Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 5:1 | The elders among you I beseech, a fellow elder, and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a participator of the glory which is about to be revealed: |
| 5:2 | Tend the flock of God which among you, inspecting, not by force, but voluntarily; neither occupied in sordid gain, but of a ready will; |
| 5:3 | Neither as ruling over the portions obtained by lot, but being types of the flock. |
| 5:4 | And the chief Shepherd having been manifested, ye shall be attired with an unfading crown of glory. |
| 5:5 | Likewise, ye younger, be subjected to the elders. And all being subject to one another, be wrapped up in humility: for God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble. |
| 5:6 | Therefore be humbled under the strong hand of God, that he might lift you up) in due measure: |
| 5:7 | Having cast all your care upon him; for to him is the care for you. |
| 5:8 | Be abstemious, watch; for your adversary the accuser, as a roaring lion, walks around, seeking whom he might swallow down: |
| 5:9 | Whom resist firm in the faith, knowing that the same of sufferings are completed by your brotherhood in the world. |
| 5:10 | And the God of all grace, having called us to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, may he put you in proper order, having suffered a little time, may he support you, make firm, lay the foundation. |
| 5:11 | To him the glory and the strength for the time of times. Amen. |
| 5:12 | By Silvanus, to you the faithful brother, as I reckon, I wrote briefly, beseeching, and bearing testimony this to be the true grace of God in which ye stand. |
| 5:13 | The chosen together in Babylon, greet you; also Marcus my son. |
| 5:14 | Greet one another in a kiss of love. Peace to all you which in Christ Jesus. 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.