth century, tranflated the Pfalms into the Saxon tongue. That however is uncertain, as as fome of the beft hiftorians make no mention of it; yet it is possible, as he was a man of great parts, and of great learning for those times, and faid to be the first En. glishman who wrote in the Latin language. About the fame time, or a little after, Bede, commonly called the Venerable Bede, tranflated fome parts of the New Testament, fome fay the whole Bible, but that is not probable. Near two hundred years later king Alfred translated the Pfalms into the fame language. In 1382, Wickliff finished his tranflation of the Bible, which is yet extant; that is to fav, there are copies of it in some public and private libraries. All thefe tranflations were made from the Vulgate. In the reign of Henry the 8th feveral editions of the Old and New Testaments were published in English; one of the moft remarkable is that of William Tyndal in 1530. The tranfla tion of the New Testament was made from the original Greek, but probably the Old Testament either from the Latin of the Vulgate, or the Greek of the. Septuagint. This was foon followed by the improvements of Coverdale and Mathews. By order of the king, Tonftal Bishop of Durham, and Heath Bi. fhup of Rochefter, made a new tranflation, which was published in 1541; but not pleasing Henry, was fuppreffed by authority. In the reign of king Edward the 6th, another tranflation was made, two editions of which were publish ed, one in 1549, and the other in 1551. In the reign of queen Elizabeth another tranflation was made, which, being revised by fome of the most learn. ed of the Bishops, went by the nam name of the Bishops' Bible. This profeffed to be tranflated from the Hebrew of the Old Testament, and the Greek of the New, though in fome inftances, when there was a difference, it preferred the Septuagint to the Hebrew.

TO THE READER.

This last circumftance, with fome others, induced king James the ift to felect fifty-four perfons, eminent in learning, and particularly well acquainted with the original languages in which the the Old and New Testaments were written, to make a new tranflation of the whole Bible. In the year 1607, forty-feven of those perfons, the other seven probably having died, afsembled together, and arranged themselves into committees, to each of which a por. tion was given to tranflate. They were favoured not only with the beft tranf. lations, but with the most accurate copies, and the various readings of the original text. After about three years affiduous labour, they severally com pleted the parts affigned them. They then met together, and while one read the tranflation newly formed, the reft had each a copy of the original text in his hand, or fome one of the ancient verfions, and when any difficulty occurred they stopt, till by common confultation it was determined what was moft agreeable to the inspired Original. This tranflation was first publihed A. D. 1610, and is the one that has been, ever fince that time, printed by public au. thority, and generally ufed in the British dominions.

THE NAMES & ORDER OF THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, with the Number of their Chapters.

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THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

MATTHEW Chap. 28 Ephesians

6 Hebrews

13

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16 Philippians

24 Coloflians

21 1. Theffalonians

28 11. Theffalonians

Epiftle to the Romans 16 1. Timothy

I. Corinthians

II. Corinthians

Galatians

16 H. Timothy

13 Titus

Philemen

4 Epiftle of James

41. Peter

5 II. Peter

I. John

II. John

4 III. John

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553

32 THE

I

FIRST BOOK OF MOSES,

CHAP. 1.

CALLED

GENESIS.

N the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darknesstwas

17 And God fet them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light

upon the face of the deep. And the from the darkness: and God faw that

Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God faid, Let there be light; and there was light.

4 And God faw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the dark ness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the firft day.

it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God faid, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abun

6 And And God faid, Let there be a fir-dantly, after their kind, and every mament in the midst of the waters, winged fowl after his kind and God and let it divide the waters from the

waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which suere above the firmament: and it was

fo.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the fecond day.

9 And God faid, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear and it was fo.

faw that it was good.

22 And God bleffed them, faying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the feas, and let fowl mul tiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God faid, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beaft of the earth after his kind: and it was fo.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of creepeth upon the earth after his the waters called he Seas and God kind: and God faw that it was good. faw that it was good.

26 And God faid, Let us make 11 And God faid, Let the earth man in our image, after our like... bring forth grafs, the herb yielding ness: and let them have dominion Dec 1, and the fruit tree yielding fruit over the fisk of the fea, and over the arter his kind, whose feed is in itself, fowl of the air, and over the cattle, upon the earth: and it was fo.

12 And the earth brought forth grafs, and herb yielding feed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whofe feed was in itself, after his kind: and God faw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God faid, Let there be Fights in the firmament of the heaven, todivide the day from the night; and let them be for figns, and for feafons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light sym the earth and it was fo.

15 And God made two great lights: the printer light to rule the day, and : the Mer Eight to rule the night be made the Bars alto.

and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God faid unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and fubdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God faid, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing feed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding feed; to youjt Ishall be for meat,

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