The New American Bible (NAB) is an English translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

first published in 1970. The 1986 Revised NAB is the basis of the revised

Lectionary A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evang ...

, and it is the only translation approved for use at

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in the Latin-rite

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

s of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and the 1970 first edition is also an approved Bible translation by the Episcopal Church in the United States. Stemming originally from the

Confraternity Bible The Confraternity Bible is any edition of the Catholic Bible translated under the auspices of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) between 1941 and 1969. The Confraternity Bible strives to give a fluent English translation while remainin ...

, a translation of the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

by the

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) is a catechesis program of the Catholic Church, normally for children. It is also the name of an association that traditionally organises Catholic catechesis, which was established in Rome in 1562. Rel ...

, the project transitioned to translating the original biblical languages in response to

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

's 1943 encyclical ''

Divino afflante Spiritu ''Divino afflante Spiritu'' ("By the inspiration of the Spirit") is a papal encyclical letter issued by Pope Pius XII on 30 September 1943 calling for new translations of the Bible into vernacular languages using the original languages as a so ...

.'' The translation was carried out in stages by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) "from the Original Languages with Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources" (as the title pages state). These efforts eventually became the New American Bible under the

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

principles and reforms of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

(1962–1965).

First Edition – NAB

The text of the first edition of the New American Bible is composed of: * The New Testament directly translated from the Greek, appearing in portions from 1964 and completed in 1970. * The Old Testament (except Genesis): the Confraternity Bible text translated in stages between 1952 and 1969 from the original languages, with minor revisions to the text and notes in 1970. * Genesis newly translated from the Hebrew in 1970, replacing the 1948 translation. The spelling of proper names found in this edition departs from the ones found in older Catholic Bible versions, such as the Douay, and instead adopts those commonly found in Protestant Bibles. The notes in many places present 20th century theories still current, for example the

Q source The Q source (also called Q document(s), Q Gospel, or Q; from german: Quelle, meaning "source") is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus' sayings (λόγια : ). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew ...

and different sources for the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

. Catholic scholars translated this version with collaboration from members of other Christian denominations.

Second Edition: RNAB

Regarding the Revised New American Bible (RNAB) of 1986, a compromise was made: while traditional phraseology, absent from the edition of 1970, was restored to the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, several non-traditional, gender-neutral words were incorporated. The New Testament was almost completely revised, and bore a much closer resemblance to the Confraternity version of 1941 as opposed to the much more periphrastic New Testament of the NAB of 1970. The Old Testament translation remained unchanged.

Third Edition: RNAB

In 1991 the ''

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

'' was amended to incorporate extensive

gender-neutral language Gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language is language that avoids bias towards a particular sex or gender. In English, this includes use of nouns that are not gender-specific to refer to roles or professions, formation of phrases in a c ...

. Controversy ensued because of its use of vertical gender-neutral language, i.e. for God and Christ, and some use of horizontal gender-neutral language, i.e. "human beings" or "they" instead of "men" or "he." This amended ''Book of Psalms'' was rejected for liturgical use. The only difference between the 1986-90 RNAB and the 1991-2011 RNAB is the ''Book of Psalms.'' The remaining 72 books are identical.

Fourth Edition: NABRE

In 1994, work began on a revision of the Old Testament.Chronology for the New Revision of the New American Bible Old Testamen

/ref> Since the 1991 revised ''

'' were rejected for liturgical use, a committee of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and the Bishops revised the text again for use in the Latin-Rite Catholic liturgy in 2000, and this revised text became that used in lectionaries of the

Catholic Church in the United States With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...

. The

accepted some use of gender-neutral language, such as where the speaker speaks of a person of unknown gender, rendering "person" in place of "man", but rejected any changes relating to God or Christ. The

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

issued the instruction ''

Liturgiam Authenticam ''Liturgiam authenticam'' (titled: ''De usu linguarum popularium in libris liturgiae Romanae edendis'') is an instruction of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, dated 28 March 2001. This instruction included ...

'' on May 7, 2001 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 2002, the Old Testament, excluding the ''

'', was completed and sent to the United States Bishops'

Ad Hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

Committee to determine if it was a suitable

translation. In June 2003, another revision of the ''

'' was completed but was rejected by the Ad Hoc Committee. In September 2008, the Ad Hoc Committee accepted the final book of the Old Testament, namely, ''Jeremiah''. In November of that year, the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

approved the complete Old Testament, including footnotes and introductions, but it would not permit it to be published with the ''

'' of 1991. It accepted the revised Grail Psalter instead, which the

approved and which replaced the revised NAB Psalter for lectionaries for Mass in the United States. The Psalms were again revised in 2008 and sent to the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship but also rejected in favor of the revised Grail Psalter. A final revision of the NAB Psalter was undertaken using suggestions that the Ad Hoc Committee vetted and to more strictly conform to ''Liturgiam Authenticam''. In January 2011, it was announced that the fourth edition of the NAB would be published on March 9 of that year.USCCB news release: "Revised Edition of New American Bible Approved for Publication, Will Be Available in Variety of Formats March 9", January 6, 201

/ref> This latest text, titled the ''New American Bible, Revised Edition'' (NABRE), being the fourth edition of the NAB, includes the newly revised Old Testament and its ''

'', and the revised New Testament of the second edition. While the NABRE is a revision of the NAB toward greater conformity to ''Liturgiam Authenticam'', no plan has been announced to use the NABRE for the lectionary in the United States.

Future editions of the NAB

In 2012, the

USCCB The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

"announced a plan to revise the New Testament of the New American Bible Revised Edition so a single version can be used for individual prayer, catechesis and liturgy." After they developed a plan and budget for the revision project, work began in 2013 with the creation of an editorial board made up of five people from the

Catholic Biblical Association The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) is an American learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. The suggestion to form a permanent association of biblical scholars was made at the beginning of 1936 at a meeting in ...

(CBA). The editorial board is made up of the following individuals: *

Harold Attridge Harold William Attridge (born November 24, 1946) is an American New Testament scholar known for his work in New Testament exegesis, especially the Epistle to the Hebrews, the study of Hellenistic Judaism, and the history of the early Church. He i ...

* Christopher Ciccarino * Mary Healy * Felix Just, SJ * Edward Mazich *

Donald Trautman Donald Walter Trautman (June 24, 1936 – February 26, 2022) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Western Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bish ...

(Advisor) * Mary Elizabeth Sperry (USCCB Staff) The revision is now underway and, after the necessary approvals from the Bishops and the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, is expected to be completed by 2025.

Licensed publishers of the New American Bible

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

Anselm Academic french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

* Autom
Catholic Bible Press
*

Catholic Book Publishing The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a p ...

(Saint Joseph Edition) * DeVore & Sons *

Easton Press Easton Press, a division of MBI, Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in premium leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, religion, poetry and art books, they publish a selection of science fiction ...

* Fireside
HarperCollins Christian Publishing
* JustWord *

Little Rock Scripture Study Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Archab ...

Liturgical Press Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Arch ...

* Midwest Theological Forum * Our Sunday Visitor *

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

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Saint Benedict Press Saint Benedict Press, LLC, a division of Goodwill Publishers, is a Roman Catholic publisher founded in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006, now operating in Gastonia, North Carolina. History The "Saint Benedict Press Classics" line began in 2006, s ...

Saint Mary’s Press The De La Salle Brothers, officially named the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools ( la, Fratres Scholarum Christianarum; french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes; it, Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane) abbreviated FSC, is a Cathol ...

* Soul-Centered Enterprises *

YouVersion YouVersion (also known as Bible.com or the Bible App) is an online and mobile Bible platform published for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and many other operating platforms. In 2022, according to YouVersion, its Bible App features 2,863 Bible ver ...

References

Bibliography

* (with ''

imprimatur An ''imprimatur'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''impr.'', from Latin, "let it be printed") is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. The imprimatur rule in the R ...

'' o
Hector Cunial
in Latin: ''Archiepiscopus Soleropolitan, Vicesregens Vicariatu Urbis, Vicesgerens Typis Pontificis Universitatis Gregorianae'', as it is also attested in

External links

The New American Bible
- online access (official Vatican website)
The New American Bible, Revised Edition
- online access (official USCCB website) {{English Bible translation navbox 1970 books Bible translations into English 1970 in Christianity Catholic theology and doctrine Catholic bibles