Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 1:1 | Peter, sent of Jesus Christ, to the chosen strangers of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, |
| 1:2 | According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the consecration of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied. |
| 1:3 | Praised the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy having begotten us again to a living hope, by the rising up of Jesus Christ from the dead, |
| 1:4 | To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, kept in the heavens for us, |
| 1:5 | Who by the power of God watching ourselves by faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. |
| 1:6 | By which ye are transported with joy, now for a little, (if it is necessary,) having grieved in various temptations: |
| 1:7 | That the proof of your faith, much more precious than perishing gold, and being tried by fire, might be found to praise and honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ: |
| 1:8 | Whom not having seen, ye love; in whom, now not seeing, but believing, ye are transported with joy unalterable, and highly valued: |
| 1:9 | Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of souls. |
| 1:10 | For which salvation the prophets sought and inquired anxiously, they having prophesied of the grace to you: |
| 1:11 | Searching for whom or what time the Spirit of Christ which in them manifested, testifying beforehand the sufferings to Christ, and the glories after these. |
| 1:12 | To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they were serving these things, which now have been again proclaimed to you by them having announced the good news in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; into which angels eagerly desire to stoop and creep. |
| 1:13 | Wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, living abstemiously, hope perfectly upon the grace brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ; |
| 1:14 | As children of obedience, not as formerly conforming yourselves to eager desire in your ignorance: |
| 1:15 | But according to the holy one calling you, also should ye yourselves be holy in all turning back; |
| 1:16 | For it has been written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. |
| 1:17 | And if ye call upon the Father, judging without distinction of persons according to the work of each, in fear be occupied in the time of your sojourning: |
| 1:18 | Knowing that not with corruptible things, silver and gold, were ye redeemed from your vain mode of life transmitted from your fathers |
| 1:19 | But with precious blood, as of a lamb blameless and spotless, of Christ: |
| 1:20 | Known truly before the foundation of the world, and made manifest in the last times for you, |
| 1:21 | Who by him believing in God, having raised him from the dead, and having given him glory; that your faith and hope should be in God. |
| 1:22 | Having purified your souls in the hearing of the truth by the Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, out of pure hearts love ye one another cordially: |
| 1:23 | Begotten again, not of corrupted seed, but uncorrupted, by the word of God, living and remaining forever. |
| 1:24 | For all flesh as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass dried up, and the flower fell out: |
| 1:25 | And the word of the Lord remains forever. And this is the word having announced good news to you. |
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.