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There are wide variations in spelling, spacing and punctuation. In
addition some of the blackletter type is worn and difficult to
interpret.
Unambiguous spelling has mostly been retained. Apparent errors that
have been changed are noted at the end of the text. Uncertain spelling
has been transcribed according to the sense of the text. The King
James Version (which incorporated most of Tyndale's translation) has
also been consulted.
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that are inconsistent with the text have been corrected. Ambiguities
have been transcribed according to the sense of the text.
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a, [~e]), while superscript letters (also marking abbreviations) are
indicated by "^" (e.g. y^e). Some paragraphs and chapter titles begin
with a "¶": these have been retained. Sidenotes begin with a "*" and
refer to the "*" in the following paragraph. The text of some of them
(identified below) is uncertain. Ligatures (e.g. for "ll") have been
ignored. Slanted bars (virgulae suspensivae) are equivalent to modern
commas.
[Illustration:
The fyrst
boke of
Moses called
Genesis.]
W. T. To the Reader.
When I had translated the newe testament/ I added a pistle vnto the
laiter ende/ In which I desyred them y^t were learned to amend if
ought were founde amysse. But oure malicious and wylye hypocrytes
which are so stubburne and hard herted in their weked abhominacios
that it is not possible for them to amend any thinge atall (as we see
by dayly experience when their both lyvinges and doinges are rebuked
with the trouth) saye/ some of them that it is unpossible to translate
the scripture in to English/ some that it is not lawfull for the laye
people to have it in their mother tonge/ some that it wold make them
all heretykes/ as it wold no doute from many thinges which they of
longe tyme haue falsly taught/ ad that is the whole cause wherfore
they forbyd it/ though they other clokes pretende. And some or rather
every one/ saye that it wold make them ryse ageynst the kinge/ whom
they them selves (vnto their damnatyo) never yet obeyed. And leste the
temporall rulars shuld see their falsehod/ if the scripture cam to
light/ causeth them so to lye.
And as for my translatio in which they afferme vnto the laye people
(as I haue hearde saye) to be I wotte not how many thousande
heresyes/ so that it ca not be m[~e]ded or correcte/ they haue yet
taken so greate payne to examyne it/ & to compare it vnto that they
wold fayne haue it and to their awne imaginations and iugglinge
termes/ and to haue some what to rayle at/ and vnder that cloke to
blaspheme the treuth/ that they myght with as litle laboure (as I
suppose) haue translated the moste parte of the bible. For they which
in tymes paste were wont to loke on no more scripture then they founde
in their duns or soch like develysh doctryne/ haue yet now so narowlye
loked on my translatyon/ that there is not so moch as one I therin if
it lacke a tytle over his hed/ but they haue noted it/ and nombre it
vnto the ignorant people for an heresy. Fynallye in this they be all
agreed/ to dryve you from the knowlege of the scripture/ & that ye
shall not haue the texte therof in the mother tonge/ and to kepe the
world styll in darkenesse/ to the ntent they might sitt in the
consciences of the people/ thorow vayne superstition and false
doctrine/ to satisfye their fylthy lustes their proude ambition/ and
vnsatiable covetuousnes/ and to exalte their awne honoure aboue kinge
& emperoure/ yee & above god him silfe
¶ A thousand bokes had they lever to be put forth agenste their
abhominable doynges and doctrine/ then that the scripture shulde come
to light. For as long as they may kepe that doune/ they will so darken
the ryght way with the miste of their sophistrye/ and so tangle
th[~e] that ether rebuke or despyse their abhominations with
argumentes of philosophye & with wordly symylitudes and apparent
reasons of naturall wisdom. And with wrestinge the scripture vnto
their awne purpose clene contrarye vnto y^e processe/ order and
meaninge of the texte/ and so delude them in descantynge vppon it with
alligoryes/ and amase th[~e] expoundinge it in manye senses before the
vnlerned laye people (when it hath but one symple litterall sense
whose light the owles ca not abyde) that though thou feale in thyne
harte and arte sure how that all is false y^t they saye/ yet coudeste
thou not solve their sotle rydles.
¶ Which thinge onlye moved me to translate the new testament. Because
I had perceaved by experyence/ how that it was impossible to stablysh
the laye people in any truth/ excepte y^e scripture were playnly layde
before their eyes in their mother tonge/ that they might se the
processe/ ordre and meaninge of the texte: for els what so ever truth
is taught them/ these ennymyes of all truth qwench it ageyne/ partly
with the smoke of their bottomlesse pyite wherof thou readest
apocalipsis .ix. that is/ with apparent reasons of sophistrye &
traditions of their awne makynge/ founded with out grounde of
scripture/ and partely in iugglinge with the texte/ expoundinge it in
soch a sense as is impossible to gether of the texte/ if thou see the
processe ordre and meaninge therof.
¶ And even in the bisshope of londons house I entended to have done
it. For when I was so turmoyled in the contre where I was that I coude
no lenger there dwell (the processe wherof were to longe here to
reherce) I this wyse thought in my silfe/ this I suffre because the
prestes of the contre be vnlerned/ as god it knoweth there are a full
ignorant sorte which haue sene no more latyn then that they read in
their portesses and missales which yet many of them can scacely read
(excepte it be Albertus de secretis mulier[~u] in which yet/ though
they be never so soryly lerned/ they pore day and night and make notes
therin and all to teach the mydwyves as they say/ and linwod a boke of
constitutions to gether tithes/ mortuaryes/ offeringes/ customs/ and
other pillage/ which they calle/ not theirs/ but godes parte and the
deuty of holye chirch/ to discharge their consciences with all: for
they are bound that they shall not dimynysh/ but encreace all thinge
vnto the vttmost of their powers) and therfore (because they are thus
vnlerned thought I) when they come to gedder to the alehouse/ which is
their preachinge place/ they afferme that my sainges are heresy. And
besydes y^t they adde to of thir awne heddes which I never spake/ as
the maner is to prolonge the tale to shorte the tyme with all/ and
accuse me secretly to the chauncelare and other the bishopes officers/
And in deade when I cam before the chauncelare/ he thretened me
grevously/ and revyled me and rated me as though I had bene a dogge/
and layd to my charge wherof there coude be none accuser brought forth
(as their maner is not to bringe forth the accuser) and yet all the
prestes of y^e contre were y^t same daye there. As I this thought the
bishope of london came to my remembrance whom Erasmus (whose tonge
maketh of litle gnattes greate elephates and lifteth vpp aboue the
starres whosoever geveth him a litle exhibition) prayseth excedingly
amonge other in his annotatyons on the new testament for his great
learninge. Then thought I/ if I might come to this mannes service/ I
were happye. And so I gate me to london/ & thorow the accoyntaunce of
my master came to sir harry gilford the kinges graces controller/ ad
brought him an oration of Isocrates which I had translated out of
greke in to English/ and desyred him to speake vnto my lorde of london
for me/ which he also did as he shewed me/ ad willed me to write a
pistle to my lorde/ and to goo to him my silf which I also did/
and delivered my pistle to a servant of his awne/ one wyllyam
hebilthwayte/ a ma of myne old accoynta[~u]ce. But god which kneweth
what is within hypocrites/ sawe that I was begyled/ ad that that
councell was not the nexte way vnto my purpose. And therfore he gate
me no favoure in my lordes sight
¶ Wherevppo my lorde answered me/ his house was full/ he had mo th[~e]
he coude well finde/ and advised me to seke in london/ wher he sayd I
coude not lacke a service/ And so in london I abode almoste an yere/
and marked the course of the worlde/ and herde oure pratars/ I wold
say oure preachers how they bosted them selves and their hye
authorite/ and beheld the pompe of oure prelates and how besyed they
were as they yet are/ to set peace and vnite in the worlde (though it
be not possible for them that walke in darkenesse to cotinue longe in
peace/ for they can not but ether stoble or dash them selves at one
thinge or a nother that shall clene vnquyer all togedder) & sawe
thinges wherof I deferre to speake at this tyme and vnderstode at the
laste not only that there was no rowme in my lorde of londons palace
to translate the new testament/ but also that there was no place to do
it in all englonde/ as experience doth now openly declare.
¶ Vnder what maner therfore shuld I now submitte this boke to be
corrected and amended of them/ which can suffer nothinge to be well?
Or what protestacyon shuld I make in soch a matter vnto oure prelates
those stubburne Nimrothes which so mightely fight agenste god and
resiste his holy spirite/ enforceynge with all crafte and sotelte to
qwench the light of the everlastinge testament/ promyses/ and
apoyntemente made betwene god & vs: and heapinge the firce wrath of
god vppon all princes and rulars/ mockinge th[~e] with false fayned
names of hypocrysye/ and servinge their lustes at all poyntes/ &
dispensinge with th[~e] even of the very lawes of god/ of which
Christe him silf testifieth Mathew .v. y^t not so moch as one tittle
therof maye perish or be brok[~e]. And of which the prophete sayth
Psalme .cxix. Thou haste comaunded thy lawes to be kepte meod/ y^t is
in hebrew excedingly/ with all dilig[~e]ce/ might & power/ and haue
made th[~e] so mad with their iugglinge charmes and crafty persuasios
that they thinke it full satisfaction for all their weked lyvinge/ to
torme[~e]t soch as tell th[~e] trouth/ & to borne the worde of their
soules helth & sle whosoever beleve theron.
¶ A prologe shewinge the vse of the scripture
Though a man had a precious iuell and a rich/ yet if he wiste not the
value therof nor wherfore it served/ he were nother the better nor
rycher of a straw. Eyen so though we read the scripture & bable of it
never so moch/ yet if we know not the vse of it/ and wherfore it was
geven/ and what is theim to be sought/ it profiteth vs nothinge at
all. It is not ynough therfore to read and talke of it only/ but we
must also desyre god daye and night instantly to open oure eyes/ ad to
make vs vnderstond and feale wherfore the scripture was geuen/ that we
maye applye the medicyne of the scripture/ every ma to his awne sores/
inlesse then we entend to be ydle disputers/ and braulers aboute vayne
wordes/ ever gnawenge vppon the bitter barcke with out and newer
attayninge vnto the swete pith with in/ and persequutinge one an other
for defendinge of lewde imaginacions and phantasyes of oure awne
invencyon
¶ Paule in y^e thyrde of y^e secode epistle to Tymothe sayth/ y^t the
scripture is good to teache (for y^t ought m[~e] to teach & not
dreames of their awne mak[~i]ge/ as y^e pope doth) & also to improve/
for y^e scripture is y^e twichstone y^t tryeth all doctrynes/ & by y^t
we know the false from y^e true. And in the .vi. to the ephesians he
calleth it the swerd of the spirite/ by cause it killeth hyppocrites
and vttereth ad improveth their false inventyons. And in the .xv. to
the Romayns he sayth all that are wryten/ are wryten for oure
learninge/ that we thorow pacyence and cosorte of the scripture myght
have hope. That is/ the ensamples that are in the scripture comforte
vs in all oure tribulacyons/ and make vs to put oure truste in god/
and pacyently to abyde his leysure. And in the .x. of the firste to
the Corinthyans he bringeth in examples of the scripture to feare vs
and to bridle the fleshe/ that we caste not the yoke of the lawe of
god from of oure neckes/ and fall to lustynge and doinge of evill.
¶ So now the scripture is a light and sheweth vs the true waye/ both
what to do/ and what to hope. And a defence from all erroure/ and a
comforte in adversyte that we despayre not. and feareth vs in
prosperyte that we synne not Seke therfore in the scripture as thou
readest it first the law/ what god comaundeth vs to doo. And
secundarylye the promyses/ which god promyseth vs ageyne/ namely in
Christe Iesu oure lorde. Then seke ensamples/ firste of comforte/ how
god purgeth all them that submitte them selves to walke in his wayes/
in the purgatorye of tribulatyon/ delyveringe them yet at the latter
ende/ and never soferinge any of them to perysh/ that cleave faste to
his promyses. And fynallye/ note the ensamples which are writen
to feare the flesh that we synne not. That is/ how god suffereth the
vngodlye and weked synners that resiste god and refuse to folow him/
to contynue in their wekednesse/ ever waxinge worse and worse vntyll
their synne be so sore encreased and so abhomynable/ that if they
shuld longer endure they wold corrupte the very electe. But for the
electes sake god sendeth th[~e] preachers. Neverthelesse they harden
their hartes agenste the truth/ and god destroyeth th[~e] vtterlye and
begynneth the world a new.
¶ This comforte shalt thou evermore finde in the playne texte and
literall sense. Nether is there any storye so homely/ so rude/ yee or
so vyle (as it semeth outwarde) wherin is not exceadinge greate
comforte. And when some which seme to them selves great clarkes saye:
they wott not what moare profite is in many geftes of the scripture if
they be read with out an allegorye/ then in a tale of robenhode/ saye
thou: that they were wryten for oure consolacyon and comforte/ that we
despayre not/ if soch like happen vnto vs. We be not holyer then Noe/
though he were once dronke. Nether bettter beloved then Iacob/ though
his awne sonne defyled his bedde. We be not holyer then lot/ though
his doughters thorow ignorance deceaved him/ nor paradventure holyer
then those doughters. Nether are we holyer then David/ though he brake
wedlocke and vppon the same commytted abhomynable murther. All those
men have witnesse of the scripture that they pleased god and ware
good men both before that those thinges chaunsed them and also after.
Neverthelesse soch thinges happened them for oure ensampler not that
we shuld contrafayte their evill/ but if whyle we fight with oure
selves enforsynge to walke in the law of god (as they did) we yet fall
likewise/ that we despayre not/ but come agayn, to the lawes of god
and take better holde
¶ We read sens the tyme of Christes deeth/ of virgins that have bene
brought vnto the com[~e]stues/ and theye defyled/ and of martyrs that
haue bene bounde and hores haue abvsed their bodyes. Why? The
iudgem[~e]tes of god are bottolesse. Soch thinges chaunced partely for
ensamples/ partely God thorow synne healeth synne Pryde can nether be
healed nor yet appere but thorow soch horrible deades. Paraduenture
they were of y^e popes secte ad reioysed fleshly/ thinkinge that
heaven came by deades and not by Christ/ and that the outwarde dead
iustyfyed them & made them holy and not the inward spirite receeved by
fayth and the consent of the harte vnto the law of god.
¶ As thou readeste therfore thinke that every sillable pertayneth to
thyne awne silf/ and sucke out the pithe of the scripture/ and arme
thy silf ageynst all assaultes. Firste note with stronge faith the
power of god in creatinge all of nought Then marke the grevous fall of
Adam and of vs all in him/ thorow the light regard[~i]ge of the
commaundement of god. In the .iii. Chapitre God turneth him vnto Abel
and then to his offeringe/ but not to Cain and his offeringe. Where
thou seest that though the deades of the evel apere outwardly as
gloryous as the deades of the good: yet in the sight of god which
loketh on the harte/ the deade is good because of the man/ and not the
man good because of his deade. In the vj. God sendeth Noe to preach to
the weked and geueth them space to repent: they wax hard herted/ God
bringeth them to nought And yet saveth Noe: even by the same water by
which he destroyed them. Marke also what folowed the pryde of the
buyldinge of the toure of Babel
Consydre how God sendeth forth Abraha out of his awne contre in to a
strange lande full of weked people/ and gave him but a bare promesse
with him that he wold blesse him and defende him. Abraham beleved: and
that worde saued and delyuered him in all parelles: so that we se/ how
that mannes life is not mayntayned by bred onlye (as Christe sayeth)
but moch rather by belevinge the promyses of god. Behold how soberly
and how circ[~u]spectly both Abraham and also Isaac behaue them selves
amoge the infideles. Abraham byeth that which might have ben geven him
for nought/ to cutte of occasions. Isaac when his welles which he had
digged were taken from him/ geveth rowme and resisteth not. More over
they creand sowe and fede their catell/ and make confederacyons/ ad
take perpetuall truce/ and do all outward thinges: Even as they do
which have no faith/ for god hath not made vs to be ydle in this world
Every man must worke godly and truly to the vttmoste of the power that
god hath geven him: and yet not truste therin: but in goddes worde or
promesse: and god will worke with vs and bringe that we do to good
effecte. And th[~e] when oure power will extend no further/ goddes
promesses wyll worke all alone
¶ How many thinges also resisted the promesses of god to Iacob? And
yet Iacob coniureth god with his awne promesses sayenge: O god of my
father Abraham: and god of my father Isaac/ O lorde which saydeste
vnto me returne vnto thyne awne contre/ and vnto the place were thou
waste borne and I wil do the good I am not worthy of the leste of
those mercyes/ nor of that trouth which thou haste done to thy seruant
I went out but with a staffe/ and come home with ij droves/ delyver me
out of the handes of my brother Esau/ for I feare hym greatly &c. And
god delyvered him/ and will likewyse all that call vnto his promesses
with a repentinge herte/ were they never so great synners. Marke also
the weake infirmites of the ma He loveth one wife more then a nother/
one sonne more then a nother. And se how god purgeth him. Esau
threteneth him: Laban begyleth him. The beloued wife is longe baren:
his doughter is ravyshed: his wife is defyled/ and that of his awne
sonne. Rahel dieth/ Ioseph is taken a way/ yee and as he supposed rent
of wild beastes And yet how gloryous was hys ende? Note the wekenesse
of his Children/ yee and the synne of them/ and how god thorow their
awne wekednes saved them. These ensamples teach vs that a man is not
attonce parfecte the firste daye he beginneth to lyve wel They that be
stronge therfore muste suffre with the weake/ and helpe to kepe them
in vnite & peace one with a nother vntill they be stroger
Note what the brothren sayde when they were tached in Egipte/ we haue
verelye synned (sayde they) ageynste oure brother in y^t we sawe the
anguysh of his soule when he besought vs/ and wold not heare him: ad
therfore is this tribulation come vppon vs. By which ensample thou
seiste/ how that conscience of evyll doenges findeth men out at the
laste. But namely in tribulacyon and adversyte: there temptacyon and
also desperacyon: yee and the verye paynes of hell find vs out: there
the soule feleth the ferse wrath of god and wyssheth mountaynes to
falle on her and to hyde her (yf it were possible) fro the angrye face
of god.
Marke also how greate evelles folow of how litle an occasion Dina
goeth but forth alone to se the doughters of the contre/ and how
greate myscheve and troble folowed? Iacob loved but one sonne more
than a nother/ ad how grevous murther folowed in their hartes? These
are ensamples for oure learninge to teach vs to walke warely and
circ[~u]spectlye in the worlde of weake people/ that we geve no ma
occasions of evyll
¶ Finally/ se what god promysed Ioseph in his dreames. Those promesses
accopanyed him all ways/ and went doune wyth him even in to the depe
dongeon/ And brought him vppe agayne/ And never forsoke him till all
that was promysed was fulfilled. These are ensamples wryt[~e] for our
learn[~i]ge (as paule seyth) to teach vs to truste in god in y^e
stroge fyre of tribulation and purgatorye of oure flesh. And that they
which submytte them selves to folow god shuld note and marke soch
thinges/ for theyr lerninge and comforte/ is the frute of the
scripture and cause why it was wryten: And with soch a purpose to
reade it/ is the waye to everlastynge life and to those ioyfull
blyssinges that are promysed vnto all nacyons in the seade of Abraham/
which seade is Iesus Christe oure lorde/ to whom be honoure and prayse
for ever and vnto god oure father thorow him.
AMEN.