Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 132:1 | Song of ascensions. Remember, O Jehovah, for David with all his affliction. |
| 132:2 | Who sware to Jehovah; he vowed to the mighty one of Jacob: |
| 132:3 | If I shall go into the tent of my house, if I shall go up upon the bed of my couch; |
| 132:4 | If I shall give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eye-lashes, |
| 132:5 | Even till I shall find a place for Jehovah, dwellings for the mighty one of Jacob. |
| 132:6 | Behold, we heard it in Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the forest |
| 132:7 | We will come in to his dwellings: we will worship at the footstool of his feet |
| 132:8 | Arise, O Jehovah, to thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. |
| 132:9 | Thy priests shall put on justice, and thy godly ones shall rejoice. |
| 132:10 | For sake of David thy servant thou wilt not turn away the face of thy Messiah. |
| 132:11 | Jehovah sware the truth to David; he will not turn back from it: from the fruit of thy belly I will set upon the throne to thee. |
| 132:12 | If thy sons shall watch my covenant and my testimonies, these I shall teach them; also their sons even to forever shall sit upon the throne to thee forever. |
| 132:13 | For Jehovah chose in Zion; for he desired it for a dwelling to himself. |
| 132:14 | This my rest even forever: here I will dwell, for I desired it |
| 132:15 | Blessing I will bless her provision: I will fill her needy with bread. |
| 132:16 | And I will put upon her priests salvation, and her godly ones shall rejoice a rejoicing. |
| 132:17 | There will I cause the horn to David to spring up: I prepared a lamp for my Messiah. |
| 132:18 | I will put shame upon his enemies, and upon him shall his diadem flourish. |
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.