THOUGHTS: – – In Jesus’ parable of the sower, the soil type which concerns me most (as regards me personally) is the seed that fell among thorns. It is too easy to be distracted from the “eternal” by our daily lives.
SCRIPTURE: – – Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.
Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
QUOTATION: — “How is it that the soul being of such value, and God so great, eternity so near and yet we are so little moved?” — (William Bramwell, 1759-1818)
MORE THOUGHTS: – – How thankful I that men like William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale (and many others) were willing to devote their lives (nearly 500 years ago) to bring us the Bible in English. They took advantage of the new technology called the printing press to bring the Word of God to the English people in their native tongue.
Now I, personally, need to feed on God’s Word (as contained in the Holy Bible) and strive to not allow this Holy Word to be choked out by the cares of life with the result being that I become unfruitful.
Thanks for reading and I pray this message blessed you today.
The start of a New Year is a good time to start a Bible Reading plan.
This plan by Professor Grant Horner on YouVersion (a free Bible app) is my favorite.
I have tried many Bible reading plans, but always come back to this one.
It is 10 chapters — but many are short chapters. You can even listen instead of reading. I often do that.
It keeps your interest because you’re in 10 books of the Bible every day, but always read one chapter from the Gospels, Psalms, Proverbs and Acts, plus 2 more New Testament chapters and 4 more Old Testament chapters. See link below:
May God’s blessings be on each of us as we grow closer to Him through reading His inspired words.
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness to make stones to bread, He said: “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ” (Matthew, Chapter 4, verse 4).
Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3. To get more of the context of the verse, I’m going to quote the previous verse, too:
Deut 8:2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Deut 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
All Bible quotations are from the New King James Version by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
When William Tyndale translated and printed the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) in the year of 1530, he added a “Prologue Showing the Use of Scripture” before the book of Genesis.
Below are a few sentences from this prologue:
“Though a man had a precious jewel and a rich, yet if he wist not the value thereof, nor wherefore it served, he were neither the better nor richer of a straw. Even so, though we read the scripture and babble of it never so much, yet if we know not the use of it, and wherefore it was given, and what is therein to be sought, it profiteth us nothing at all.”
“So now the scripture is a light and sheweth us the true way, both what to do, and what to hope; and a defense from all error, and a comfort in adversity that we despair not.”
“As thou readest, therefore, think that every syllable pertaineth to thine own self, and suck out the pith of the scripture, and arm thyself against all assaults.”-
———– We are excited to announce…
We have published a new book about William Tyndale’s translation of the Old Testament prophet, Jonah.
The title of the book is: William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original. The book is available in two formats: 1) Paperback and 2) Audiobook
The paperback is 44 pages. Click this link to learn more.
Book Cover (William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original)
For a limited time, ten (10) people may get the ENTIRE audiobook for FREE. Click this link to learn more. No credit card is required. We hope you will take advantage of this limited time offer!
Below is fuller description of the paperback edition:
Have you ever wondered about the English Bible translations which came before the King James Bible?
This book gives you three (3) unique views of William Tyndale’s translation of the Old Testament prophet, Jonah, which he published in 1531. Surprisingly, his translation predates the 1611 King James Bible by 80 years!
View 1: A modern-spelling edition of Tyndale’s Bible text of Jonah.
View 2: A facsimile of the 16th-century Bible text of Jonah as published by Tyndale in 1531.
View 3: A transcription of the facsimile in modern typeface but with the original 16th-century spelling.
Tyndale’s translation of Jonah (discovered in 1861) was nearly lost to posterity. In 1863, English Bible scholar, Francis Fry published a book containing a facsimile of this rare work from Tyndale. Fry’s 1863 publication is the source for View 2 of Tyndale’s Jonah found in this book.
There is something sobering in seeing this facsimile. One gets to glimpse — via Francis Fry’s lithographs — the very text of Jonah which Tyndale received from his 16th-century print shop. Tyndale was putting his life in danger to bring the Bible in English to his countrymen.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) labored over his English Bible translations while in exile from his native country. His courageous efforts helped bring the Bible in English, first of all, to his own countrymen and ultimately, to millions of English speakers worldwide. Authorities opposed Tyndale’s work. He was arrested and charged with heresy. After more than a year of imprisonment, he was executed in 1536.
An Anonymous Writer, circa 1563, praises Tyndale with these words:
He “put forth certain books of the Old Testament and the whole New Testament, into the English tongue…whereby since thanks be given to God, the door of light into the Scriptures, hath and daily is more and more opened unto us, the which before was many years closed in darkness.”
John Fox, Acts and Monuments, circa 1570, says this about Tyndale:
“The true servant and Martyr of God…Who for his notable pains and travail may well be called the Apostle of England in this our latter age.”
———— We are excited to announce…
We have published a new book about William Tyndale’s translation of the Old Testament prophet, Jonah.
The title of the book is: William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original. The book is available in two formats: 1) Paperback and 2) Audiobook
The paperback is 44 pages. Click this link to learn more.
Book Cover (William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original)
For a limited time, ten (10) people may get the ENTIRE audiobook for FREE. Click this link to learn more. No credit card is required. We hope you will take advantage of this limited time offer!
When you read William Tyndale’s 1525 Prologue to the New Testament, you get a glimpse into his character. His concern for his countrymen is moving. He wants them to have the Light of Scripture to drive away their spiritual darkness. Pictured below is Page 1 of this 1525 Prologue. You will find a transcript of page 1 just below the picture.
Below is the transcript of page 1 in modern English spelling:
Prologue
I have here translated (brethren and sisters most dear and tenderly beloved in Christ) the new Testament for your spiritual edifying, consolation and solace: Exhorting instantly and beseeching those that are better seen in the tongues than I, and that have higher gifts of grace to interpret the sense of the Scripture, and meaning of the Spirit, than I, to consider and ponder my labor, and that with the spirit of meekness. And if they perceive in any places that I have not attained the very sense of the tongue, or meaning of the Scripture, or have not given the right English word, that they put to their hands to amend it, remembering that so is their duty to do. For we have not received the gifts of God for ourselves only, or for to hide them; but for to bestow them unto the honoring of God and Christ, and edifying of the congregation, which is the body of Christ.
The causes that moved me to translate, I thought better that others should imagine, than that I should rehearse them. Moreover I supposed it superfluous, for who is so blind to ask why light should be showed to them that walk in darkness, where they cannot but stumble, and where to stumble is the danger of eternal damnation, other so despiteful that he would envy any man (I speak not his brother) so necessary a thing, or so bedlam mad to affirm that good is the natural cause of evil, and darkness to proceed out of light, and that lying should be grounded in truth and verity, and not rather clean contrary, that light destroyeth darkness, and verity reproveth all manner lying.
Please note: Some of my transcription of page 1 of the 1525 Prologue to the New Testament could be incorrect in a few places. I have done my best. Feel free to let me know or comment on this post, if you think something isn’t correct.
The 1525 Prologue to the New Testament referred to in this article is from what is known as the 1525 Cologne Fragment. Details about this are below:
It is thought by scholars that William Tyndale’s first attempt at translating and printing the New Testament is contained in what is known as the Cologne Fragment or the Matthew Fragment. There is only one copy known to exist. It is housed in the Grenville Collection at the British Library. All that has survived is 31 leaves/pages containing Tyndale’s Prologue, a woodcut of St Matthew, and chapters 1-22 of Matthew’s Gospel. It is said to have been printed in Cologne, Germany.
Thanks for reading!
Kind regards to all who stopped by this small corner of the internet! If you wish, leave a comment or question.
We are excited to announce…
We have published a new book about William Tyndale’s translation of the Old Testament prophet, Jonah.
The title of the book is: William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original. The book is available in two formats: 1) Paperback and 2) Audiobook
The paperback is 44 pages. Click this link to learn more.
Book Cover (William Tyndale’s JONAH: A modern-spelling edition of the 1531 translation with facsimile of Tyndale’s 16th century original)
For a limited time, ten (10) people may get the ENTIRE audiobook for FREE. Click this link to learn more. No credit card is required. We hope you will take advantage of this limited time offer!
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