Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 69:1 | To the overseer upon the lilies; to David. Save me, O God, for the waters came even to the soul. |
| 69:2 | I sank in mire of depth, and no standing: I came into depths of waters and the floods overwhelmed me. |
| 69:3 | I was wearied in my calling, my throat was dried up: mine eyes failed waiting for my God. |
| 69:4 | Those hating me were many above the hairs of my head: mine enemies destroying me by falsehood were strong: then I will turn back what I plucked not away. |
| 69:5 | O God, thou knewest for my folly, and my faults were not hid from thee. |
| 69:6 | They waiting for thee shall not be ashamed for me: O Lord Jehovah of armies, they shall not be disgraced for me, seeking thee, O God of Israel. |
| 69:7 | Because for thee I bare reproach: shame covered my face. |
| 69:8 | I was polluted to my brethren, and a stranger to my mother's sons. |
| 69:9 | For the zeal of thy house devoured me, and the reproaches of those reproaching thee fell upon me. |
| 69:10 | And I will weep with fasting of my soul, and it will be for reproaches to me. |
| 69:11 | And I will give my clothing sackcloth, and I for a parable to them. |
| 69:12 | They sitting in the gate will speak against me, and I was but the music of stringed instruments, of strong drink |
| 69:13 | And I, my prayer is to thee, O Jehovah, a time of acceptance: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy answer me, in the truth of thy salvation. |
| 69:14 | Deliver me from the mire and I shall not sink: I shall be delivered from those hating me, and from the depths of waters. |
| 69:15 | The streams of water shall not overflow me, and the depth shall not swallow me down, and the well shall not close upon me her mouth. |
| 69:16 | Answer me, O Jehovah, for good is thy mercy: according to the multitude of thy compassions turn to me. |
| 69:17 | And thou wilt not hide thy face from thy servant; for straits are to me.: hasten to answer me. |
| 69:18 | Draw near to my soul, redeem it: ransom me on account of mine enemies. |
| 69:19 | Thou knewest my reproach and my shame, and my disgrace: all mine adversaries are before thee. |
| 69:20 | Reproach broke my heart, and I shall be ill at ease: and I shall hope for comforting, and none; and for those consoling, and I found not |
| 69:21 | And they will give my food poison, and for my thirst they will give me vinegar to drink. |
| 69:22 | Their table shall be before them for a snare, for a retribution, for a cause of ruin. |
| 69:23 | Their eyes shall be darkened from seeing, and cause their loins to waver always. |
| 69:24 | Pour out upon them thy wrath, and the burning of thins anger shall overtake then). |
| 69:25 | Their fortress shall be desolated, and in their tents there shall none be dwelling. |
| 69:26 | For whom thou didst strike they pursued; and they will relate to the pain of thy wounded. |
| 69:27 | Thou wilt give iniquity to their iniquity, and they shall not come into thy justice. |
| 69:28 | They shall be wiped off from the book of the living, and with the just they shall not be written. |
| 69:29 | And I am poor and dejected: and thy salvation, O God, shall set me up on high. |
| 69:30 | I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with praise. |
| 69:31 | And it shall be good to Jehovah above an ox, a bullock shooting out horns and hoofs, |
| 69:32 | The poor saw, they shall be glad: and seeking Jehovah your heart shall live. |
| 69:33 | For Jehovah heard to the needy, and he despised not his hound. |
| 69:34 | The heavens shall praise him, and the earth, the sea, and every creeping thing in it |
| 69:35 | For God will save Zion, and he will build the cities of Judah, and they shall dwell there and inherit it |
| 69:36 | And the seed of his servants shall inherit it, and they loving his name shall dwell in it. |
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.