Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 139:1 | To the overseer, to David a chanting. O Jehovah thou didst search me, and thou wilt know. |
| 139:2 | Thou knewest my sitting and my rising; thou didst understand for my thoughts from far of |
| 139:3 | Thou didst sift my way and my lying down, and thou knewest all my ways. |
| 139:4 | For not a word in my tongue, behold, O Jehovah, thou knewest all of it |
| 139:5 | Thou didst press me behind and before, and thou wilt place thine hand upon me. |
| 139:6 | Knowledge being wonderful from me; being high, I shall not be able for it |
| 139:7 | Whither shall I go from thy spirit? and whither from thy face shall I flee? |
| 139:8 | If I shall ascend to the heavens, thou art there: and shall I bend down to hades, behold thee. |
| 139:9 | Shall I lift up the wings of the dawn? shall I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea? |
| 139:10 | Also there thy hand will guide me, and thy right hand will hold me. |
| 139:11 | And saying, surely the darkness shall fall upon me; and the night shone about me. |
| 139:12 | Also darkness shall not darken from thee; and the night shall shine as the day: as the darkness, so the light |
| 139:13 | For thou didst possess my reins: thou wilt cover me in my mother's womb. |
| 139:14 | I will praise thee; for I was wonderfully distinguished: thy works are wonders, and my soul knew greatly. |
| 139:15 | My bones were not hid from thee, when I was made in secret. I was variegated in the lower parts of the earth. |
| 139:16 | Thine eyes saw my substance unformed; and upon thy book all of them shall be written; the days they were formed, and not one in them. |
| 139:17 | And to me how were thy thoughts precious, O God! how were their heads strong! |
| 139:18 | I will count them; they shall be multiplied above the sand of the sea: I awoke, and I am yet with thee. |
| 139:19 | Surely thou wilt kill the unjust one, O God: and ye men of bloods, depart from me. |
| 139:20 | For they will say to thee for mischief; thine enemies were lifted up for vanity. |
| 139:21 | Shall I not hate those hating thee, O Jehovah? and I shall loathe against those rising up against thee. |
| 139:22 | I hated them with completeness of hatred: they were to me for enemies. |
| 139:23 | Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: |
| 139:24 | And see if the way of pain is in me, and guide me in the eternal way. |
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.