Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 44:1 | Hear now, O Jacob and Israel, whom I chose: |
| 44:2 | Thus said Jehovah making thee, and forming thee from the belly, he will help thee; Thou shalt not be afraid, my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I chose. |
| 44:3 | For I will pour water upon the thirsty, and flowings upon the dry: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. |
| 44:4 | And they sprung up in the midst of the enclosure as willows by streams of water. |
| 44:5 | This shall say, I to Jehovah; and this shall call in the name of Jacob; and this shall write his hand to Jehovah, and he shall address in the name of Israel. |
| 44:6 | Thus said Jehovah king of Israel, and Jehovah of armies, redeeming him, I the first and I the last; and besides me no God. |
| 44:7 | And who as I shall call and announce it, and set it in order for me from my placing the people of old? and the things coming and that shall come, they shall announce to them. |
| 44:8 | Ye shall not tremble, and ye shall not be afraid: did I not from thence cause thee to hear? and I announced, and ye my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? and no rock; I knew not |
| 44:9 | They forming a carved image all of them emptiness; and their delights shall not profit, and they are their witnesses; they will not see and they will not know, so that they shall be ashamed. |
| 44:10 | Who formed a god and a carved molten image, profiting for nothing? |
| 44:11 | Behold, all his associates shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they from man, they shall be gathered together, all of them; they shall stand, they shall tremble, they shall be ashamed together. |
| 44:12 | The workman of iron with an axe also worked with coal, and he will cleave it with hammers, and will work with the arm of his strength: also he hungered and no strength: he drank not water and was wearied. |
| 44:13 | The workman of woods stretched out the line; he will delineate it with an awl, he will do it with chisels, and he will delineate it with a compass, and he will make it according to the image of a man, according to the beauty of man; to dwell in the house |
| 44:14 | To cut down for him cedars, and he will take the fir tree and the oak, and he will strengthen for himself among the trees of the forest: he planted an ash and the rain will cause to grow. |
| 44:15 | And it was for a man to burn: and he will take from them and he will be warmed; also he will kindle, and bake bread; also he will make a god, and he will worship; he made it a carved image, and he will fall down to them. |
| 44:16 | Half of it he burnt in the fire; upon half of it he will eat flesh; he will roast roast, and he will be satisfied: also he will be warm, and he will say, Aha, I was warm, I saw the light |
| 44:17 | And its remainder he made for a god, for his carved image: he will fall down to it, and he will worship and pray to it, and say, Deliver me, for thou my god. |
| 44:18 | They will not know, and they will not discern: he spread over their eyes from seeing; their heart from considering. |
| 44:19 | And none will set to his heart; and not knowledge, and not understanding to say, Half of it I burnt in the fire; and also I baked bread upon its coals; I will roast flesh and eat: and its remainder shall I make for an abomination? shall I fall down to a trunk of wood? |
| 44:20 | He fed upon ashes: a deceived heart turned him away, and he shall not deliver his soul, and he shall not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? |
| 44:21 | Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I formed thee; a servant to me: thou Israel shalt not forget me. |
| 44:22 | I wiped away as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins: turn back to me for I redeemed thee. |
| 44:23 | Shout, ye heavens, for Jehovah made: make a loud noise, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into a shout of joy, ye mountains, thou forest and every tree in it, for Jehovah redeemed Jacob, and he will be honored in Israel. |
| 44:24 | Thus said Jehovah redeeming thee, and forming thee from the belly, I am Jehovah making all; stretching forth the heavens alone; spreading out the earth from myself: |
| 44:25 | Bringing to naught the signs at vain boasters, and he will make those divining, foolish; turning back the wise backward, and he will frustrate their knowledge. |
| 44:26 | Setting up the word of his servant, and he will complete the cousnel of his messengers; saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be dwelt in; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and will raise up her wastes: |
| 44:27 | Saying to the depth, Be thou dry, and I will dry up thy rivers. |
| 44:28 | Saying to Cyrus, My shepherd, and he shall complete all my delight: and saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and the temple shall be founded. |
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.