Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 71:1 | In thee, O Jehovah, I put my trust; shall not be ashamed forever. |
| 71:2 | In thy justice thou wilt deliver me, and let me escape: incline to me thine ear and save me. |
| 71:3 | Be thou to me for a rock of refuge to come always: thou didst command to save me, for thou my rock and my fortress. |
| 71:4 | My God, deliver me from the hand of the unjust one, from the hand of him transgressing, and the violent one. |
| 71:5 | For thou my hope, O Lord Jehovah: my trust from my youth. |
| 71:6 | Upon thee was I supported from the womb: from the bowels of my mother thou didst separate me: in thee my praise always. |
| 71:7 | I was as a wonder to many: and thou my refuge of strength. |
| 71:8 | My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, thy magnificence all the day. |
| 71:9 | Thou wilt not cast me off to the time of old age; as my strength fails thou wilt not forsake me. |
| 71:10 | For mine enemies said to me, and they watching my soul took counsel together, |
| 71:11 | Saying, God forsook him: pursue him and take him, for none delivering. |
| 71:12 | O God, thou wilt not be far off from me: my God, hasten for my help. |
| 71:13 | They lying in wait for my soul shall be ashamed; they shall be finished; they seeking my evil shall be covered with reproach and shame. |
| 71:14 | And I will always hope, and I added upon all thy praise. |
| 71:15 | My mouth shall recount thy justice, all the day thy salvation, for I knew not numbers. |
| 71:16 | I will go in the strength of the Lord Jehovah: I will keep in remembrance thy justice, thine alone. |
| 71:17 | O God, thou didst teach me from my youth: and even to this will I announce thy wonders. |
| 71:18 | And also even to old age and grayness, O God, thou wilt not forsake me; till I shall announce thine arm to the generation, thy strength to every one who shall come: |
| 71:19 | And thy justice, O God, even to height, who didst great things: O God, who like thee? |
| 71:20 | Who didst cause us to see great straits and evils; thou wilt turn back, thou wilt preserve us alive, and from the depths of the earth thou wilt turn back, thou wilt bring us up. |
| 71:21 | Thou wilt increase my greatness, thou wilt surround me, thou wilt comfort me. |
| 71:22 | Also I will praise thee with the instrument of the harp; thy truth, O God, I will play on the harp, to thee, O Thou, Holy One of Israel. |
| 71:23 | My lips shall rejoice when I shall play on the harp to thee, and my soul which thou redeemedst. |
| 71:24 | Also my tongue all the day shall celebrate thy justice; for they were confused, for they seeking my evil were ashamed. |
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.