The October Testament: Full Size Edition

This is William Tyndale's New Testament as it was published in the 1537/1549 Matthew Bible (also known as Matthew's Version). It is complete with the notes and commentaries of that Reformation Bible, all gently updated by editor Ruth Magnusson Davis. This edition is current to September, 2026.

The October Testament also contains William Tyndale's prologues on the Gospels and some of the epistles from his 1534 New Testament, and his prologue on the book of Romans, which he translated largely from Martin Luther.

William Tyndale sealed his work on the New Testament with his blood. This is one of God's signs of a true work, and Tyndale's translation breathes with the life of the Holy Spirit. His New Testament, and the 1537 Matthew Bible, are the only English Scriptures bought with the blood of their authors.

Additional features in The October Testament include a supplement by Ruth Magnusson Davis on Tyndale’s translation of the Greek ‘ecclesia’ by ‘congregation,’ and a brief history of the making of the Matthew Bible.

While Tyndale’s New Testament is unique, yet much will be familiar to Bible readers. Computer studies have shown that the New Testament of the King James Version is approximately 83% Tyndale’s work. Tyndale’s translation entered the stream of English Bibles when it was largely adopted in the 1539 Great Bible, which went on to form the base of the Bishops’ Bible and then the KJV.

The October Testament is the only 'modern' bible which is not. It maintains the beautiful, historic language and the enduring, true doctrine of the faith.

This is a larger-sized edition of the original, with 11.25 size font. A great size for study.

The primary author of the October Testament is the English martyr William Tyndale. This is his final New Testament translation of 1535. Two years later, his friend John Rogers first published these scriptures in a little-known but very important Reformation Bible called the Matthew Bible, and added commentaries. Ruth Magnusson Davis is founder and editor of the New Matthew Bible Project. Her work is to update the Matthew Bible: not to make a modern bible, but to keep the language of the original as much as possible, which she calls the real language of the faith. Because the KJV New Testament was largely taken from Tyndale, readers will find much that is familiar here, and beautiful, but will find it easier to understand than the KJV.