# Bible (Early Wycliffe)/Introduction to this Edition
## About the Wycliffe Translation

The Wycliffe Translation was made from the Latin Vulgate, rather than the original texts of the books of the Bible and so takes some translation errors from the Vulgate. It was made by or under the supervision of John Wycliffe, whoose name it is called by, and finished in 1384. The attribution of the translation to Wycliffe caused his body, after his death, to be exhumed and cremated, the ashes scattered in the river(a superstition at that time was that people whoose bodies were cremated could not go to heaven). His bible started modern bible translation, but had very little influence on other translations, except for a little influence on the Douay-Rheims translation, and other bibles that were influenced by the Douay-Rheims translation. The Wycliffe bible's language is difficult for the modern reader because it is so archaic; that and the fact that it was translated from the vulgate, at times very literally and not good english, makes it not very good as anybody's primary bible, and so the rest of the introduction will assume that your main translation is not this one. The epistle to the Loadaciens is taken from a later version of the translation edited by John Purvey in about 1400.

## About the Language and Spelling used here

The Middle English of this bible can be very difficult, so I have included some information about the language used here. Almost all of the words used in this translation are the forerunners of words still in use or archaic but still known in the language, while most others are compounds that are not used(but the meaning of them can be easily determined) or have or don't have a prefix or suffix that they do have in Modern English(For example, ginneth for begins. It doesn't have the prefix be- and has the suffix -eth, which makes it a little strange). There is a glossary for many of the other words. The spelling can be strange, but most of them can be understood by modern readers, even though they are strange, but some of the conventions will be helpful to a modern reader. The letters are written CAPITAL/lowercase. V/v and U/u were considered the same letter, as were I/i and J/j, and the vowel I/i could be written Y/y. The sound that we usually write with Th/th or TH/th was written with the letter thorn or þorn(Þ/þ). Gh/gh, GH/gh, and Y/y were sometimes written with the letter yogh or yoȝ(Ȝ/ȝ), and some words that have a G/g in Modern English had a yogh or yoȝ in Middle English. S could be written S/s or S/ſ(they might not display differently).

## Glossary
### Ben

    Archaic form of be sometimes used in the place of is/are

### Clep

    Call

### Doon

    Do, done

### Doom/Dom

    Judgement

### Domeſman

    Judge

### Forſoþ

    Truely

### Gat or gate

    Begat, got; gate is ȝate

### Get

    Beget, get

### Ȝif

    Archaic form of if

### Han

    Archaic form of have

### Her

    Her or their

### Hem

    Them

### His

    His or its

### Hit

    Hit or it

### Ilk

    Like

### Leſe

    Destroy, lie, do wrong, morally corrupt

### Leſewais

    Morally corrupt ways, sinful habits

### Leſyng

    Lying, lie, wrong thing, destroying

### Mede

    Reward

### Riȝtwis

    Rightful, right; used with -ness, un-, -ly, &c

### Sin

    Archaic form of since; sin

### Siþ

    Archaic form of since

### Soþ

    Archaic word meaning truth

### Soþfaſtnes

    Truthfulness

### Soþly

    Truely

### Sue

    Follow

### Wexe

    Grow, be made

### Wood

    Crazy, insane, wood, forest

## The Modern Names of the Books in this Translation
### Geneſis

    Genesis

### Exodus

    Exodus

### Leuiticus

    Leviticus

### Numeri

    Numbers

### Deuteronomie

    Deuteronomy

### Joſue

    Joshua

### Judicum

    Judges

### Ruþ

    Ruth

### I. Kyngis

    1 Samuel

### II. Kyngis

    2 Samuel

### III. Kyngis

    1 Kings

### IIII. Kyngis

    2 Kings

### I. Paralipomenon

    1 Chronicles

### II. Paralipomenon

    2 Chronicles

### Þe Preier of Manaſſes

    The Prayer of Manasseh

### I. Eſdre

    Ezra

### II. Eſdre;

    Nehemiah

### III. Eſdre;

    1 Esdras

### Tobie

    Tobit

### Judiþ

    Judith

### Eſter

    Esther

### Job

    Job

### Sauter

    Psalms

### Prouerbys

    Proverbs

### Eccleſiaſtes

    Ecclesiastes

### Songus of Songis

    Song of Solomon

### Wisdam

    Wisdom

### Eccleſiaſtici

    Sirach

### Iſaye

    Isaiah

### Jeremye

    Jeremiah

### Lamentacioun

    Lamentation

### Baruch

    Baruch

### Ezechiel

    Ezekiel

### Osee

    Hosea

### Joel

    Joel

### Amos

    Amos

### Abedias

    Obadiah

### Jonas

    Jonah

### Micheas

    Micah

### Naum

    Nahum

### Abacuk

    Habakkuk

### Sophonye

    Zephaniah

### Aggey

    Haggai

### Zacharias

    Zechariah

### Malachie

    Malachi

### I. Machabeorum

    1 Maccabees

### II. Machabeorum

    2 Maccabees

### Maþeu

    Matthew

### Mark

    Mark

### Luke

    Luke

### Joon

    John

### Romaynes

    Romans

### I. Corinþis

    1 Corinthians

### II. Corinþis

    2 Corinthians

### Galaþies

    Galatians

### Effeſies

    Ephesians

### Philipencis

    Philippians

### Colocenſis

    Colossians

### Laodicenſis

    Laodiceans

### I. Teſſalonycenſis

    1 Thessalonians

### II. Teſſalonycenſis

    2 Thessalonians

### I. Timoþe

    1 Timothy

### II. Timoþe

    2 Timothy

### Tyte

    Titus

### Filomon

    Philemon

### Ebrews

    Hebrews

### Actus Apoſtolorum

    Acts

### Þe Epiſtle of James

    James

### Þe firſt piſtle of Petre

    1 Peter

### Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Petre

    2 Peter

### Þe firſte epiſtle of Joon

    1 John

### Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Joon

    2 John

### Þe þrid piſtle of Joon

    3 John

### Þe epiſtil of Jude

    Jude

### Apocalips

    Revelation

## Books in the Wycliffe Bible now Considered Apocryphal by Protestants and Catholics

Laodicenſis was considered apocryphal by the Catholics of John Wycliffe's time(before the Protestant Reformation). IIII. Eſdre(2 Esdras) is now considered apocryphal, but was not included in this translation. III. Eſdre and Þe Preier of Manaſſes were included in the Wycliffe Bible as cannonical but were later considered apocryphal when the cannons were decided on in the 1500s.

## The Books of the Bible in their Modern Order

Books considered apocryphal by Protestants, but not Catholics are placed in brackets(). Daniel and Eſter have sections that are considered apocryphal by Protestants, but not Catholics.
Geneſis Exodus Leuiticus Numeri Deuteronomie Joſue Judicum Ruþ I. Kyngis II. Kyngis III. Kyngis IIII. Kyngis I. Paralipomenon II. Paralipomenon I. Eſdre II. Eſdre
Eſter
Job Sauter Prouerbys Eccleſiaſtes Songus of Songis
Iſaye Jeremye Lamentacioun
Ezechiel Daniel Oſee Joel Amos Abedias Jonas Micheas Naum Abacuk Aggey Zacharias Malachie
Maþeu Mark Luke Joon Actus Apoſtolorum Romaynes I. Corinþis II. Corinþis Galaþies Effeſies Philipencis Colocenſis I. Teſſalonycenſis II. Teſſalonycenſis I. Timoþe II. Timoþe Tyte Filomon Ebrews Þe epiſtle of James Þe firſt piſtle of Petre Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Petre Þe firſte epiſtle of Joon Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Joon Þe þrid piſtle of Joon Þe epiſtil of Jude Apocalips