Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 31:1 | And as all this was finished, all Israel being found will go forth to the cities of Judah, and they will break the images and cut off the statues and tear down the heights, and the altars of all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh even to finishing. And all the sons of Israel will turn back each to his possession to their cities. |
| 31:2 | And Hezekiah will set up the divisions of the priests and the Levites for their divisions each according to the mouth of his service to the priests and to the Levites for the burnt-offering and for the peace, to serve and to confess and to praise, in the gates of the camp of Jehovah. |
| 31:3 | And the portion of the king from his possessions for the burnt-offerings, for the burnt-offerings of the morning and the evening, and the burnt-offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the appointments according as written in the law of Jehovah. |
| 31:4 | And he will say to the people, to those inhabiting Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and the Levites so that they shall be strengthened in the law of Jehovah. |
| 31:5 | And when the word broke forth, the sons of Israel increased the first-fruits of the grain, the new wine and the new oil, and honey, and all the produce of the field; and the tenth of all they brought in for abundance. |
| 31:6 | And the sons of Israel and Judah dwelling in the cities of Judah, also they brought in the tenth of oxen and sheep, and the tenth of the holies being consecrated to Jehovah their God, and they will give heaps, heaps. |
| 31:7 | In the third month the heaps began to be founded, and in the seventh month they were finished. |
| 31:8 | And Hezekiah and the chiefs will come and see the heaps, and they will praise Jehovah and his people of Israel. |
| 31:9 | And Hezekiah will seek to the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. |
| 31:10 | And Azariah the head priest for the house of Zadok will say to him and he will say, From the beginning to bring the oblations into the house of Jehovah, eating and being filled, and leaving even to abundance: for Jehovah blessed his people; and that being left this multitude. |
| 31:11 | And Hezekiah will say to prepare cells in the house of Jehovah; and they will prepare, |
| 31:12 | And they will bring in the oblations and the tenth, and the holies, with faithfulness: and over them the leader Cononiah the Levite, and Shimei his brother, the second. |
| 31:13 | And Jehiel and Azaziah and Nahath and Asahel and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, reviewing from the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah leader of the house of God. |
| 31:14 | And Kore, son of Imnah the Levite, the gate-keeper to the sunrising over the voluntaries of God, to give the oblations of Jehovah, and the holies of holies. |
| 31:15 | And upon his hand Eden and Miniamin, and Joshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, with faithfulness,-to give to their brethren by divisions according to the great, according to the small: |
| 31:16 | Besides their enrolling to males from the son of three years and above, to all coming to the house of Jehovah, for the word of a day in its day for their service in their watches according to their divisions. |
| 31:17 | And the enrolling of the priests for the house of their fathers, and the Levites from the son of twenty years and above, in their watches, by their divisions: |
| 31:18 | And to the enrolling upon all their little ones, their wives and their sons, and their daughters, for all the convocation: for in their faithfulness they will consecrate themselves holy: |
| 31:19 | And to the sons of Aaron the priests in the fields of the area of their cities, in every city and city, the men who were distinguished by names to give gifts to every male among the priests, and to all the enrolling among the Levites. |
| 31:20 | And according to this Hezekiah will do in all Judah, and he will do the good and the straight and the truth before Jehovah his God. |
| 31:21 | And in all the work which he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and in the command to seek to his God, with all his heart he did, and prospered. |
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.