Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 19:1 | To the overseer; chanting of David. The heavens recounting the glory of God, and the firmament announcing the work of his hands. |
| 19:2 | Day to day will gush out the saying, and night to night will breathe out knowledge. |
| 19:3 | No saying and no words without their voice being heard. |
| 19:4 | Their line went forth into all the earth, and their words into the ends of the habitable globe. In them he set a tent for the sun. |
| 19:5 | And he as a bridegroom coming forth from his nuptial couch, will rejoice as a strong one to run a way. |
| 19:6 | From the extremity of the heavens his going forth and his circuits upon their extremities and no hiding from his heat. |
| 19:7 | The law of Jehovah is blameless, turning back the soul; the testimonies of Jehovah being faithful, making wise the simple. |
| 19:8 | The mandates of Jehovah are straight, rejoicing the heart: the command of Jehovah pure, enlightening the eyes. |
| 19:9 | The fear of Jehovah being pure, standing forever: the judgments of Jehovah, truth, they were altogether just |
| 19:10 | Being desirable above gold, and above much pure gold, and being sweet above honey, and the dropping of honey-combs. |
| 19:11 | Also thy servant being admonished by them: in watching them much reward. |
| 19:12 | Who will understand errors? acquit me from hidden things. |
| 19:13 | Also withhold thy servant from arrogant things; they shall not rule over me: then shall I be blameless, and I was acquitted from much transgression. |
| 19:14 | The saying of my mouth and the meditation of my heart shall be for acceptance before thee, O Jehovah, my rock and my redeemer. |
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.