Which Catholic Bible For A Returning Catholic?

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I have several Bibles, but none that are considered Catholic. I have a KJV, the Lutheran Study Bible ESV edition, a NKJV Chronological Study Bible, a NKJV Reference Bible, a NIV Men’s Devotional Bible that my wife bought me as my first Bible and the HCS Bible Firefighter/EMS Edition that my wife also bought for me.

So, none are considered Catholic. I will probably read from the NIV one still as it’s sentimental to me.

Which of the Catholic Bibles would be good for a returning Catholic?
 
New American bible revised edition I am using for my spiritual writings.
 
The New American Bible is what is used for the Sunday readings at Mass in the United States.

I also have a Revised Standard Version (there is a Protestant and Catholic version, the Catholic version contains the books Protestants leave out). It is very readable, and so is the Jerusalem Bible.

I also like the Douay-Rheims, which has similar language to the KJV because it was translated around the same time. One thing that can be difficult reading it is some of the names are transliterated differently. So “Noah” is “Noe,” for instance. But the DR can be read in its entirety online since there’s no copyright holder, which is pretty nice.

In short, read any approved Catholic version you like and understand. 👍
 
pensmama87 said:
The New American Bible is what is used for the Sunday readings at Mass in the United States.

I also have a Revised Standard Version (there is a Protestant and Catholic version, the Catholic version contains the books Protestants leave out). It is very readable, and so is the Jerusalem Bible.

I also like the Douay-Rheims, which has similar language to the KJV because it was translated around the same time. One thing that can be difficult reading it is some of the names are transliterated differently. So “Noah” is “Noe,” for instance. But the DR can be read in its entirety online since there’s no copyright holder, which is pretty nice.

In short, read any approved Catholic version you like and understand. 👍
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Exactly. The Catholic Bible you want is the Catholic Bible you will read. Here’s the thing, though. Catholic Bibles don’t just have more books than the Protestant Bibles (73 instead of 66, plus the longer versions of the books of Daniel and Esther). Catholic Bibles are known for being heavily footnoted. These footnotes are supposed to shed light on how the Church interprets the passages being footnoted. Unfortunately, though, the footnotes in some translations are not that good (the NAB footnotes come to mind - in places, they seem to be better suited to a “Bible as literature” class than for good catechesis). But, if you get a good, Catholic Bible commentary to go along with your readings, it’ll more than make up for this.
 
pensmama87 said:
The New American Bible is what is used for the Sunday readings at Mass in the United States.

I also have a Revised Standard Version (there is a Protestant and Catholic version, the Catholic version contains the books Protestants leave out). It is very readable, and so is the Jerusalem Bible.

I also like the Douay-Rheims, which has similar language to the KJV because it was translated around the same time. One thing that can be difficult reading it is some of the names are transliterated differently. So “Noah” is “Noe,” for instance. But the DR can be read in its entirety online since there’s no copyright holder, which is pretty nice.

In short, read any approved Catholic version you like and understand. 👍
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Thank you.

Ed
 
naomanos6 said:
I have several Bibles, but none that are considered Catholic. I have a KJV, the Lutheran Study Bible ESV edition, a NKJV Chronological Study Bible, a NKJV Reference Bible, a NIV Men’s Devotional Bible that my wife bought me as my first Bible and the HCS Bible Firefighter/EMS Edition that my wife also bought for me.

So, none are considered Catholic. I will probably read from the NIV one still as it’s sentimental to me.

Which of the Catholic Bibles would be good for a returning Catholic?
Click to expand...
The new american Bible is what is read in mass but the footnotes are horrible, some are heretical or close to it.

I like the revised standard Bible CE.

I too have the HCS firefighter edition. A gift from my parents when I graduated the academy 12 years ago. Very special. Wish it had all 73 books in it!
 
Never thought that picking out a Catholic Bible would be so hard to do.

Since I am unable to actually look at a physical copy (boo for the decline of bookstores) to see what each looks like, it has been difficult in choosing a Bible.

I prefer words of Jesus in red, at least 9 point (prefer 10 point) lettering, bonded leather and not terribly expensive. I think I find one and then I find it lacks one or two or all of the things above.

**I am trying to stay away from the Douay-Rheims. I may have a KJV, but didn’t read it often since the language of it distracted me immensely.
 
The NAB also has the advantage that the USCCB and the Vatican post it online.

I have a leather-bound NAB by Saint Benedict Press that has tables of readings from the Lectionary in the back. That’s a nice feature, because it makes it easier to look up Mass readings when you are somewhere it is impractical or impossible to look it up. It does have the words of Our Lord set in red type.

I don’t know if any Catholic Bible is published with a Protestant-style concordance, but an internet connection practically renders that feature obsolete.
 
 
Jon_S said:
The new american Bible is what is read in mass but the footnotes are horrible, some are heretical or close to it.
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Do you mean the English Bible posted online at the Vatican web site is close to heretical? The Vatican posts the NAB.

What footnotes are you referring to? Is it possible the footnotes differ by publisher?
 
Thank you all for your replies.

I have narrowed it down to two at this point. Both NABRE.

One is this one: christianbook.com/catholic-companion-librosario-edition-imitation-leather/9781556653131/pd/653131?event=ESRCG

I like this one because of the imitation leather and the embossing on both the front and back. Plus, the price is only $13.06. What I don’t like about it is that the words of Christ are not in red and doesn’t seem to have many notes.

The second one is this one: christianbook.com/new-american-bible-revised-edition/9780062084736/pd/084736?event=ESRCG

I like this one because the words of Christ are in red, there is red highlighting throughout and there are substantial notes. What I don’t like about it is that it is a hardcover. There is a softcover version available, but the cost is well beyond my budget.

Truly wish it wasn’t this hard to choose.
 
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