Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 12:1 | And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman surrounded by the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: |
| 12:2 | And having in the womb she cries, having the pains of childbirth, and making trial to bring forth. |
| 12:3 | And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. |
| 12:4 | And his tail draws the third of the stars of heaven, and he cast them into the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth, that when she should bring forth he might devour her child. |
| 12:5 | And she brought forth a son, a male, who is about to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her child was snatched up to God, and his throne. |
| 12:6 | And the woman fled into the desert where she has a place prepared from God, that they might nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days. |
| 12:7 | And war was in heaven; and Michael and his angels waged war against the dragon; and the dragon waged war and his angels, |
| 12:8 | And were not strong; nor was place more found for them in heaven. |
| 12:9 | And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, he deceiving the whole habitable globe: he was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. |
| 12:10 | And I heard a great voice saying in heaven, Now was salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren was cast down, he accusing them before our God, day and night. |
| 12:11 | And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their souls till death. |
| 12:12 | For this rejoice, ye heavens, and they dwelling in them. Woe to them inhabiting the earth and the sea! for the devil came down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time. |
| 12:13 | And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he drove out the woman who brought forth the male. |
| 12:14 | And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly to the desert, to her place, where she is nourished there a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. |
| 12:15 | And the serpent cast after the woman water out of his mouth as a river, that he might make her torn away by a river. |
| 12:16 | And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed down the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. |
| 12:17 | And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went out to make war with the rest of her seed, those keeping the commands of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
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.