Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 26:1 | And Agrippa said to Paul, It is permitted thee to speak for thyself. Then Paul defended himself, having stretched out the hand: |
| 26:2 | Concerning all of which I am accused by the Jews, king Agrippa, I deem myself happy, being about to defend myself to thee this day: |
| 26:3 | Especially thee being judge of all the customs among the Jews, and also of the questions: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. |
| 26:4 | Therefore truly my manner of life from youth, having been from the beginning in my nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know: |
| 26:5 | Knowing me beforehand, from a former period, if they would testify, that according to the most strict sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. |
| 26:6 | And now in the hope of the solemn promise having been made to the fathers by God, I stand, being judged, |
| 26:7 | To which our twelve tribes, serving night and day, hope to arrive. For which hope I am accused, king Agrippa, by the Jews. |
| 26:8 | Why is it judged incredible by you, if God raise the dead? |
| 26:9 | I therefore truly thought to myself, I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus, the Nazarite. |
| 26:10 | Which I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the holy ones I shut up in prison, having received authority from chief priests; and they taken up, I carried down a vote. |
| 26:11 | And in all the synagogues, many times punishing them, I compelled to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I drove out even also to cities without. |
| 26:12 | In which also going to Damascus with authority, and superintendence from the chief priests, |
| 26:13 | The middle of day, I saw in the way, O king, a light from heaven, above the brilliancy of the sun, having shone around me, and those going with me. |
| 26:14 | And we having all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why drivest thou me out? hard for thee to kick against goads. |
| 26:15 | And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou drivest out. |
| 26:16 | But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for, for this was I sent to thee, to take thee in hand, a servant and witness both of what things thou sawest, and of what I shall be seen to thee; |
| 26:17 | Taking thee away from people, and nations, to whom I now send thee. |
| 26:18 | To open their eyes, to turn them back from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, fur them to receive remission of sins, and inheritance with the consecrated by faith in me. |
| 26:19 | Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision: |
| 26:20 | But to them in Damascus first, and Jerusalem, and all the country of Judea, and to the nations, announcing to change the mind, and to turn back to God, doing works worthy of change of mind. |
| 26:21 | For these things, me the Jews, having seized in the temple, attempted to kill with their own hands. |
| 26:22 | Therefore having obtained assistance from God, till this day do I stand, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what both the prophets and Moses spake being about to be: |
| 26:23 | That Christ exposed to suffering, that first from the rising of the dead, he is about to announce light to the people, and nations. |
| 26:24 | And he defending himself by these, Festus said with a great voice, Thou art frenzied, Paul; many letters turn thee to madness. |
| 26:25 | And he says, I am not frenzied, most excellent Festus; but I speak the words of truth and soundness of mind. |
| 26:26 | For the king knows of these, to whom speaking freely I speak: for I am persuaded that none of these are unknown to him; for these were not done in a corner. |
| 26:27 | Believest thou the prophets, king Agrippa? I know that thou believest. |
| 26:28 | And Agrippa said to Paul, In a little thou persuadest me to be a Christian. |
| 26:29 | And Paul said, I would pray to God also in little, and in much, not only thee, but also all hearing me this day to become such, of what kind I also am, besides these bonds. |
| 26:30 | And he having said these, the king arose, and the leader, and Bernice, and they sitting with them: |
| 26:31 | And having withdrawn, they spake to one another, saying, This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds. |
| 26:32 | And Agrippa said to Festus, This man could have been loosed, if he had not appealed to Caesar. |
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.