of the whole Bible, not from the Hebrew and Greek, but partly translated from the Latin Vulgate, partly from one of the German versions, and partly borrowed from Tyndale with alterations. This Version, first printed in 1535, came to be called the "Treacle Bible," because in Jer. viii. 22, where we now have the words "balm in Gilead," Coverdale wrote "triacle in Galaad.” Then came another Version which was known as "Matthew's Bible," edited by a good man, John Rogers, who was afterwards burned alive at Smithfield under Queen Mary, the first martyr of her reign. In it, the Pentateuch and the New Testament were reprinted from Tyndale, and a large part of the Old Testament from Coverdale. This edition was allowed by King Henry to be dedicated to him. But then it was found to contain notes which offended many people; and another new Version was planned. Coverdale was employed to make it, and his work was a revision of Matthew's Bible. It had an engraving on the title-page, said to have been drawn by the great painter Holbein, which represents the King handing Bibles to Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell (who was afterwards what we should now call Prime Minister), which they distribute to the people, and God in the clouds above saying, "My word shall not return unto Me void." It appeared in 1539, in large folio size, and came to be called the Great Bible. Orders were given to put a copy in every church, the copies being chained up to prevent their being stolen, and the clergy were ordered to "expressly provoke, stir, and exhort every person to read the same." And whose name do you think was soon seen on the title-page of this Bible, a large part of which was Tyndale's, to give it authority in the King's name? Bishop Tunstall's the very man who had refused to help Tyndale, and who had condemned and burnt Tyndale's New Testament! 1 The old English historian Strype says, "It was wonderful to see with what joy this Book of God was received . . . and with what eagerness it was read, and what resort to places where the teaching of it was. . . . Even little boys flocked to hear portions of the Holy Scripture read." It is believed that 1 It was not so in the first edition. 20,000 copies of the great folios were printed, the prices being ten and twelve shillings, which is equal to £6 or £7 to-day. This Some of the words of the Great Bible are very familiar to us. The Psalms in our Prayer-book are taken from it, and we know how often they read differently from the Psalms in our Bible. For instance, in the 68th Psalm, we have in our Bible, "Ethiopia shall soon (R.V., haste to) stretch out her hands unto God"; but in the Prayer-book it is "The Morians' land shall . . .' means the land of the Moors, and Coverdale took it from the German Version, which has Mohrenland. Then again, we remember how Miss Havergal wrote a missionary hymn on the words of the 96th Psalm, “Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is King"; but you will not find that text in our Bible. It is only in what we call the Prayer-book Version, and comes from the Great Bible of King Henry. The reason of this is simply that our Prayer-book came out only a few years after the Great Bible; half a century before our own Bible. When the Prayerbook was revised in Charles II.'s time, the Epistles and Gospels and the Lessons were |