Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 10:1 | My soul was weary in my life; I shall leave upon me my complaint; I shall speak in the bitterness of my soul |
| 10:2 | Saying to God, Thou wilt not condemn me; make known to me for what thou wilt contend with me. |
| 10:3 | Is it good to thee that thou wilt oppress, that thou wilt despise the labor of thy hinds, and thou didst shine upon the counsels of the unjust? |
| 10:4 | Were eyes of flesh to thee? or wilt thou see as man saw? |
| 10:5 | Are thy days as man's days? or thy years as the days of man? |
| 10:6 | That thou wilt seek for mine iniquity, and wilt search out for my sins? |
| 10:7 | Upon thy knowledge that I will not do evil; and none delivering from thy hand. |
| 10:8 | Thy hands formed me, and they will work me together round about; and thou wilt swallow me down. |
| 10:9 | Remember now, thou didst make me as day; and thou wilt turn me back to dust. |
| 10:10 | Wilt thou not weigh me out as milk, and coagulate me as cheese? |
| 10:11 | Thou wilt clothe me with skin and flesh, and thou wilt hedge me with bones and sinews. |
| 10:12 | Thou didst with me life and mercy, and thy reviewing watched my spirit |
| 10:13 | And these thou didst hide in thy heart: I knew that this is with thee. |
| 10:14 | If I sinned; and thou didst watch me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. |
| 10:15 | If I did evil, wo to me; and was I just, I shall not lift up my head, being filled with dishonor: and see thou mine affliction; |
| 10:16 | And shall it be lifted up? Thou wilt hunt me as the lion, and thou wilt turn back, thou wilt show thyself wonderful upon me. |
| 10:17 | Thou wilt renew thy testimonies before me, and thou wilt increase thy wrath upon me; changes and war with me. |
| 10:18 | And wherefore didst thou bring Me forth from the belly? I shall expire, and eye shall not see me. |
| 10:19 | I shall be as I was not; I shall be brought from the womb to the grave. |
| 10:20 | Is it not my days few? He will cease; he will turn from me, and I shall be cheerful a little, |
| 10:21 | Before I shall go and turn back to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; |
| 10:22 | A land of darkness, as thick darkness; of the shadow of death, and not orders, and the brightness, as thick darkness. |
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.