Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 45:1 | Thus said Jehovah to his Messiah, to Cyrus whom I held by his right hand to bring down nations before him; and I will loosen the loins of kings to open before him the doors; and the gates shall not be shut |
| 45:2 | I will go before thee, and I will make straight the circles: I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and I will cut down the bars of iron: |
| 45:3 | And I gave to thee the treasures of darkness, and the hidden stores of lurking places, so that thou shalt know that I Jehovah calling by, thy name am the God of Israel. |
| 45:4 | For sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, and I will call to thee by thy name:.and I will address thee, and thou knewest me not |
| 45:5 | I am Jehovah, and none yet, no God besides me: I will gird thee and thou knewest me not: |
| 45:6 | So that they shall know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that none besides me. I am Jehovah, and none yet |
| 45:7 | I shall form light and create darkness: making peace and creating evil: I Jehovah doing all these. |
| 45:8 | Drop, ye heavens, from above, and the clouds shall shake out justice: the earth shall open, and they shall bring forth salvation, and justice shall spring up together; I Jehovah created it |
| 45:9 | Wo to him striving with him forming him! the potsherd with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him forming it, What wilt thou make? and thy work, No hands to it? |
| 45:10 | Wo to him saying to the father, What wilt thou beget? and to the woman, What wilt thou bring forth? |
| 45:11 | Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his potter, Ask me of things coming concerning the sons, and concerning the work of my hands will ye command me? |
| 45:12 | I made the earth, and man upon it I created: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and all their army I commanded. |
| 45:13 | I mused him up in justice, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall send away my captivity, not by price and not by a gift, said Jehovah of armies. |
| 45:14 | This said Jehovah, The labor of Egypt and the gain of Cush, and of the Sabeans, men of measure, shall pass over upon thee, and to thee shall they be: after thee shall they come in fetters: they shall pass over and to thee shall they worship and supplicate to thee, Surely God is in thee, and none yet: no God. |
| 45:15 | Surely thou art God hiding thyself, the God of Israel, the Saviour. |
| 45:16 | They were ashamed and also disgraced, all of them: together they went in shame the workmen of images. |
| 45:17 | Israel was saved in Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed and ye shall not be disgraced even to forever, forever. |
| 45:18 | For thus said Jehovah creating the heavens, He the God forming the earth, and he made it; he prepared it, be created it not in vain, he formed it to be dwelt in: I Jehovah and none besides |
| 45:19 | I spake not in secret in a dark place of the earth: I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I Jehovah speak justice, announcing straightnesses. |
| 45:20 | Assemble ye together and come; draw ye near together, the escaped of the nations: they knew not lifting up the wood of their carved image, and praying to God he will not save. |
| 45:21 | Announce ye, and bring near; also ye shall take counsel together: who caused this to be heard from of old, from then announcing it? was it not I Jehovah? and no God more beside me; a just God and Saviour; none beside me. |
| 45:22 | Look to me all ye ends of the earth and be saved, for I am God, and none else. |
| 45:23 | By myself I sware the word, justice went forth out of my mouth, and shall not turn back, That to me every knee shall bend, every tongue shall swear. |
| 45:24 | Surely saying, In Jehovah to me justice and strength: even to him shall he come; and all being angry against him shall be ashamed. |
| 45:25 | In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. |
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.