Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 9:1 | And Abimelech son of Jerubbaal, will come to Shechem to his mother's brethren, and say to them, to all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, |
| 9:2 | Speak, now, in the ears of all the lords of Shechem, What good to you for seventy men of all the sons of Jerubbaal to rule over you, or one man to rule over you? and remember that I am your bone and your flesh. |
| 9:3 | And his mother's brethren will speak concerning him in the ears of all the lords of Shechem all these words: and their heart will incline after Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. |
| 9:4 | And they will give him seventy of silver from the house of Baal of the covenant, and Abimelech will hire with them men empty and vain-glorious, and they will go after him. |
| 9:5 | And he will come to his father's house at Ophrah, and will kill his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men upon one stone: and Jotham the young son of Jerubbaal will be left, for he was hid. |
| 9:6 | And all the lords of Shechem will gather together, and all the House of the Rampart, and they will make Abimelech king, by the Oak of the Pillar which is in Shechem. |
| 9:7 | And they will announce to Jotham and he will go and stand upon the head of mount Gerizim, and he will lift up his voice and call, and say to them, Hear to me, ye lords of Shechem, and God will hear to you. |
| 9:8 | The trees going forth went to anoint over them a king; and they will say to the olive, Reign thou over us. |
| 9:9 | And the olive will say to them, Left I my fatness which by me they will honor God and men, and went I to wander about over the trees? |
| 9:10 | And the trees will say to the fig tree, Come thou, reign over us. |
| 9:11 | And the fig tree will say to them, Left I my sweetness, and my good produce, and went I to wander about over the trees? |
| 9:12 | And the trees will say to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. |
| 9:13 | And the vine will say to them, Left I my new wine-making, rejoicing God and men, and went I to wander about over the trees? |
| 9:14 | And all the trees will say to the buckthorn. Come thou, reign over us. |
| 9:15 | And the buckthorn will say to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow: and if not, fire shall come forth from the buckthorn and shall consume the cedars of Lebanon. |
| 9:16 | And now if in truth and in uprightness ye did and ye shall make Abimelech king, and if ye did good with Jerubbaal and with his house, and if according to the desert of his hands ye did to him: |
| 9:17 | (For my father fought for you, and he will cast his soul away, and he will deliver you from the hand of Midian. |
| 9:18 | And ye rose up against the house of my father this day, and ye will kill his sons, seventy men, upon one stone; and ye will make Abimelech, son of his maid, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother:) |
| 9:19 | And if in sincerity and uprightness ye did with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and he shall rejoice also in you. |
| 9:20 | And if not, fire shall come forth from Abimelech and shall consume the lords of Shechem and the House of the Rampart; and fire shall come forth from the lords of Shechem and from the House of the Rampart, and shall consume Abimelech. |
| 9:21 | And Jotham will flee, and break away, and he will go to the well and will dwell there from the face of Abimelech his brother. |
| 9:22 | And Abimelech will have dominion over Israel three years, |
| 9:23 | And God will send an evil spirit between Abimelech and between the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem will act deceitfully with Abimelech, |
| 9:24 | To bring the wrong of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and to put their blood upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the lords of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brethren. |
| 9:25 | And the lords of Shechem will set for him liers in wait upon the heads of the mountains, and they will rob all who shall pass over by them in the way: and it was announced to Abimelech. |
| 9:26 | And Gaal son of Ebed will come, and his brethren, and they will pass over to Shechem: and the lords of Shechem will trust in him. |
| 9:27 | And they will go forth to the field, and they will gather their vineyards, and they will tread down, and they will make rejoicings, and go in to the house of their God, and they will eat and drink, and curse Abimelech. |
| 9:28 | And Gaal son of Ebed will say, Who Abimelech, and who Shechem, that we shall serve him? is he not the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his overseer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: and why shall we serve him? |
| 9:29 | And who will give this people into my hand? And I will remove Abimelech. And he will say to Abimelech, Increase thine army and come forth. |
| 9:30 | And Zebul the ruler of the city will hear the words of Gaal, son of Ebed, and his wrath will kindle. |
| 9:31 | And he will send messengers to Abimelech in deceit, saying, Behold, Gaal son of Ebed, and his brethren, came to Shechem; and behold, they pressed the city against thee. |
| 9:32 | And now, rise up by night, thou and the people which are with thee, and lie in wait in the field: |
| 9:33 | And it was in the morning when the sun rose, thou shalt rise early and invade upon the city: and behold, he and the people which with him coming forth against thee; and do thou to him as thy hand shall find. |
| 9:34 | And Abimelech will rise, and all the people which are with him, by night, and they will lie in wait against Shechem in four heads. |
| 9:35 | And Gaal son of Ebed will go forth, and he will stand at the door of the gate of the city: and Abimelech will rise, and the people that are with him, from the ambush. |
| 9:36 | And Gaal will see the people, and he will say to Zebul, Behold, people coming down from the heads of the mountains. And Zebul will say to him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as men. |
| 9:37 | And Gaal will add to speak, and will say, Behold, people coming down from the height of the land, and one head coming from the way of the oak of Meonenim. |
| 9:38 | And Zebul will say to him, Where now thy mouth with which thou wilt say, Who Abimelech, that we shall serve him? is not this the people which thou despised it? now go forth now, and fight with it |
| 9:39 | And Gaal will go forth before the lords of Shechem, and he will fight against Abimelech. |
| 9:40 | And Abimelech will pursue him and he will flee from his face, and many will fall wounded at the door of the gate. |
| 9:41 | And Abimelech will dwell in Arumah: and Zebul will drive out Gaal and his brethren from dwelling in Shechem. |
| 9:42 | And it will be from the morrow, and the people will go forth to the field; and they will announce to Abimelech. |
| 9:43 | And he will take the people and will divide them into three heads, and he will lie in wait in the field, and he will see, and behold, the people will come forth from the city, and he will rise up against them and smite them. |
| 9:44 | And Abimelech and the heads which are with him will invade, and they will stand at the door of the gate of the city: and two heads will invade upon all which are in the field, and they will smite them. |
| 9:45 | And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he will take the city, and the people which in it he killed, and he will tear down the city, and will sow it with salt. |
| 9:46 | And all the lords of the tower of Shechem will hear, and they will go in to the tower of the god of the covenant |
| 9:47 | And it was announced to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. |
| 9:48 | And Abimelech will go up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that with him; and Abimelech will take axes in his hand, and he will cut boughs of the trees, and will lift up and will put upon his shoulder, and he will say to the people which are with him, What ye saw I did, hasten, do like me. |
| 9:49 | And also all the people will cut each a bough, and will go after Abimelech, and they will put upon the tower, and will set the tower on fire upon them, and all the men of the tower of Shechem will die; about a thousand men and women. |
| 9:50 | And Abimelech will go to Thebez, and he will encamp against Thebez and take it. |
| 9:51 | And a strong tower was in the midst of the city, and thither will flee all the men and women and all the lords of the city, and will shut up from after them, and they will go up upon the roof of the tower. |
| 9:52 | And Abimelech will come even to the tower, and will fight against it, and will urge on, even to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. |
| 9:53 | And one woman will cast a piece of the upper mill-stone upon the head of Abimelech, and she will break his skull |
| 9:54 | And he will call quickly to the youth lifting up his weapons, and he will say to him, Draw thy sword and put me to death, lest they shall say of me, A woman killed him. And his youth will thrust him through and he will die. |
| 9:55 | And the men of Israel will see that Abimelech died, and they will go each to his place. |
| 9:56 | And God will turn back the evil of Abimelech which he did. to his father for killing his seventy brethren. |
| 9:57 | And all the evil of the men of Shechem God turned back upon their head: and against them will come the curse of Jotham the son of JerubbaaL |
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.