Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 3:1 | For this, I Paul, the imprisoned of Christ Jesus for you the nations, |
| 3:2 | If ye have heard of the distribution of the grace of God given to me for you: |
| 3:3 | That by revelation he made Known to me the mystery; (as I before wrote briefly, |
| 3:4 | By which ye, reading, can perceive My understanding in the mystery of Christ,) |
| 3:5 | Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as now has been revealed to his holy sent and to the prophets by the Spirit: |
| 3:6 | For the nations to be co-heirs, and united in one body, and, participators of his solemn promise in Christ by the good news: |
| 3:7 | Of which I Became a servant, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me according to the energy of his power |
| 3:8 | To me, the least of all the holy ones, was this grace given, to announce the good news in the nations, the untraceable riches of Christ. |
| 3:9 | And to enlighten all what the distribution of the mystery, concealed from times immemorial in God, having created all things by Jesus Christ: |
| 3:10 | That it might now be made known to beginnings and powers in the heavenlies by the church the manifold wisdom of God, |
| 3:11 | According to the purpose of times immemorial which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord: |
| 3:12 | In whom we have freedom of speech and access with confidence by his faith. |
| 3:13 | Wherefore I desire not to lose courage in my pressures for you, which is your glory. |
| 3:14 | For this I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, |
| 3:15 | Of whom all the family in the heavens and upon earth is named, |
| 3:16 | That he might give to you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the interior man; |
| 3:17 | For Christ to dwell by faith in your hearts; in love being rendered firm, and the foundation laid, |
| 3:18 | That ye might be fully able to comprehend with all the holy what the length, and breadth, and depth, and height; |
| 3:19 | To know also the love of Christ, surpassing knowledge, that ye might be filled in all the fulness of God. |
| 3:20 | And to him being able to do above all things more abundantly above what we ask or think, according to the power being energetic in us, |
| 3:21 | To him the glory in the church in Christ Jesus to all generations of the times of times. Amen. |
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.