Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 2:1 | Clang ye the trumpet in Zion, shout in my holy mountain: all the inhabitants of the land shall be moved, for the day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near. |
| 2:2 | A day of darkness and of thick darkness; a day of cloud and gloom as the morning spread upon the mountains: great and strong people; the like to him was not from forever, and after him there shall not be added even to the years of generation and generation. |
| 2:3 | Before him a fire devoured, and after him a flame shall burn; the land as the garden of Eden before him, and after him a desert of desolation; and also there was no escaping to him. |
| 2:4 | His appearance as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen so shall they run. |
| 2:5 | As the voice of chariots upon the heads of the mountains they shall leap, as the voice of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong people set in order for battle. |
| 2:6 | From his face peoples shall be pained: all faces gathered a glow. |
| 2:7 | They shall run as strong men; as men of war they shall come up upon the wall; and they shall go each in his ways; they shall not change their paths. |
| 2:8 | And they shall not thrust a man his brother; they shall go a man in his high way: and in the midst of the javelin shall they fall, they shall not be cut in pieces. |
| 2:9 | In the city they shall run up and down; on the wall shall they run, into the houses they shall come up, through the windows shall they come in as a thief. |
| 2:10 | The earth was moved before his face; the heavens trembled: the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars took away their shining: |
| 2:11 | And Jehovah gave his voice before the face of his strength: for exceedingly great his camp, and strong he doing his word: for great the day of Jehovah, and exceedingly terrible; and who shall endure it? |
| 2:12 | And also now, says Jehovah, Turn back even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with wailing. |
| 2:13 | And rend your heart and not your garments, and turn back to Jehovah your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, slow of anger and of much kindness, and lamenting on account of the evil. |
| 2:14 | Who shall know he will turn back, and lamenting and leaving a blessing after him, a gift and a libation to Jehovah your God? |
| 2:15 | Clang ye the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast, call a restraining. |
| 2:16 | Gather the people, consecrate the convocation, assemble the old men, gather the children and those sucking the breasts: the bridegroom shall come forth from his chamber and the bride from her nuptial couch. |
| 2:17 | Between the porch and to the altar the priests serving Jehovah shall weep, and they shall say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, and thou wilt not give thine inheritance to reproach for the nations to rule over them: wherefore shall they say among the peoples, Where is their God? |
| 2:18 | And Jehovah will be jealous for his land, and he will pity. for his people. |
| 2:19 | And Jehovah will answer and say to his people, Behold me sending to you the grain and the new wine, and the new oil; and ye were satisfied with it: and I will no more give you a reproach among the nations. |
| 2:20 | And the northern I will remove far off from you, and I thrust him into a land of dryness and desolation, with his face to the east sea, and his end to the last sea; and his stink came up. and his stench shall come up, for he magnified to do. |
| 2:21 | Thou shalt not fear, O land; rejoice and be glad, for Jehovah magnified to do. |
| 2:22 | Ye shall not fear, ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the desert sprang forth, for the tree bore its fruit, the fig tree and the vine gave their strength. |
| 2:23 | Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first. |
| 2:24 | And the threshing-floors were filled with grain, and the wine-vats overflowed with new wine and new oil. |
| 2:25 | And I requited to you the years which the common locust ate, the feeder, and the devourer, and the creeping locust, my great army which I sent among you. |
| 2:26 | And eating, ye ate and were satisfied, and ye praised the name of Jehovah your God who did wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed forever. |
| 2:27 | And ye knew that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am Jehovah your God, and none else: and my people shall not be ashamed forever. |
| 2:28 | And it was after this I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters prophesied, your old men shall dream your young men shall see visions. |
| 2:29 | And also upon the servants and upon the maids in those days I will pour out my spirit. |
| 2:30 | And I gave wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. |
| 2:31 | The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and the terrible day of Jehovah. |
| 2:32 | And it was all who shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall escape: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be an escaping, as said Jehovah; and among those left whom Jehovah called. |
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.