Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 26:1 | As snow in summer and as rain in harvest., so honor not becoming to the foolish one. |
| 26:2 | As the sparrow for wandering, as the swallow for flying, so the curse shall not come in vain. |
| 26:3 | A whip for the horse, the curb for the ass, and the rod for the back of the foolish. |
| 26:4 | Thou shalt not answer the foolish according to his folly lest thou shalt be like to him. |
| 26:5 | Answer the foolish according to his folly lest he shall be wise in his own eyes. |
| 26:6 | He drank violence, cutting off the feet, sending words by the hand of the foolish one. |
| 26:7 | The legs of the lame were weak, and a parable in the mouth of the foolish. |
| 26:8 | As a bundle of stones in a heap of stones, so he giving honor to the foolish one. |
| 26:9 | A thorn going up into the hand of a drunkard, a parable in the mouth of the foolish. |
| 26:10 | The great one piercing all, and he hired the foolish one, and those passing by. |
| 26:11 | As a dog turned back upon his vomit, the foolish one repeated in his folly. |
| 26:12 | Sawest thou a man wise in his eyes? hope is for the foolish one more than for him. |
| 26:13 | The slothful one said, A lion in the way; a lion between the broad places. |
| 26:14 | A door will turn upon its hinge, and the slothful upon his bed. |
| 26:15 | The slothful one hid his hand in the dish; he was weary to turn it back to his mouth. |
| 26:16 | The slothful one is wise in his eyes more than seven turning back a reason. |
| 26:17 | Laying hold upon the ears of a dog, he passing by overflowing upon strife not to him. |
| 26:18 | As a madman casting fiery darts, arrows and death, |
| 26:19 | So the man deceiving his neighbor and saying, Am I not sporting? |
| 26:20 | In the ceasing of wood, fire will go out: and in not being a tale-bearer, strife will subside. |
| 26:21 | As charcoal to burning coals and woods to fire, and a man of strifes to kindle strife. |
| 26:22 | The words of a tale-bearer as dainty morsels, and they will go down to the chambers of the belly. |
| 26:23 | Silver dross covering over a pot-sherd, burning lips and an evil heart. |
| 26:24 | He hating will be known by his lips, and he will set deceit in his midst; |
| 26:25 | When his voice will compassionate, thou shalt not believe him, for seven abominations in his heart |
| 26:26 | Hatred will be covered by deceit, his evil will be revealed in the convocation. |
| 26:27 | He digging a pit shall fall into it: and he rolling a stone it shall turn back upon him. |
| 26:28 | A tongue of falsehood will hate its crushing, and a smooth mouth will make an overthrow. |
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.