Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 3:1 | Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold; its height sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babel. |
| 3:2 | And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together to the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the chief judges, the treasurers, those skilled in law, the lawyers, and all the rulers of the provinces, to the drinking to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. |
| 3:3 | At that time there being gathered together the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the chief judges, the treasurers, those skilled in law, the lawyers and all the rulers of the provinces, to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up; and standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. |
| 3:4 | And a herald called with strength, To you they say, O peoples, nations, and tongues, |
| 3:5 | In the time ye shall hear the voice of the horn, the pipe, the harp, the lyre, the psaltery, the bagpipe, and all sorts of music, ye shall fall and prostrate. yourselves to the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. |
| 3:6 | And whoever shall not fall and prostrate himself in the same moment, he shall be cast into a furnace of flaming fire. |
| 3:7 | For this cause in that time that all peoples heard the voice of the horn, the pipe, the harp, the lyre, the psaltery, and all sorts of music, all peoples, nations, and tongues, fell prostrating themselves to the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. |
| 3:8 | For this cause, at that time men of the Chaldeans drew near and ate up the Jews piece-meal. |
| 3:9 | They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live forever. |
| 3:10 | Thou, O king, didst set an edict, that every man that shall hear the voice of the horn, the pipe, the harp, the lyre, the psaltery and the bagpipe, and all sorts of music, shall fall and prostrate himself to the image of gold: |
| 3:11 | And whoever shall not fall and prostrate himself shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of flaming fire. |
| 3:12 | There are men, Jews, that thou didst appoint over the business of the province of Babel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men set not an account to thee, O king: they served not to thy gods; and to the image of gold that thou didst set up they prostrated themselves not |
| 3:13 | At that time Nebuchadnezzar in anger and wrath, said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Then they brought these men before the king. |
| 3:14 | Nebuchadnemr answered and said to them, Is it on purpose O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, ye not serving to my gods, and to the image of gold that I set up, ye not prostrating yourselves? |
| 3:15 | Now if ye being prepared that in the time that ye shall hear the voice of the horn, the pipe, the harp, the lyre, the psaltery, and the bagpipe, and all sorts of music, ye shall fall and prostrate yourselves to the image that I made; and if ye shall not prostrate yourselves in the same moment, ye shall be cast into the midst of the furnace of flaming fire; and who that God that shall deliver you from my hands? |
| 3:16 | Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego answered, and saying to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we need not to turn back to thee upon this word. |
| 3:17 | If it is, our God whom we served will be able to deliver us from the furnace of flaming fire, and from thy hand, O king, he will deliver us. |
| 3:18 | And if not, it shall be made known to thee, O king, that to thy gods we serve not, and to the image of gold that thou didst set up we will not prostrate ourselves: |
| 3:19 | In that time Nebuchadnezzar being filled with wrath, and the form of the visage was changed to him against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego: he answered and said to heat to the furnace one seven times above that it was seen to be heated. |
| 3:20 | To the strong, the strong of strength that were in his army, he said to bind to Shadrach, Mesbach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the furnace of flaming fire. |
| 3:21 | Then these men were bound in their wide trowsers, their tunics, and their mantles, and their clothing, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of flaming fire. |
| 3:22 | For this cause, as the word of the king being severe, and the furnace exceedingly heated, these men that took up to Shadrach, Meshach, and AbedNego, the flame of fire killed them. |
| 3:23 | And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of flaming fire, bound. |
| 3:24 | { At that time Nebuchadnezzar the king was grieved, and rose up in haste; he answered and said to the counselors, Did we not cast three men into the midst of the fire, bound? They answering and saying to the king, True, O king.} |
| 3:25 | { He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose going about in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them: and the aspect of the fourth like to the Son of God.} |
| 3:26 | { At that time Nebuchadnezzar drew near to the door of the furnace of flaming fire; he answered and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, ye servants of God most high, go forth, and come. Then came forth Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, from the midst of the fire.} |
| 3:27 | { And there being gathered together the satraps, the prefects, and governors, and the king's counselors, looking upon these men that upon their bodies the fire had no power, and a hair of their head was not singed, and their wide trowsers were not changed, and the smell of fire passed not upon them.} |
| 3:28 | { Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be their God of Shadrach,,Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent his messenger and delivered for his servants that trusted upon him, and they changed the king's word, and gave their bodies that they will not serve and prostrate themselves to any god, except to their God.} |
| 3:29 | { And an edict being set from me, That every people, nation and tongue, that shall say an error against their God, of Shadrach, Meshach, and AbedNego, shall be made pieces, and his house shall be set a dung-hill, because that there is no other God that shall be able to deliver according to this.} |
| 3:30 | { Then the king caused to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to prosper in the province of Babel.} |
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.