( This is a portion of the "Lord's Prayer" in Old English)

II. Before one surveys the earliest English translations of the Bible, it's important to recognize just how rich and changeable our language is. English has an illustrious history marked by conquests, intrigue, and pure chance. Our language is founded upon a Germanic base with significant strands of French, Latin, and Greek thrown in. The term English comes from the word Angle-ish, which is a reference to the Angles and Saxons (Two Germanic tribes which invaded England in the mid-400's). Following are sample English words of different origins:

German Origin         French Origin       Latin Origin         Greek Origin

eat                    army                  solar                 photograph
sleep                  navy                  dormitory             phobia
bread                  government             cordial               philosophy
drink                  tax                   expectorate           school
meat                   sculpture             illuminate            chrome

    B. As late as 1414 "Christian" England passed a law which provided that anyone found guilty of reading the Bible In English must "forfeit land, cattle, life, and goods from his heirs forever.