Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 31:1 | To the overseer, chanting of David. In thee, O Jehovah, I put my trust, I shall not be ashamed forever: in thy justice deliver me. |
| 31:2 | Incline thine ear to me, hastening to deliver me: be to me for a rock of strength, for a house of fortresses to save me. |
| 31:3 | For thou my rock and my fortress; and for sake of thy name thou wilt guide me, and thou wilt protect me. |
| 31:4 | Thou wilt bring me forth from the net which they concealed for me: for thou my fortress. |
| 31:5 | Into thy hand I will commit my spirit: thou didst redeem me, O Jehovah God of truth. |
| 31:6 | I hated those watching vanities of falsehood, and I trusted to Jehovah. |
| 31:7 | I will rejoice and be glad in thy mercy, for thou sawest mine affliction; thou knewest my soul in straits; |
| 31:8 | And thou didst not shut me up in the hand of the enemy: thou didst cause my feet to stand in a broad place. |
| 31:9 | Pity me, O Jehovah, for straits are to me: mine eye fell away; with trouble my soul and my belly. |
| 31:10 | For my life was finished in sorrow, and my years in sighing: my strength was weak in mine iniquity, and my bones fell away. |
| 31:11 | From all mine enemies I was a reproach, and greatly to my neighbors, and a fear to those knowing me: they seeing me without fled from me. |
| 31:12 | I was forgotten as the dead from the heart: I was a vessel perishing. |
| 31:13 | For I heard the slander of many sojourning round about: in their sitting together against me they purposed to take away my soul |
| 31:14 | And I trusted upon thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou my God. |
| 31:15 | My times in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from those pursuing me. |
| 31:16 | Cause thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me in thy mercy. |
| 31:17 | O Jehovah, I shall not be ashamed, for I called upon thee: the unjust shall be ashamed and they shall be destroyed to hades. |
| 31:18 | The lips of falsehood shall be mute; speaking boldly in pride and contempt. |
| 31:19 | How much thy goodness which thou didst conceal for them fearing thee; thou didst work for those putting their trust in thee before the sons of man. |
| 31:20 | Thou wilt cover them in the covering of thy face from the snares of man: thou wilt conceal them in the booth from the strife of tongues. |
| 31:21 | Praised be Jehovah, for he made wonderful his mercy to me in the fortified city. |
| 31:22 | And I said in my hasty flight; I was cut off from before thine eyes: yet thou heardest the voice of my supplications in my crying to thee. |
| 31:23 | Love Jehovah, all ye his godly ones: and he watched the faithful and requiting abundantly the doing of pride. |
| 31:24 | Be strong, and he will strengthen your heart, all ye waiting for Jehovah. |
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.