Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 12:1 | And at that time Herod the king laid hands upon to injure certain of the church. |
| 12:2 | And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. |
| 12:3 | And having seen that it is pleasing to the Jews, he added also to take Peter. (They were the days of unleavened bread.) |
| 12:4 | And having seized, he put him in prison, having delivered to four quaternions of soldiers to watch him; wishing after the pascha to bring him to the people. |
| 12:5 | Truly therefore was Peter kept in prison: and prayer was made continually by the church to God for him. |
| 12:6 | And when Herod was about to bring him before, in that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the watch before the door kept the prison. |
| 12:7 | And, behold, the messenger of the Lord stood before, and a light shone in the dwelling: and having struck Peter's side, he raised him up, saying, Arise quickly. And his chains fell off from the hands. |
| 12:8 | And the messenger said to him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy small sandals. And he did so. And he said to him, Put round thy garment, and follow me. |
| 12:9 | And having come out, he followed him; and knew not that it is true that being done by the messenger; and seemed to see a vision. |
| 12:10 | And having passed by the first and second watch, they came to the iron gate leading to the city; which of its free will was opened to them: and having come out, they advanced one street; and quickly the messenger departed from him. |
| 12:11 | And Peter being as himself, said, Now know I truly that the Lord sent his messenger, and took me out of the hands of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews. |
| 12:12 | And being conscious, he came to the house of Mary mother of John, surnamed Mark; where were sufficient assembled, and praying. |
| 12:13 | And Peter having knocked at the door of the gate, a young girl came near to listen, by name Rhoda. |
| 12:14 | And having known Peter's voice, from joy she opened not the gate, and running, announced Peter to stand before the gate. |
| 12:15 | And they said to her, Thou art mad. And she was strengthened to have it so. And they said, It is his messenger. |
| 12:16 | And Peter continued knocking: and having opened, they saw him, and were moved. |
| 12:17 | And having shaken with the hand at them to be silent, he related to them how the Lord brought him out of prison. And he said, Announce these things to James, and the brethren. And having come out, he went to another place. |
| 12:18 | And it being day, not a little trouble was among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. |
| 12:19 | And Herod having sought him, and not found, having examined the watch, commanded them to be removed. And having come down from Judea to Cesarea, he tarried. |
| 12:20 | And Herod was fighting with violent animosity, with Tyrians and Sidonians: but they came unanimously to him, and having conciliated Blastus, him over the king's bed-chamber, they asked peace; for their country was nourished from the king's. |
| 12:21 | And upon a fixed day, Herod, having put on royal apparel, and having sat upon the judgment seat, harangued them. |
| 12:22 | And the people called aloud, The voice of God, and not of man. |
| 12:23 | And immediately the messenger of the Lord struck him, because he gave not the glory to God: and eaten by worms, he expired. |
| 12:24 | And the word of God increased and multiplied. |
| 12:25 | And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having completed the service, and taken with them John, surnamed Mark. |
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.