Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 91:1 | He dwelling in the covering of the Most High, in the shadow of the Almighty shall he lodge. |
| 91:2 | Saying to Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress: my God, I will trust in thee |
| 91:3 | For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from the word of ruin. |
| 91:4 | He will cover thee with his wing feathers, and under his wings thou shalt trust: his truth a shield and buckler. |
| 91:5 | Thou Shalt not be afraid from terror the night; from the arrow that will fly the day; |
| 91:6 | From the word that shall go in darkness: from the cutting off that shall lay waste the noon-day. |
| 91:7 | A thousand shall fall from thy side, and ten thousand from thy right hand; and to thee it shall not reach. |
| 91:8 | Only with thine eyes thou shalt look and thou shalt see the retribution of the unjust |
| 91:9 | For thou, O Jehovah, my trust; thou didst set the Most High thy refuge. |
| 91:10 | Evil shall not approach to thee, and a blow shall not come near in thy tent |
| 91:11 | For he will command his messengers for thee, to watch thee in all thy ways. |
| 91:12 | Upon the hands shall they lift thee up, lest thou shalt strike thy foot against a stone. |
| 91:13 | Upon the lion and the asp, shalt thou tread: thou shalt tread down the young lion and the dragon. |
| 91:14 | For he delighted in me and I will deliver him: I will exalt him, for he knew my name. |
| 91:15 | He shall call me and I will answer him: I am with him in straits; I will deliver him and honor him. |
| 91:16 | With length of days will I satisfy him, and I will cause him to look upon my salvation. |
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.