Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 31:1 | The words of Lemuel the king, the lifting up which his mother will instruct him. |
| 31:2 | What, my son? and what the son of my womb? and what the son of my vows? |
| 31:3 | Thou shalt not give thy strength to women, and thy ways to the destroying of kings. |
| 31:4 | Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink and for princes the desire of strong drink: |
| 31:5 | Lest he shall drink and forget what is prescribed, and change the judgment of all the sons of affliction. |
| 31:6 | Ye shall give strong drink to him perishing, and wine to the bitter of soul |
| 31:7 | He shall drink and forget his poverty, and shall no more remember his toil. |
| 31:8 | Open thy mouth for the dumb, for the judgment of all the sons of the surviving. |
| 31:9 | Open thy mouth; judge justly, and contend for the poor and needy. |
| 31:10 | Who shall find a woman of virtue? for her price is far above pearls. |
| 31:11 | The heart of her husband trusted in her, and he shall not want spoil. |
| 31:12 | She rewarded him good and not evil all the days of her life. |
| 31:13 | She sought wool and flax, and she will work in delight with her hands. |
| 31:14 | She was as the ships of the merchant; from far off she will bring her bread. |
| 31:15 | She will rise while yet night, and she will give food to her house, and a portion to her girls. |
| 31:16 | She purposed a field, and he will take it: from the fruit of her hands she planted a vineyard. |
| 31:17 | She girded her loins with strength, and she will strengthen her arms. |
| 31:18 | She tasted that her traffic is good: her light will not go out by night |
| 31:19 | She sent forth her hands upon the spindle, and her hands take hold of the whirl. |
| 31:20 | She spread forth her hands to the poor, and sent forth her hands to the needy. |
| 31:21 | She will not fear for her house from snow, for all her house put on double. |
| 31:22 | She made for herself coverings; byssus and purple her clothing. |
| 31:23 | Her husband was known in the gates, in his sitting with the old men of the land. |
| 31:24 | She made the under garment., and she will sell; and she gave a girdle to the Canaanite. |
| 31:25 | Strength and ornament her clothing; and she will laugh to the last day. |
| 31:26 | She opened her mouth in wisdom, and the law of mercy upon her tongue. |
| 31:27 | She viewed the goings of her house, and the bread of sloth she will not eat |
| 31:28 | Her sons rose up and they will call her happy; her husband, and he will praise her. |
| 31:29 | Many daughters did virtue, and thou wentest up over all of them. |
| 31:30 | Favor a falsehood, and beauty vanity: a woman fearing Jehovah, she shall be praised. |
| 31:31 | Ye shall give her from the fruit of her hands, and her works shall praise her in the gates. |
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.