Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 14:1 | And there will come to me men from the old men of Israel, and sit before me. |
| 14:2 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 14:3 | Son of man, these men brought up their blocks upon their heart, and they gave the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: shall I be sought out, shall I be sought oat for them? |
| 14:4 | For this, speak to them and say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: A man, a man of the house of Israel who shall bring up his blocks upon his heart, and shall set up the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and coming to the prophet, I Jehovah answered to him coming according to the multitude of his blocks; |
| 14:5 | So that taking the house of Israel in their heart, which were all of them separated from me by their blocks. |
| 14:6 | For this, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, and turn away from your blocks; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. |
| 14:7 | For a man, a man of the house of Israel, and of the stranger who shall sojourn in Israel, and he shall separate himself from after me, and shall bring up his blocks into his heart, and shall set the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and coming to the prophet to seek out to him for me; I Jehovah will answer to him for me: |
| 14:8 | And I gave my face against that man, and I set him for a sign and for parables, and I cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye knew that I am Jehovah. |
| 14:9 | And if the prophet shall be deceived, and he spake a word, I Jehovah deceived that prophet, and I stretched forth my hand upon him, and I destroyed him from the midst of my people Israel. |
| 14:10 | And they bare their iniquity; as the iniquity of him seeking so shall be the iniquity of the prophet; |
| 14:11 | So that the house of Israel shall no more wander from after me, and they shall no more be defiled with all their transgressions; and they were to me for a people, and I will be to them for God, says the Lord Jehovah. |
| 14:12 | And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, |
| 14:13 | Son of man, if a land shall sin against me to cover a transgression, and I stretched forth my hands upon it, and I broke to it the staff of bread, and sent famine upon it, and I cut off from it man and cattle: |
| 14:14 | And were these three men in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they by their justice shall deliver their souls, says the Lord Jehovah. |
| 14:15 | If I shall cause the evil beast to pass through upon the land, and it was bereaved, and there was desolation from not passing through from the face of the beast: |
| 14:16 | These three men in its midst, I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if sons and if daughters they shall deliver; they alone shall be delivered, and the land shall be a desolation. |
| 14:17 | Or I shall bring a sword upon that land, and I said, Sword, thou shalt pass through the land; and I cut off from it man and cattle. |
| 14:18 | And these three men in its midst, I live, says the Lord Jehovah, they shall not deliver sons and daughters, for they alone shall be delivered. |
| 14:19 | Or I shall send death to that land, and I poured out my wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and cattle |
| 14:20 | And Noah, Daniel, and Job, in its midst, I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if son if daughter they shall deliver; they by their justice shall deliver their soul. |
| 14:21 | For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Also if I sent my four evil judgments, sword and famine, and the evil beast, and death to Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and cattle? |
| 14:22 | And behold, there was left in it an escaping, sons and daughters being brought forth: behold them, they shall be brought forth to you, and ye saw their way and their doings: and ye were comforted concerning the evil which I brought upon Jerusalem, all which I brought upon her. |
| 14:23 | And they comforted you, for ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye know that not in vain did I do all which I did in her, 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.