Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 12:1 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 12:2 | Son of man, thou art dwelling in the midst of a house of contradiction, which to them eyes to see, and they saw not: ears to them to hear, and they heard not: for they are a house of contradiction. |
| 12:3 | And thou Son of man, make to thee vessels of captivity and emigrate by day before their eyes; and emigrating from thy place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see if they are a house of contradiction. |
| 12:4 | And bring forth thy vessels as vessels of captivity by day, before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth in the evening before their eyes, as the goings forth of captivity. |
| 12:5 | Before their eyes break through to thee in the wall, and bring forth by it |
| 12:6 | Before their eyes upon the shoulder thou shalt lift up, in thick darkness thou shalt bring forth: thou shalt cover thy face, and thou shalt not see the earth: for I gave thee a wonder to the house of Israel. |
| 12:7 | And I shall do thus as I was commanded: I brought forth the vessels as vessels of captivity by day, and in the evening I broke through for me in the wall with the hand; in the thick darkness I brought forth, upon the shoulder I lifted up before their eyes. |
| 12:8 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me in the morning, saying, |
| 12:9 | Son of man, did not the house of Israel, the house of contradiction, say to thee, What doest thou? |
| 12:10 | Say to them, thus said the Lord Jehovah: The ruler of this burden in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel which they are in the midst of them. |
| 12:11 | Say, I am your wonder: as I did, so it shall be done to them: by emigrating, they shall go into captivity. |
| 12:12 | And the prince which is in the midst of them shall lift up upon the shoulder in thick darkness, and go forth: they shall break through into the wall to bring forth by it: he shall cover his face so that be shall not see the earth with the eye. |
| 12:13 | And I spread my net upon him, and he was taken in my net: and I brought him to Babel the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die. |
| 12:14 | And all which are round about him to help, and all his hosts, I will scatter to every wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. |
| 12:15 | And they shall know that I am Jehovah, in my scattering them in the nations; and I scattered them in the lands. |
| 12:16 | And I left of them men of number, from the sword and from famine, and from death, so that they shall recount all their abominations among the nations where they went there; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. |
| 12:17 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 12:18 | Son of man, thou shalt eat thy bread with trembling, and thou shalt drink thy water with disquiet and with dread; |
| 12:19 | And say to the people of the land, Thus said the Lord Jehovah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the land of Israel: they shall eat their bread with dread, and they shall drink their waters with astonishment, that her land shall be laid waste from her fulness from the violence of all dwelling in her. |
| 12:20 | And the cities being inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and they knew that I am Jehovah. |
| 12:21 | And the word of Jehovah was to me, saying, |
| 12:22 | Son of man, what this parable to you upon the land of Israel, saying, The days will be prolonged and every vision perished? |
| 12:23 | For this, say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I caused this parable to cease, and they shall no more use it for a parable in Israel; but speak to them: The days drew near, and the word of every vision. |
| 12:24 | For no more shall there be any vain vision and smooth divination in the midst of the house of Israel. |
| 12:25 | For I am Jehovah: I will speak, what word I will speak and it shall be done; it shall no more be protracted: for in your days, O house of contradiction, I will speak the word, and I did it, says the Lord Jehovah. |
| 12:26 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 12:27 | Son of man, behold the house of Israel saying, The vision which he saw is for many days, and for the times afar off he prophesied. |
| 12:28 | For this, say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: No more shall my words be protracted, for I will speak the word and it shall be done, says the Lord Jehovah. |
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.