Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 1:1 | The words of Jeremiah son of Hillkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: |
| 1:2 | When the word of Jehovah was to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year to his reigning. |
| 1:3 | And it will be in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, even to the fulness of the eleventh year to Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, even to the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. |
| 1:4 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 1:5 | Before I shall form thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou shalt go forth from the womb I consecrated thee; I gave thee a prophet to the nations. |
| 1:6 | And saying, Ah, Lord Jehovah, behold I knew not to speak: for I a boy. |
| 1:7 | And Jehovah will say to me, Thou shalt not say, I a boy; for thou shalt go to all to whom I shall send thee, and all which I shall command thee thou shalt speak |
| 1:8 | Thou shalt not be afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, says Jehovah. |
| 1:9 | And Jehovah will stretch forth his hand and touch upon my mouth: and Jehovah will say to me, Behold, I gave my words into thy mouth. |
| 1:10 | See, I appointed thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to tear down, and to destroy, and to overthrow, to build and to plant |
| 1:11 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, What seem thou, Jeremiah? and saying, I see the shoot of an almond tree. |
| 1:12 | And Jehovah will say to me, Thou didst well to see; for I watch upon my word to do it |
| 1:13 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me the second time, saying, What seest thou? and saying, I see a pot blown under, and its face from the face of the north. |
| 1:14 | And Jehovah will say to me, From the north shall evil be opened upon all the inhabitants of the earth. |
| 1:15 | For behold me calling to all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Jehovah; and they came, and gave a man his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all her walls round about and upon all the cities of Judah. |
| 1:16 | And I spake my judgment with them concerning all their evil, who forsook me, and they will burn incense to other gods, and they will worship to the works of their hands. |
| 1:17 | And thou shalt gird thy loins and rise and speak to them all that I shall command thee: thou shalt not be terrified from their face lest I shall break thee before them. |
| 1:18 | Behold, I gave thee this day for a fortified city and for a pillar of iron and for a wall of brass upon all the land to the kings of Judah, to her chiefs, to her priests, and to the people of the land. |
| 1:19 | And they warred against thee; and they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee, says Jehovah, to deliver thee. |
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.