Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 2:1 | I shall lift up mine eyes and see, and behold, a man, and in his hand a cord of measure. |
| 2:2 | And saying, Whither goest thou? And he will say to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see according to what its breadth, and according to what its length. |
| 2:3 | And behold, the messenger speaking with me went forth, and another messenger went forth to meet him: |
| 2:4 | And he will say to him, Run, speak to this youth, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited an open country from the multitude of men and cattle in the midst of her. |
| 2:5 | And I will be to her, says Jehovah, a wall of fire round about, and I will be for glory in the midst of her. |
| 2:6 | Alas! alas! and flee ye from the land of the north, says Jehovah: for as the four winds of the heavens I spread you abroad, says Jehovah. |
| 2:7 | Alas, O Zion, deliver thyself inhabiting the daughter of Babel. |
| 2:8 | For thus said Jehovah of armies: After glory he sent me to the nations spoiling you: for he touching upon you touched the gate of his eye. |
| 2:9 | For behold me waving my hand upon them, and they were a spoil to their servants: and ye knew that Jehovah of armies sent me. |
| 2:10 | Shout for joy and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for behold me coming, and I dwelt in the midst of thee, says Jehovah. |
| 2:11 | And many nations joined themselves to Jehovah in that day, and they were to me for a people: and I dwelt in the midst of thee, and thou knewest that Jehovah of armies sent me to thee. |
| 2:12 | And Jehovah inherited Judah his portion upon the holy land, and he yet chose Jerusalem. |
| 2:13 | Be silent, all flesh, from the face of Jehovah: for he was raised from the habitation of his holiness. |
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.