Paul's Voyage and Shipwreck Acts, chap. xxvii, 1-44 {53} CHAPTER IX LIVING WATERS About ten million copies of the Bible are circulated in a year; this means so many copies either are bought, or given to people without payment, yearly. The reason for such a great and constant demand for the Bible by all kinds of people is because they find in it something they need. What they find is spiritual life, life for the soul. It is interesting to know something about the authorized English translation of the Bible. The books of the Bible, as you know, were not first written in English. Those who wrote the books of the Bible, except possibly in one or two instances, were Jews. Copies of the books of the Bible, before the fifteenth century, had to be written by hand. Following the invention of printing in the first part of the fifteenth century, the Bible was one of the first books to be printed. But still, there were few books and there was little reading. Books of any kind were expensive and many people did not know how to read. In the sixteenth century, there were in existence several translations or versions of some of the books of the Bible; and there was a great desire on the part of English people to be able to read the whole Bible in English so that everyone might {54} understand it. Comparatively few people could read Latin, and the translations in English were of some of the books only. The authorized English translation of the Bible was first published in 1611. It was the work of some forty-seven scholars who had taken all the different versions then in use and had translated and compiled the various readings into one book. You will recognize that 1611 is a date belonging to the time when English literature was in one of its most glorious periods. The authorized English translation of the Bible is written in very perfect English. It is what we call a masterpiece. The beautiful diction of the authorized version helps us to remember the stories of the Bible, and the great passages in which we find our highest spiritual life. A list of some of the wonderful passages in the Bible, especially such passages as were written to tell of the life of Christ and to record His sayings, is given at the end of this chapter. You will find the Ten Commandments, which many of you know by heart, in Exodus, chap. xix, 1-24, chap. xx, 1-2. Solomon's great prayer at the dedication of the Temple is in I Kings, chap. viii, 22-58. The Book of Psalms is read by countless numbers of people all through their lives. Some of the Psalms you will specially want to read are i, xv, xix, xxiii, xxiv, xxvii, xlvi, lxvii, c, ciii, cvii, cxxi, cxxvi, cxxvii, cxxxiv, cxlv, cxlviii, and cl. Many great passages are to be found in the books of the Prophets, and in Job. Read Isaiah, chapters xxxv, xl and lv which belong to the greatest writings in the world. {55}