Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 22:1 | A Name to be chosen rather than much riches, and good grace rather than gold. |
| 22:2 | The rich and poor one met together: Jehovah made them all. |
| 22:3 | The crafty saw evil, and he will hide, and the simple passed on and were punished. |
| 22:4 | The end of humility the fear of Jehovah, riches and honor and life. |
| 22:5 | Thorns, snares, in the way of the perverse one: he watching his soul shall be far from them. |
| 22:6 | Straiten to a youth upon the mouth of his way, also when he shall grow old he will not depart from it. |
| 22:7 | The rich one will rule over the poor, and he borrowing, a servant to the man lending. |
| 22:8 | He sowing iniquity shall reap vanity, and the rod of his wrath shall be finished. |
| 22:9 | The good eye it shall be blessed, for he gave from his bread to the poor. |
| 22:10 | Cast out him mocking, and strife shall go out, and contention shall cease and dishonor. |
| 22:11 | He loving pureness of heart the grace of his lips, the king is his friend. |
| 22:12 | The eyes of Jehovah guarded knowledge, and he will overthrow the words of him transgressing. |
| 22:13 | The slothful one said, A lion without; I shall be slain in the midst of the broad places. |
| 22:14 | The mouth of the strange woman a deep pit: and he cursing Jehovah shall fall there. |
| 22:15 | Folly being bound in the heart of a youth; the rod of correction shall remove it far off from him. |
| 22:16 | He oppressing the poor one to increase for himself, he gave to the rich; also to want |
| 22:17 | Incline thine ear and hear the words of the wise, and thou shalt set thy heart to my knowledge. |
| 22:18 | For pleasant things if thou shalt watch them in thy belly; they shall be prepared together for thy lips. |
| 22:19 | For thy trust to be in Jehovah, I caused thee to know to-day, thee also. |
| 22:20 | Did I not write to thee three days ago in counsels and knowledge? |
| 22:21 | To cause thee to know the truth of the words of truth; to turn back the words of truth to those sending thee? |
| 22:22 | Thou shalt not strip the poor because he is poor: and thou shalt not crush the humble in the gate. |
| 22:23 | For Jehovah will contend their contention, and rob the soul to those robbing them. |
| 22:24 | Thou shalt not be companion of the possessor of anger, and with the man of wrath thou shalt not go: |
| 22:25 | Lest thou shalt learn his ways and take a snare to thy soul. |
| 22:26 | Thou shalt not be with those striking the hand with those pledging for debts. |
| 22:27 | If not to thee to requite, why shall he take thy bed from under thee? |
| 22:28 | Thou shalt not remove the old bound which thy fathers made. |
| 22:29 | Sawest thou a man apt in his works? Before kings shall he stand; he shall not stand before the dark ones |
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.