Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 16:1 | To man the dispositions of the heart, and the answer of the tongue from Jehovah. |
| 16:2 | All the ways of man are clean in his eyes, and Jehovah tried the spirits. |
| 16:3 | Roll to Jehovah thy works, and thy purposes shall be established. |
| 16:4 | Jehovah made all to his purpose, and also the unjust for the day of evil. |
| 16:5 | Every one lifted up of heart an abomination to Jehovah: and hand to hand, shall not be unpunished. |
| 16:6 | By mercy and truth iniquity shall be expiated: and in the fear of Jehovah a departing from evil. |
| 16:7 | The ways of a man being accepted of Jehovah also he will make his enemies friends with him. |
| 16:8 | Good a little with justice above abundance of increase with no judgment |
| 16:9 | The heart of man will purpose his ways, and Jehovah will prepare his steps. |
| 16:10 | Divining upon the lips of the king: his mouth will not transgress in judgment |
| 16:11 | Weighing and balances of judgment are to Jehovah, and his work all the stones of the bag. |
| 16:12 | An abomination of kings to do injustice: for in justice shall the throne be prepared. |
| 16:13 | Lips of justice the acceptance of kings; and he will love the word of the upright |
| 16:14 | The king's wrath, messengers of death: and a wise man shall expiate it |
| 16:15 | In the light of the king's face is life, and his acceptance as the cloud of the latter rain. |
| 16:16 | The obtaining of wisdom how good above gold and the obtaining of understanding to be chosen above silver. |
| 16:17 | The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: to watch his ways the guarding of his soul. |
| 16:18 | Pride before a breaking, and a spirit lifted up before a fall |
| 16:19 | Good the cast down of spirit with the humble more than to divide the spoil with the proud. |
| 16:20 | He understanding in the word shall find good: and he trusting in Jehovah, he being happy. |
| 16:21 | He understanding shall call to the wise of heart: and sweetness of lips shall add knowledge |
| 16:22 | The understanding of him possessing it is a fountain of life: and the instruction of the foolish is folly. |
| 16:23 | The heart of the wise shall attend to his mouth, and he shall add knowledge to his lips. |
| 16:24 | Words of pleasantness an, honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and healing to the bones. |
| 16:25 | There is a way straight before a man, and its latter state the ways of death. |
| 16:26 | The soul of him laboring, labored for himself; for his mouth urged upon him. |
| 16:27 | A man of Belial dug up evil, and upon his lips, as a burning fire. |
| 16:28 | A man of perverseness shall send forth strife: and a tale-bearer separates friends. |
| 16:29 | A man of violence will seduce his neighbor, and he caused him to go in a way not good. |
| 16:30 | Closing his eyes to purpose perverseness: biting his lips he completed evil. |
| 16:31 | Old age a crown of glorying, shall be found in the way of justice. |
| 16:32 | He slow to anger is, good above the strong; and, he ruling over his spirit above him taking a city, |
| 16:33 | In the bosom he shall, cast the lot; and from Jehovah all his judgment |
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.