Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 40:1 | To the overseer: of David chanting. Waiting, I waited for Jehovah, and he will incline to me, and he will hear my cry. |
| 40:2 | And he will bring me up from the pit of destruction, from the clay of mire, and he will set my feet upon a rock, preparing my goings. |
| 40:3 | And he will give a new song in my mouth, praise to our God: many shall see and fear, and they shall trust in Jehovah. |
| 40:4 | Happy the man who set Jehovah his trust, and turned not to the arrogant, and those turning aside to falsehood. |
| 40:5 | Many the wonders thou didst, O Jehovah my God, and thy purposes to us: none shall set in order to thee: I will announce and speak, they were numerous above number. |
| 40:6 | Sacrifice and a gift thou didst not delight in; the ears thou didst pierce to me: burnt-offering and sin thou didst not ask. |
| 40:7 | Then I said, Behold, I came: in the volume of the book it was written concerning me. |
| 40:8 | To do thine acceptance, O my God, I delighted; and thy law in the midst of my bowels. |
| 40:9 | I announced good news, justice in the great convocation: behold, my lips I will not shut up, O Jehovah, thou knewest |
| 40:10 | I hid not thy justice within my heart; I said thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I hid not thy mercy and thy truth to the great convocation. |
| 40:11 | Thou wilt not, O Jehovah, shut up thy compassions from me: thy mercy and thy truth shall always guard me. |
| 40:12 | For evils even not being numbered encompassed about me: mine inquities overtook me, and I was not able to see; they were numerous above the hairs of my head, and my heart forsook me. |
| 40:13 | Be gracious, O Jehovah, to deliver me: hasten, O Jehovah, to help me. |
| 40:14 | They shall be ashamed and blush together seeking my soul to take it away; they shall be turned back, and they delighting in my evil shall be ashamed. |
| 40:15 | They shall be made desolate for the reward of their shame, they saying to me, Aha! aha! |
| 40:16 | All they seeking thee shall rejoice and be glad in thee: they loving thy salvation shall say, Jehovah shall be magnified. |
| 40:17 | And I am poor and needy, Jehovah will think upon me: thou my help and my deliverer; thou will not delay, O my God. |
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.