Geneva Bible (1599) GNV

Protestant
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament source: Textus Receptus
Protestant (66 books)
Formal (word for word)
1599
Public domain

At a glance

Language: English
Tradition: Protestant — Produced by English Reformed (Calvinist-leaning) exiles in Geneva; the main Bible of 16th-century English Protestants.
Church approval: No — Not an officially authorised Church of England Bible; widely used privately.
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew — Translated from Hebrew ('first complete English version translated entirely from the original languages').
New Testament source: Textus Receptus — 16th-century printed Greek (Erasmus/Stephanus/Beza tradition).
Canon: Protestant (66 books)
Style: Formal (word for word)
Year: NT 1557, full Bible 1560; this is the 1599 edition (original spelling).
Translators: English Protestant exiles in Geneva under William Whittingham (with Coverdale, Goodman, Gilby, Sampson and others)
Reading level: Original 1599 spelling (e.g. 'vnto', 'beginning'); hard for modern readers.
Verse numbering: English (KJV-style)
Licence: Public domain — eBible: 'freely available world-wide, with no copyright restrictions'.
Text source: eBible.org (enggnv)

Notes

Original 16th-century spelling.

About

The Bible of the English Reformation, made by Protestant exiles in Geneva and first completed in 1560. This is the 1599 edition in its original spelling. It was translated from Hebrew and Greek and shaped the King James Version.

Strengths

Historically significant
Translated from the original languages

Things to know

Original spelling
The eBible file has no Apocrypha (the 1560 Geneva printed it) and does not appear to carry the famous Reformed study notes

Not yet verified

Whether the eBible file includes any of the 1599 marginal notes: SOURCE NOT VERIFIED

Profile checked 2026-10-17.

Books in this edition (66 books)

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation

Not in this edition: Tobit, Judith, Esther (Greek), Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (4 Ezra), Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, Odes, Daniel (Greek)

Letters show which canons include a book: O Orthodox, C Catholic, P Protestant (in brackets: printed as Apocrypha or in an appendix).

Publisher's statement

Geneva Bible 1599
The Geneva Bible in Old English of 1599
Public Domain
Language: English
Dialect: Old
This digital copy is freely available world-wide, with no copyright restrictions, courtesy of eBible.org and many others. Note that the spelling used is the original spelling, which is not modern English.
2024-03-16

Which Bible should I read? · Compare all translations