Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 1:1 | In the third year to the kingdom of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel to Jerusalem, and he will press it |
| 1:2 | And Jehovah will give Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, and from the number of vessels of the house of God: and he will bring them to the land of Shinar the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. |
| 1:3 | And the king will say to Ashpenaz the leader of his eunuchs to bring from the sons of Israel and from the seed royal, and from the nobles; |
| 1:4 | Children whom not any blemish in them, and good of aspect, and understanding in all wisdom, and knowing knowledge, and understanding intelligence, and to whom power in them to stand in the king's temple, and to teach them the writing and tongue of the chaldees |
| 1:5 | And the king will allot to them the word of a day in its day from the king's dainties and from the wine of his drinking: and to nourish them three years, and from the end of three years they shall stand before the king. |
| 1:6 | And there will be among them from the sons of Judah, Daniel, Hansniah, Mishael, and Azariah |
| 1:7 | And the chief of the eunuchs will set names to them: to David, Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego. |
| 1:8 | And Daniel will set up upon his heart that he will not be defiled with the dainties of the king, and with the wine of his drinking: and he will seek from the chief of the eunuchs that he shall not defile himself. |
| 1:9 | And God will give Daniel to mercy and compassion before the chiefs of the eunuchs. |
| 1:10 | And the chief of the eunuchs will say to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who allotted your food and your drink: for wherefore shall he see your faces gloomy above the children as of your age? and make my head guilty to the King |
| 1:11 | And Daniel will say to Melzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, |
| 1:12 | Prove now thy servants, ten days; and they shall give to us from seed herbs, and we will eat, and water, and we will drink. |
| 1:13 | And our aspects shall be seen before thee, and the aspect of the children eating the king's dainties: and according to what thou shalt see, do with thy servants. |
| 1:14 | And he wilt hear to them for this word, and he will try them ten days. |
| 1:15 | And from the end of ten days their aspect was seen good and fat of flesh above all the children eating of the king's dainties. |
| 1:16 | And Melzar will be taking away their dainties, and the wine of their drinking, and he gave to them seed herbs. |
| 1:17 | And these four children, God gave to them knowledge and understanding in all writing and wisdom: and Daniel understood in every vision and dreams. |
| 1:18 | And from the end of the days when the king said to bring them in, and the chief of the eunuchs will bring them in before Nebuchadnezzar. |
| 1:19 | And the king will speak with them: and there was not found from all of them as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: and they will stand before the king. |
| 1:20 | And every word of the wisdom of understanding which the king sought from them, and he will find them ten hands over all the sacred scribes, the enchanters which were in all his kingdom. |
| 1:21 | And Daniel will be even to one year to Cyrus the king. |
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.