Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 7:1 | Song of David which he sang to Jehovah upon the words of Cush, son of the right hand. O Jehovah my God, in thee I put My trust: save me from all pursuing me, and deliver me: |
| 7:2 | Lest he shall rend my soul as the lion, breaking in pieces and none delivering. |
| 7:3 | O Jehovah my God, if I did this, if there is iniquity in my hand; |
| 7:4 | If I rewarded evil him being at peace with me; (and I will deliver mine enemy undeservedly:) |
| 7:5 | The enemy will pursue my soul, and overtake; and he will tread down my life to the earth, and he will cause mine honor to dwell upon the dust Silence. |
| 7:6 | Arise, O Jehovah, in thine anger, lift up thyself for the wrath of mine enemies: and awake to me the judgment thou didst command. |
| 7:7 | And the assembly of the people shall surround thee: and for it turn back on high. |
| 7:8 | Jehovah shall judge peoples: judge me, O Jehovah, according to my justice, and according to mine integrity upon me. |
| 7:9 | Now shall the evil of the unjust come to an end; and thou wilt direct the just one: for the just God tried hearts and reins. |
| 7:10 | My shield upon God, saving the upright of heart |
| 7:11 | God judging the just one, and being angry in all the days. |
| 7:12 | If he shall not turn back, he will sharpen his sword; he bent his bow and he will be prepared. |
| 7:13 | And he prepared to himself the instruments of death; he will work his arrows for those inflaming. |
| 7:14 | Behold, lie will bring forth vanity, and he conceived trouble, and he will bring forth falsehood. |
| 7:15 | He dug a pit, and he will dig it out, and he will fall into the pitfall he will make. |
| 7:16 | His trouble shall turn back upon his head, and his violence shall come down upon his crown. |
| 7:17 | I will confess to Jehovah according to his justice: and I will play on the harp to the name of Jehovah most high. |
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
The Julia Evelina Smith Parker Translation is considered the first complete translation of the Bible into English by a woman. The Bible was titled The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues, and was published in 1876.
Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Connecticut had a working knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Her father had been a Congregationalist minister before he became a lawyer. Having read the Bible in its original languages, she set about creating her own translation, which she completed in 1855, after a number of drafts. The work is a strictly literal rendering, always translating a Greek or Hebrew word with the same word wherever possible. Smith accomplished this work on her own in the span of eight years (1847 to 1855). She had sought out no help in the venture, even writing, "I do not see that anybody can know more about it than I do." Smith's insistence on complete literalness, plus an effort to translate each original word with the same English word, combined with an odd notion of Hebrew tenses (often translating the Hebrew imperfect tense with the English future) results in a translation that is mechanical and often nonsensical. However, such a translation if overly literal might be valuable to consult in checking the meaning of some individual verse. One notable feature of this translation was the prominent use of the Divine Name, Jehovah, throughout the Old Testament of this Bible version.
In 1876, at 84 years of age some 21 years after completing her work, she finally sought publication. The publication costs ($4,000) were personally funded by Julia and her sister Abby Smith. The 1,000 copies printed were offered for $2.50 each, but her household auction in 1884 sold about 50 remaining copies.
The translation fell into obscurity as it was for the most part too literal and lacked any flow. For example, Jer. 22:23 was given as follows: "Thou dwelling in Lebanon, building as nest in the cedars, how being compassionated in pangs coming to thee the pain as in her bringing forth." However, the translation was the only Contemporary English translation out of the original languages available to English readers until the publication of The British Revised Version in 1881-1894.(The New testament was published in 1881, the Old in 1884, and the Apocrypha in 1894.) This makes it an invaluable Bible for its period.