Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 2:1 | My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, of glory, with distinction of faces. |
| 2:2 | For if there come into your synagogue a man wearing gold rings on is fingers, in brilliant clothing, and there come in also a beggar in filthy clothing; |
| 2:3 | And ye look toward him bearing the brilliant clothing, and ye say to him, Sit thou well here; and to the beggar ye say, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: |
| 2:4 | Were ye not separated among yourselves, and become judges of evil reflections? |
| 2:5 | Hear, my dearly beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the beggars of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them loving him? |
| 2:6 | And ye have despised the beggar. Do not the rich bring you into subjection, and draw you before tribunals? |
| 2:7 | And do they not defame the good name called upon you? |
| 2:8 | If yet ye complete the royal law according to the writing, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: |
| 2:9 | And if ye make distinction of faces, ye work sin, being convicted under the law as transgressors. |
| 2:10 | For whoever shall keep the whole law, and stumble in one, has become bound of all. |
| 2:11 | For he having said, Thou shouldest not commit adultery, said also, Thou shouldest not kill: and if thou commit not adultery, and dost kill, thou hast become a transgressor of the law. |
| 2:12 | So speak ye, and so do, as about to be judged by the law of liberty. |
| 2:13 | For unpropitiated judgment to him not doing mercy; and mercy boasteth against judgment. |
| 2:14 | And what profit, my brethren, if any say he has faith, and should not have works? can faith save him? |
| 2:15 | And if a brother or sister be naked, and be failing of daily food, |
| 2:16 | And any of you say to them, Retire in peace, be ye warmed and be ye fed; and ye give them not things fitting the body; what profit? |
| 2:17 | So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself. |
| 2:18 | But certain will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith from my works. |
| 2:19 | Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: and the evil spirits believe, and shudder. |
| 2:20 | And wilt thou know, O empty man, that faith without works is dead? |
| 2:21 | Was not Abraham our father justified by works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar |
| 2:22 | Thou seest that faith cooperated with his works, and from works was faith perfected. |
| 2:23 | And the writing was completed, saying, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for justice: and he was called the Friend of God. |
| 2:24 | Therefore ye see that man is justified from works, and not from faith alone. |
| 2:25 | And likewise also was not Rehab the harlot justified by works, having received the messengers, and cast out by another way? |
| 2:26 | For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. |
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.