Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 12:1 | I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service. |
| 12:2 | And be ye not conformed to this life, but be transformed by the renovation of your mind, for you to prove what the good, and the pleasing, and the perfected will of God. |
| 12:3 | For I say, by the race given me, to every one being with you, not to entertain a high opinion of one's self above what is fitting to think: but to think to be discreet, as God has divided the measure of faith to each. |
| 12:4 | For as in one body we have many members, and all members have not the same action: |
| 12:5 | So we, the many, are one body in Christ, and the members for one another. |
| 12:6 | And having gifts different according to the grace given us, whether prophecy, according to the due proportion of faith; |
| 12:7 | Whether service, in service: whether he teaching, in instruction; |
| 12:8 | Whether he beseeching, in supplication: he imparting, in simplicity; he placed before, in earnestness; he compassionating, in cheerfulness. |
| 12:9 | Love unfeigned. Hating evil; fastened to good. |
| 12:10 | In brotherly love, being kindly affectioned to one another; in honour preceding one another. |
| 12:11 | In study not slothful; boiling in the spirit; serving the Lord; |
| 12:12 | Rejoicing in hope; holding out under pressure; persevering in prayer; |
| 12:13 | Participating in the necessities of the holy ones; pursuing hospitality. |
| 12:14 | Praise them driving you out: praise ye, and curse not. |
| 12:15 | To rejoice with the rejoicing, and weep with the weeping. |
| 12:16 | Thinking the same towards one another. Not thinking high things but being led by humble things. Be not wise with yourselves. |
| 12:17 | Giving hack evil for evil to none. Providing good things before all men. |
| 12:18 | If possible of you, living peaceably with all men. |
| 12:19 | Avenging not yourselves, beloved, but give ye place to anger: for it has been written, Vengeance to me; I will repay, says the Lord. |
| 12:20 | If therefore thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for doing this, thou shalt heap up-coals of fire on his head. |
| 12:21 | Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. |
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.