King James's Version

       In the reign of James I a Hebrew scholar, Hugh Broughton, insisted on the necessity of a new translation, and at the Hampton Court Conference (1604) the suggestion was accepted by the king. The work was undertaken by forty-seven scholars, divided into six companies, two meeting at Westminster, two at Oxford and two at Cambridge, while a general committee meeting in London revised the portions of the translation finished by each. The revision was begun in 1607 and occupied three years, the completed work being published in folio in 1611 and known as King James's Bible. Through the general accuracy of its translation and the purity of its style, it superseded all other versions. In response, however, to a widespread desire for a translation even freer from errors, the Convocation of Canterbury in 1870 appointed a committee to consider the question of revising the English version. Their report being favorable, two companies were formed, one for the Old Testament and one for the New, consisting partly of members of the Convocation and partly of outside scholars. Two similar companies were also organized in America, to work along with the British scholars. The result was that the revised version of the New Testament was issued in 1881; that of the Old Testament appeared in 1884. An American Revised Version appeared in 1901.

Bible Versions

       The earliest and most famous version of the Old Testament is the Septuagint, or Greek translation, executed by Alexandrian Greeks, and completed probably before 130 B. c. This version was adopted by the early Christian Church and by the Jews themselves and has always held an important place in the interpretation and history of the Bible. The Syriac version, the Peshito, made early in the second century after Christ, is celebrated for its fidelity. The Coptic version was made from the Septuagint, in the third or fourth century. The Gothic version, by Ulphilas, was made from the Septuagint in the fourth century, but mere insignificant fragments of it are extant. The most important Latin version is the Vulgate, executed by Jerome, partly on the basis of the original Hebrew, and completed in A. D. 405.

       The printed editions of the Hebrew Bible are very numerous. The first edition entire was printed at Soncino in 1488.

       The books of the New Testament were all written in Greek, unless it be true, as some critics suppose, that the gospel of Saint Matthew was originally written in Hebrew, Most of these writings have always been received as inspired; but the Epistle to the Hebrews, commonly ascribed to Saint Paul, that of Saint Jude, the second of Peter, the second and third of John and Revelation have been doubted. The three oldest manuscripts are:

1. The Sinaitic manuscript, discovered by Tischendorf in a convent on Mount Sinai in 1859, assigned to the middle of the fourth century 
2. The Vatican manuscript at Rome, of similar date
3. The Alexandrian manuscript in the British Museum, assigned to the latter half of the sixth century. 

Each manuscript contains also in great part the Septuagint Greek of the Old Testament. The division of the text of the New Testament into chapters and verses was introduced later than that of the Old Testament, but it is not precisely known when or by whom.

       Of translations of the Bible into modem languages the English and the German are the most celebrated. Considerable portions were translated into Anglo-Saxon, including the Gospels and the Psalter. Wycliffe's translation of the whole Bible (from the Vulgate), begun about, 1356, was completed shortly before his death, 1384. The first printed version of the Bible in English was the translation of William Tyndale, whose New Testament was printed in quarto at Cologne in 1525, a small octavo edition appearing at the same time at Worms. He also published the Pentateuch in 1530 and translated some of the prophetical books. Our translation of the New Testament is much indebted to Tyndale. A translation of the entire Bible, undertaken at the instance of Thomas Cromwell, was published by Miles Coverdale in 1535 and, being made from German and Latin versions, was inferior to Tyndale's.

       The first Bible printed by authority in England was an edition with a preface by Cranmer, hence called Cranmer's Bible. A royal proclamation in 1540 ordered it to be placed in every parish church. This continued, with various revisions, to be the authorized version till 1568. In 1557-1560 an edition appeared at Geneva, based on Tyndale's - the work of Whittington, Coverdale, Goodman, John Knox and other exiles, and commonly called the Geneva, or Breeches, Bible, from "breeches" standing instead of "aprons" in Genesis III, 7. This version, the first printed in Roman letters, and also the first to adopt the plan, previously adopted in the Hebrew, of a division into verses, was for sixty years the most popular in England and was allowed to be printed under a patent of monopoly in 1501. It omitted the Apocrypha, left the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews open and put words not in the original in italics. The Bishop's Bible, published 1568 to 1572, revised by Archbishop Parker and eight bishops, succeeded Cranmer's as the authorized version, but did not commend itself to scholars or people. In 1582 an edition of the New Testament, translated from the Latin Vulgate, appeared at Rheims, and in 1609-1610 the Old Testament was published at Douai. This is the version recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Apocrypha

       There are a number of sacred books not accepted by Protestants as authorized parts of the Bible, and to these the name Apocrypha has been applied. They are, however, accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. These books were written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ: The first and the second books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the rest of the book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses and the first  and second books of Maccabees.

39 Books of The Old Testament

       The first five of the Old Testament books are grouped together as books of the law (Pentateuch); those from Joshua to Esther, inclusive, are historical books; Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
       Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Lamentations are poetry; the sixteen remaining are prophecies, and are subdivided into greater and minor. The authorship and date of all of these books cannot be stated positively. It was long believed that Moses wrote the books of the law and that David was the sole author of Psalms, but some modern scholarship rejects both of these suppositions. While there is considerable evidence for assigning definite authors to some of the Old Testament writings, the authorship of many of the books is unknown. 

       Books of the Old Testament. The books of the Old Testament, thirty-nine in number, are as follows:

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth 
9. I Samuel
10. II Samuel
11. I Kings 
12. II Kings
13. I Chronicles 
14. II Chronicles
15. Ezra
16. Nehemiah
17. Esther
18. Job
19. Psalms
20. Proverbs
21. Ecclesiastes
22. Song of Solomon
23. Isaiah
24. Jeremiah
25. Lamentations
26. Ezekiel
27. Daniel
28. Hosea
29. Joel
30. Amos
31. Obadiah
32. Jonah
33. Micah
34. Nahum
35. Habakkuk
36. Zephaniah
37. Haggai
38. Zechariah
39. Malachi

27 Books of The New Testament

       Books of the New Testament. It is not a difficult matter to divide the twenty-seven books of the New Testament into three logical groups. The first five books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts of the Apostles, are historical, relating to the life of Christ and the labors of His followers who planted the new Church in Jerusalem and abroad.. Then come the epistles, many of which are the work of Paul, and finally the prophetic vision of John, called the Book of Revelation. The complete list is as follows:

1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John
5. The Acts
6. Romans
7. I. Corinthians
8. II. Corinthians
9. Galatians
10. Ephesians
11. Philippians
12. Colossians
13. I. Thessalonians
14. II. Thessalonians 
15. I. Timothy
16. II. Timothy
17. Titus
18. Philemon
19. Hebrews
20. James
21. I. Peter
22. II. Peter
23. I. John
24. II. John
25. III. John
26. Jude
27. Revelation

A Funny Valentine

A Funny Valentine

by Frank H. Sweet

Did you ever find a valentine

Beside you in your bed

When you heard your papa saying:

"Wake up, my sleepy head!

Wake up, wake up! Your eyes will

shine

To see your funny valentine?"

Did you ever have a valentine, 

All soft and warm and sweet,

With a little rolly poly head

And mites of hand and feet,

Wrapped up in a flannel, oh, so tight,

And 'fraid of one wee bit of light?

Did you ever have a valentine

(My sakes, I want to laugh!)

So heavy that they said it weighed

Just nine pounds and a half,

Without a tooth to bite its bread

Nor any hair upon its head?

I had one just this morning,

And 'twas such a sweet surprise

To hear my papa saying,

"Wake up, dear sleepy eyes!"

That funny little valentine

Is mamma's baby- yours and mine!

Irish Lullaby

Irish Lullaby

I'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradle of 

gold on a bough of the willow,

To the shoheen ho of the wind of the west and the

lulla lo of the soft sea billow.

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother is here beside your pillow.

I'd put my own sweet childie to sleep in a silver boat

on the beautiful river,

Where a shoheen whisper the white cascades, and a

lulla lo the green flags shiver.

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother is here with you for ever.

Lulla lo! to the rise and fall of mother's bosom 'tis

sleep has bound you,

And O, my child, what cosier nest for rosier rest could

love have found you?

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother's two arms are clasped around you.

Another Irish lullaby "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral"