Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 11:1 | The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, |
| 11:2 | Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: |
| 11:3 | And say to them, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Cursed the man who will not hear the words of this covenant, |
| 11:4 | Which I commanded your fathers in the day of my bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, saying, Hear ye to my voice, and do them according to all that I shall command you: and be to me for a people, and I will be to you for God: |
| 11:5 | To establish the oath which I sware to your fathers, to give to them a land flowing milk and honey, as this day. And I shall answer and say, Verily, O Jehovah. |
| 11:6 | And Jehovah will say to me, Call all these words in the cities Of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them. |
| 11:7 | For testifying, I testified to your fathers in the day of my bringing them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and testifying, saying, Hear ye to my voice. |
| 11:8 | And they heard not, and inclined not their ear, and they went a man in the stubbornness of their evil heart: and I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant which I commanded to do; and they did not |
| 11:9 | And Jehovah will say to me, A conspiracy was found in the men of Judah, and in the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
| 11:10 | They turned back to the iniquities of their fathers before them who refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah brake my covenant which I cut out with their fathers. |
| 11:11 | For this, thus said Jehovah, Behold me bringing evil to them which they shall not be able to go forth from it; and they cried to me and I will not hear to them. |
| 11:12 | And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem went and cried to the gods which they burnt incense to them: and saving, they will not save to them in the time of their evil |
| 11:13 | For from the numbering of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and from the numbering of the streets of Jerusalem, ye set up altars to shame, altars to burn incense to Baal. |
| 11:14 | And thou shalt not pray for this people, and thou shalt not lift up for them an outcry and a prayer: for I hear not in the time of their calling to me for their evil. |
| 11:15 | What is to my beloved in my house making mischief to many, and they shall cause the holy flesh to pass away from thee? for thou didst evil, then wilt thou exult |
| 11:16 | A green olive tree, fair, of fruit of figure, Jehovah called thy name; by the voice of a great noise he kindled a fire upon her, and its branches were evil. |
| 11:17 | And Jehovah of armies planting thee, spake evil against thee, on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they did to themselves to irritate me, burning incense to Baal. |
| 11:18 | And Jehovah made known to me and I shall know: then thou caused me to see their doings. |
| 11:19 | And I as a gentle lamb being brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that against me they purposed purposes: We will destroy the tree with its food, and we will cut him off from the land of the living, and his name shall no more be remembered. |
| 11:20 | O Jehovah of armies, judging justice and trying the reins and the heart, I shall see thy vengeance from them, for to thee I uncovered my cause. |
| 11:21 | For this, thus said Jehovah, concerning the men of Anathoth seeking my soul, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, and thou shalt not die by our hand. |
| 11:22 | For this, thus said Jehovah of armies, Behold me reviewing over them: their young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine: |
| 11:23 | And a remnant shall not be to them: for I will bring evil to the men of Anathoth, the year of their reviewing. |
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.