Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 1:1 | The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to his servants what things must be with speed; and he signified having sent by his angel to his servant John: |
| 1:2 | Who bare witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, as much as he saw. |
| 1:3 | Happy he reading, and they hearing the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it, for the time is near. |
| 1:4 | John to the seven churches which in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from him who being, and who was, and who coming; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne |
| 1:5 | And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the chief of the kings of the earth. To him having loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, |
| 1:6 | And he made us kings and priests to God and his Father; to him the glory and strength for the times of times. |
| 1:7 | Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they who goaded him: and all the tribes of the earth shall lament on account of him. Yes, Amen. |
| 1:8 | I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who being, and who was, and who coming, the Omnipotent Ruler. |
| 1:9 | I John, and your brother, and partaker in pressure, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, I was in the island called Patmos, for the sake of the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
| 1:10 | I was in the Spirit In the day pertaining to the Lord, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, |
| 1:11 | I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. |
| 1:12 | And I turned back to see the voice which spake with me. And having turned back, I saw seven gold chandeliers; |
| 1:13 | And in the midst of the seven chandeliers one like to the Son of man, dressed in a garment descending to the feet, and girded at the breast with a golden girdle. |
| 1:14 | And his head and hairs white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire; |
| 1:15 | And his feet as brass of Lebanon, as refined by fire in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. |
| 1:16 | And having in his right hand seven stars: and going out of his mouth a sharp two-mouthed sword: and his sight as the sun shines in his power. |
| 1:17 | And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he put his right hand upon me, saying to me, Be not afraid;I am the the first and the last: |
| 1:18 | And he living, and I was dead; and, behold, I am living for the times of times, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death. |
| 1:19 | Write the things thou hast seen, and which are, and which are about to be after these things; |
| 1:20 | The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest upon my right hand, and the seven golden chandeliers. The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches: and the seven chandeliers which thou sawest are the seven churches. |
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.