Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 45:1 | To the overseer over the lilies, for the sons of Korah, instruction: a song of the beloved. My heart boiled over a good word: I say my works to the king: my tongue the pen of one writing promptly. |
| 45:2 | Thou wert very beautiful above the sons of man: grace was poured forth by thy lips: for this God praised thee forever. |
| 45:3 | Gird thy sword upon the thigh, thou strong one in thy majesty and thine honor. |
| 45:4 | And in thy splendor prosper thou riding upon the word of truth and humility, of justice; and thy right hand shall teach thee wonderfully. |
| 45:5 | Thine arrows being sharpened peoples shall fall under thee as the heart of the king's enemies. |
| 45:6 | Thy throne, O God, forever and ever: a rod of straightness the rod of thy kingdom. |
| 45:7 | Thou lovedst justice, and thou wilt hate injustice: for this, God thy God anointed thee with the oil of joy above thy companions. |
| 45:8 | Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all thy garments, from the temples of ivory, by which they gladdened thee. |
| 45:9 | King's daughters among thy beautiful ones: the queen stood at thy right hand, in gold of Ophir. |
| 45:10 | Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; |
| 45:11 | And the king shall desire for himself thy beauty, for he is thy Lord; and worship thou to him. |
| 45:12 | And the daughter of the rock with a gift; and the rich of the people shall supplicate thy face. |
| 45:13 | All glory the king's daughter, in front: her clothing textures of gold. |
| 45:14 | With variegation she shall be brought to the King; the virgins after her, her companions, being brought to thee. |
| 45:15 | They shall be brought with gladness and joy: they shall come into the temple of the king. |
| 45:16 | Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons; thou shalt set them for chiefs in all the earth. |
| 45:17 | I will cause thy name to be remembered in every generation and generation: for this the peoples shall praise thee forever and ever. |
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.