Bibles

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I am going to be ading to list list as much as I can. Please add anything you feel is needed but please use the quote to ref. back to the orginal post so we know what you are adding to.

Thank you,
Adam

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Abbreviations: AB, AM, AMP,TAB

This translation is based on the American Standard Version. It uses a system of synonyms, punctuation, typographical features, and clarifying words or phrases to reveal shades of meaning of the key words in the original text.
The aim of the translation was that it be true to the original languages, be grammatically correct, be understandable to the masses, and give the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place which the Word gives Him. It is not an attempt to duplicate what has already been achieved but to progress beyond the point where others have stopped.
The translators were a committee of qualified Hebrew and Greek scholars.
The Amplified New Testament was published in 1958; the Amplified Old Testament, Part 1 (Genesis to Esther), in 1964; and the Amplified Old Testament, Part 2 (Job to Malachi), in 1962.

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Abbreviation: NTJ
Year Released: 1917


Description
Steps leading to the preparation of a new translation into the English language were taken by the Jewish Publication Society of America in 1892. It was intended to secure, through cooperation of scholars in the United States and Great Britain, a new translation of each book, and to place it into the hands of an Editorial Committee, who by correspondence with the translators should harmonize the results of the work of the individual contributors. This method was followed until 1901, when it became apparent that by this procedure the translation of the entire Hebrew Bible would be indefinitely delayed. It was too complex to accomplish the required work.
In 1908, JPSA and the Central Conference of American Rabbis agreed upon a revised plan in which the entire work would be done by a Board of Editors. In preparing the manuscript, the Board took into account the existing English versions, the standard commentaries, the other JPSA translations, the Revised Version prepared for the Jews in England, and other sources. Such ancient versions as the Septuagint and those of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targums, the Peshitta, the Vulgate, and the Arabic version of Saadya were also consulted. The manuscript was reviewed by the Board of Editors over a period of seven years. Each point was thoroughly discussed before a decision was finalized.
The aims of this translation were to combine the spirit of Jewish tradition with the results of Biblical scholarship. The text follows Jewish tradition of separating the Scriptures into three divisions, namely: Law (Torah), Prophets (Nebi'im), and Writings (Ketubim).

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Abbreviation: AAT, BECK, OE
Year Released: 1976

This is the work of Dr. William F. Beck, whose cause was to simplify the English Bible for people of all ages. There are almost 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament all over the earth, plus many thousands of the Latin, Syraic, and other translations. Dr. Beck felt that God wants us to have a passion for the truth; to use all the best evidences from the manuscripts, dictionaries, and grammars as light on the text; and to search with burning hearts for its exact meaning.
In recent years, two very important papyri from about A.D. 200 have been published. These now provide us with the finest evidence for several readings, one of which comes from John 1:18 -- "the only Son who is God."
The translator did his utmost to make both the Old Testament and the New Testament the most accurate on the market, in regard to the best text, the most thorough lexiographical, grammatical, and archaeological evidence. His goal was to have God talk to the hearts of people in their language of today and tomorrow.
The main purpose of the Bible is its saving doctrine. The translator felt that the Revised Standard Version undermines the Heilsplan (plan of salvation) by cutting down the prophecies of the coming Savior in the Old Testament and the important truths about Christ in the New Testament. The section "What Does the Text Say?" at the back of this Bible gives examples of these changes in the Revised Standard Version and the New English Bible and how they differ from the renderings in An American Translation.
This translation has been acclaimed as the most significant Lutheran contribution in the span of some 450 years since Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. However, it is a Bible not only for Lutherans but also for every English-speaking person. It is a faithful translation, not a paraphrase.
As no translation is perfect, this third edition took into consideration helpful suggestions, which were evaluated. These created further demand for expertise in the original languages. Numerous changes have been made as a result.
The New Testament in the Language of Today was first published in 1963 by Concordia Publishing House.

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Abbreviation: SGAT, OE, AT, SMITH, GOODSPEED
Contents: Old Testament 1927, New Testament 1923, Apocyrpha 1938


The Old Testament was translated by Alexander R. Gordon (McGill University), Theopile J. Meek (University of Toronto), Leroy Waterman (University of Michigan), and J. M. Powis Smith (University of Chicago). The last person named was also the editor. The New Testament was translated by Edgar J. Goodspeed (University of Chicago).
There were basic reasons for the need of this translation of the Old Testament. The control of the Hebrew vocabulary and syntax available to the scholar at this time was vastly greater than that at the command of the translators of the Authorized Version or of its revisers. The science of textual criticism had made great progress in recent years, and no translation of the Old Testament could afford to ignore its results. There had developed a great interest in the stylistic qualities of Hebrew poetry. The English of King James's day was not wholly natural or clear to the average person at this time.
The official Massoretic text was used as a guide. When it was necessary to check elsewhere, a substitute along generally approved lines was used.
Hebrew poetry was presented in poetic lines. Archaic pronouns (except when used in addressing God), verb forms, and adjectives were made more modern. The Tetragammatron was rendered as LORD or GOD in small capital letters.
The New Testament was written in everyday Greek. It, thus, was translated into everyday English.
The translator used helps made available in recent years, including Greek papyri, grammatical works, lexicons, and lexical studies. He followed the Greek texts of Westcott and Hort, except in a very few verses. In one of these, he followed the suggestion of Rendel Harris that by an error of the eye the name of Enoch has dropped out of the text of 1 Peter 3: 19.

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Abbreviation: AIV
Year Released: 1995


This revolutionary new version, adapted from the New Revised Standard Version and edited by six scholars -- three men and three women -- pushes the English language to new levels of inclusive expression. This work addresses such issues as race, gender, and ethnicity more directly than ever before.
There are two reasons for this new version. The languages into which the Bible is rendered are changing. New manuscripts are discovered that are older and more reliable, and new investigations into the meanings of words reveal that more accurate renderings are possible.
People who have disabilities are not referred to as "the blind" or "the lame," but as "people who are blind" or "those who are lame." Because the church does not assume that God is a male being, in this version God is never referred to by a masculine pronoun, or by any pronoun at all. As the church does not believe that God is literally a father and understands "Father" to be a metaphor, "Father" is rendered in this version by a new metaphor, "Father-Mother." When Jesus is called "Son of God" or "Son of the Blessed One," and the maleness of the historical person Jesus is not relevant, but the "Son's" intimate relation to the "Father" is being spoken about, the formal equivalent "Child" is used for "Son," and gender-specific pronouns referring to the "Child" are avoided. This version uses "the Human One" as a formal equivalent to "the Son of Man." In the genealogy that begins the Gospel of Matthew, women's names, where they are known, have been added, e.g., David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, were the parents of Solomon. These are a few examples of changes made in this version.

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Editor: Albert Pietersma and Susan Turner Comstock
Publisher: Scholars Press, 1981


This edition, based on P. Chester Beatty 2018. The document is dated at the end of the fourth century C.E. or the beginning of the fifth century C.E. It is said to constitute a separate, independent work. This particular manuscript provides thirty-four lines of text which previously were unknown. It appears that the original text was carelessly written because the copyist missed a number of errors. Facsimiles of the manuscript are included.

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The term Apocrypha, a Greek word meaning 'hidden things,' was early used in three different senses.
First, it was applied to writings which were regarded as so important and precious that they must be hidden from the general public and reserved for the inner circle of believers.
Second, it came to be a applied to writings which were hidden because they were secondary, questionable, or heretical.
Third, Jerome was familiar with the Scriptures in their Hebrew and Greek forms. To him, apocryphal books were those outside the Hebrew canons. Modern usage is based on Jerome's definition.
The books were accepted as Biblical by the early church and were quoted as Scripture by many early Christian writers since their Bible was the Greek. All but the Second Book of Esdras were in the Septuagint, but none of the books were ever in the Palestinian canon.
In the Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Old Covenant, these books are dispersed throughout that Covenant. The practice of collecting them into a separate unit dates back only to A.D. 1520.
This edition is taken from the New English Bible.

The First Book of Esdras
The Second Book of Esdras
Tobit
Judith
The Rest of the Chapters of the Book of Esther
The Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus (The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach)
Baruch
A Letter of Jeremiah
The Song of the Three
Daniel and Susanna
Daniel, Bel, and the Snake
The Prayer of Manasseh
The First Book of the Macabees
The Second Book of the Macabees

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Translator: Montague Rhodes James
Editor: Oxford University Press

It contains the apocryphal gospels, acts, epistles, and apocalypses with other narratives and fragments newly translated by Montague Rhodes James. The object of this volume is to give a comprehensive view of all that is meant by the phrase 'the apocryphal literature of the New Testament.' It contains fresh versions of all the really important texts, and full summaries, with extracts, of those which do not need to be translated word for word.
As books of history, they aim at supplementing the scanty data of the Gospels and Acts; and in this they may resemble many of the Jewish Midrashin and Apocrypha. They sometimes bear testimony to the currency of a tradition which has other and better evidence to support it.

Fragments of Early Gospels
Lost Heretical Books
Fragments of Gospels
Agrapha
Infancy Gospels
Passion Gospels
Acts
The Secondary Acts
Notices of Minor Acts
Epistles
Apocalypses

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Translator: J. K. Elliott
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1993


This book describes a collection of Apocryphal Christian literature in an English translation by J. K. Elliott. The writings are divided into four sections. I am giving a general list only.

Apocryphal Gospels:
Lost Gospels
Agrapha
Fragments of Gospels on Papyrus
Birth and Infancy Gospels
The Pilate Cycle

Apocryphal Acts:
Andrew
John
Paul
Peter
Pseudo-Clementine Literature
Thomas
Other

Apocryphal Epistles:
Shorter Epistles
The Letters of Christ
The Letters of Lentulus
The Epistle to the Laodiceans
The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca
The Epistle to the Alexandrians
The Epistle of the Apostles

Apocryphal Apocalypses:
Peter
The Sibylline Oracles
Paul
Thomas
Bartholomew
James
Other
The Assumption of the Virgin

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Translator: F. Leemhuis, A. F. J. Klijn, and G. J. H. Van Gelder Publisher: E. J. Brill, 1986

This edition has a parallel translation of the Syriac text. The discovery of the Arabic text of this Jewish Apocalypse, usually dated at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second century C.E., is of considerable significance because, until now, it was only known from one manuscript with a Syriac text. The Arabic text is a translation of a Syriac version closely related to the existing Syriac text. There are eighty-seven chapters, many of which are very short.

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Abbreviation: ANCJ
Year Released: 1996

Exegete Herb Jahn invested sixteen years of his life toward one quest -- to discover exactly what every word of the Scriptures Manuscripts say. He researched every Word of Scripture -- more than 14,000 words - word by word -- one word at a time. Jahn says that "Jesus" is a mistranslation of Yah Shua, meaning "Eternal Savior." The name "Jesus" is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Yah (Eternal), followed by the willful mistranslation of the Hellene god, Zeus.
This version is claimed to be the first and only literal translation and transliteration of the New Covenant -- translated directly from the language of our Lord Yah Shua and his apostles (Aramaic). Even the idioms are literally translated and transliterated. Among the two most important words (except the words of Deity) are the two verbs of existence: (1) it vv had, has, have, having; and (2) hewa vv be, become, been, being. Following the text are a number of Word Summaries. These are enlightening in defining the many transliterations.
Included with the book is a CDRom. On it are the following: (1) The Aramaic New Covenant CDRom Book; (2) The Aramaic New Covenant CDRom Interlinear; and (3) the Exegeses Parallel Bible. The CDRom is compatible with Macintosh, DOS, Unix, and Windows.

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Translator: Moses Hadas
Editor: Moses Hadas
Publisher: Harper and Brothers, 1951


It is an account, with digressions, of the translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch into Greek under the sponsorship of Ptolomy II Philadelphus, written by a contemporary pagan Greek who was an official in Ptolemy's court.
The document does not state explicitly that the author was Aristeas, but such an inference is clearly intended. It touches upon such topics as Egyptian-Jewish history, details of the structure and ritual of the Temple at Jerusalem. an appreciation of craftmanship in gold and silver under Ptolomy Philadelphus, an account of the origin of the Septuagint, and other topics.

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Translator: Michael E. Stone
Editor: Michael E. Stone
Publisher: E. J. Brill, 1996


These writings relate to Adam and Eve and to the antediluvian generations. They illustrate the extensive development of such themes preserved in Armenian. Each document is prefaced by introductory remarks providing some indication of its character and literary role and giving details of the manuscripts. The texts are accompanied by various readings, where more than one manuscript is utilized, and by comments. Some evident corruptions have been left in the text. The texts are also accompanied by English translations.


On the Fall of Adam
Concerning Adam and Eve and the Incarnation
History of Adam and Eve and Their Grandsons
Dates
Adam Story 1
Adam Story 2
Question
The Eras of the World
Abel and Other Pieces
Lists
The Hours of the Day and Night
Sermon Concerning the Flood
History of the Forefathers, Adam and His Sons and Grandsons
The Sethites and the Cainites

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Editor: R. H. Charles
Publisher: Adam and Charles Black, 1900


This edition is a translation from the Ethiopian version, which together with the New Greek fragment, the Latin versions, and the Latin translation of the Slavonic, is here published in full.
It is a composite work, existing probably not earlier than the latter half of the second century C.E. Three constituents to the writing -- The Martyrdom of Isaiah, the Vision of Isaiah, and the Testament of Hezekiah -- circulated as early as the first century C.E. The importance of The Vision of Isaiah is the knowledge it provides in regard to first century beliefs to such doctrines as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the Seven Heavens.
The Testament of Hezekiah is important for the insight that it gives us into the history of the Christian church at the close of the first century C.E. It is the oldest document that testifies to the martyrdom of Peter at Rome. It also provides information for the history of the Antichrist.

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Translator: R. H. Charles
Publisher: Adam and Charles Black, 1897


This edition was translated from the Latin sixth century M5, the unamended text of which is published herewith, together with the text in its restored and critically emended form.
Written in Hebrew shortly after the beginning of the Christian era, this book was designed by its author to protest against the growing secularization of the Pharisaic party through its fusion with political ideals and popular Messianic beliefs. Its author, a Pharasaic Quietist, sought herein to recall his party to the old paths, which they were fast forsaking, of unobtrusive obedience to the Law. He foresaw, perhaps, the doom to which his country was hurrying under such a shortsighted and unspiritual policy. There are twelve chapters, with many footnotes.

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Translator: E. A. Wallis Budge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1923


This is the Ethiopic version of a Christianized rescension of the Buddhist legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva. It is edited from two good, though late, manuscripts. This translation has been made as literal as possible and has been divided up with headings for ease of reading.
Within the text is a definite statement to the effect that Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, preached the gospel in India and converted Indians to Christianity. Other documents also contain this statement.

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Abbreviation: BNT
Year Released: 1969

This version, translated by William Barclay, a professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University, is divided into two volumes: (1) The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; (2) The Letters and the Revelation. The translator had two aims in making this translation. The first was to try to make the New Testament intelligent to the man who is not a technical scholar. The second was to try to make a translation which did not need a commentary to explain it.
Each book has an introduction. The order of books in each volume is different from that of the King James Version. At the end of Volume 1 is a section entitled "On Translating the New Testament." At the end of Volume 2 are two sections entitled "New Testament Words" and "Notes on Passages."

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This is an open canon of revelations of God to Joseph Smith, other contemporary church leaders, and succeeding leaders. The first attempt to publish the early revelations in book form was begun in 1831. Before the work could be completed, a mob destroyed the press in 1833, and pages of the book reproduced in print up to that point were scattered throughout the streets. The revelations were eventually printed. Additional revelations have been added since then on a somewhat regular basis -- particularly in the RLDS editions.
The LDS (Salt Lake City, Utah) and the RLDS (Independence, Missouri) editions have basically the same revelations up to 1844, but with a few notable exceptions. However, the numbering of the revelations (or sections) varies between them. The RLDS edition being reviewed has 150 sections (revelations and documents), with a few being assigned to the Appendix. Several sections have been added since. The Doctrine and Covenants is considered canon in the churches that use this book.

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Translator: R. H. Charles
Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (originally published in the United Kingdom, 1912)

The Book of Enoch is, for the history of theological development, the most important pseudepigraph of the first two centuries B.C. Nearly all the writers of the New Testament were familiar with it, and were more or less influenced by it in thought and diction. It is quoted as a genuine production of Enoch by Jude, and as Scripture by Barnabas. The authors of The Book of Jubilees, the Apocalypse of Baruch, and 4 Ezra laid it under contribution. With earlier Fathers and Apologists, it had the weight of a canonical book.
The book comes from many writers and almost as many periods. It touches upon every subject that could have arisen in the ancient schools of the prophets, but naturally it deals in an advanced stage of development. Nearly every religious idea appears in a variety of forms. The history of the development of the higher theology during the two centuries before the Christian era could not be written without The Book of Enoch.
The authors of all sections belonged to the Chasida or their successors, the Pharisees. The book was written originally partly in Aramaic and partly in Hebrew. Up until the third century A.D., it was considered to be Scripture. After that time, it fell into discredit and gradually passed out of circulation.

General Introduction
The Book of Enoch (Special Introductions, Translation, Critical and Exegetical Notes)
Section I [chapters 1-36]
Section II: The Parables [chapters 37-71]
Section III: The Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries [chapters 72-82]
Section IV: The Dream-Visions [chapters 83-90]
Section V [chapters 91-104]
Appendix I (The Gizeh Greek Fragment and the Greek Fragments Preserved in Syncellus' Chronographia)
Appendix II (The Son of Man; Its Meaning in Jewish Apocalyptic and the New Testament)

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The title is literally, 'the upright' or 'correct' record, but because the book was not known, it was, therefore, termed The Book of Jasher. This has caused some persons, who are ignorant of the Hebrew language, to suppose that Jasher was the name of a prophet or one of the judges of Israel.
The important transactions which are narrated with so remarkable a brevity in the Bible, are, in Jasher, more circumstantially detailed. Some examples of this include the following: the murder of Abel by Cain; the conduct of Noah toward the terrified multitude who had assembled about the ark; the offering of Isaac by Abraham and the conduct of Sarah; the meeting of Noah and Abraham; the instruction received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from Shem and Eber; the account of Joseph and Potiphar's wife; and an account of the Israelites in Egypt.
The translator considers this as being a monument of history rather than a work of inspiration. Like other ancient writings, it has in some respects suffered from the consuming hand of time; and there is reason to believe that some additions have been made to it. The book contains a history of the lives and transactions of Biblical characters from Adam down to the time of the elders who immediately succeeded Joshua.
There are two references to this book in the Old Covenant:
Joshua 10:13 -- Is not this written in the Book of Jasher?
2 Samuel 1:18 -- Behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher.
This is an exact photo lithographic reprint. It was translated into English from the Hebrew in 1840.

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Translator: R. H. Charles


This book is one of the oldest Scriptures from the Old Covenant, found in The Dead Sea Scrolls. It is also found in the Bible of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Much of Genesis comes directly from this book. It goes into far greater detail than Genesis. It was given to Moses by angels atop Mount Sinai. It gives the whole history of the human race from Adam to Moses.
The book shows the division of time into eras known as Jubilees and Sabbaths. One Jubilee is equivalent to forty-nine years, or seven Sabbaths of years. It tells how the earth was divided into three major parts, going to Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These parts were further subdivided among Noah's grandsons.
The groups who used this book were often persecuted by the authorities. The Essenes of the Dead Sea community were persecuted by the Pharisee sect of Judaism, who rejected Jubilees from their version of the Bible. The early Christians used Jubilees, but they were persecuted by the Roman bishops appointed by Constantine, who chose to reject Jubilees as a scriptural book. It is not recognized by any of the Western or European churches. Bible scholars and scribes still reject its authenticity.
The above information is taken from an introduction of the book The Translation by R. H. Charles. It contains fifty chapters, as does Genesis.

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Editor: Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich


The contents were collected and recorded in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1909. This translated version was published in 1978.
The Book of Life, preserved until 1909, orally, was never recorded by the Doukhobors themselves because they treat the oral version with much greater respect than they do a published or a written book. The Doukhobors say: 'Record in heart, proclaim the word.' They add: 'It is nothing unusual to write down on paper but it is important to penetrate one's heart with truth.'
The book is divided into the following sections:

Questions and Answers
Dogmatic Psalms
Psalms Concerning Life After Death, and the Last Judgment
Psalms of Alleviation
Didactic Psalms
Psalms of Supplication
Psalms of Gratitude
Psalms of Eulogy
Psalms Concerning Events of the Gospel
Diverse Psalms
Dreams of the Holy Mother of God
Sayings, Exhortations, Festive Occasions, Remembrances, and So on
Hymns, Greetings

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Editor: Joseph Smith, Jr.
Publisher: Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1954


It is a volume of holy Scriptures comparable to the Bible, originally published in 1830. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel.
The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group was known as the Jaredites.
After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified resurrected being, appeared to Joseph Smith and instructed him concerning the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.
In due course, the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The plates that contained this record were divided into two sections: the sealed books, and 'the words that were not sealed.' Joseph Smith read the latter. Three other persons gave a written testimony of having seen the plates. Then eight others gave a similar written testimony. None of these witnesses ever denied his testimony.
This book is also known as The Record of the Nephites, The Nephite Records, and The Stick of Joseph, depending on which group published it. At least three groups call it The Book of Mormon.

First Nephi
Second Nephi
Jacob
Enos
Jarom
Omni
Words of Mormon
Mosiah
Alma
Helaman
Third Nephi
Fourth Nephi
Mormon
Ether
Moroni

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Abbreviation: CNT
Year Released: 1989

It was translated by Heinz W. Cassirer, a Jewish philosopher who had not read any part of the Bible before he was forty-nine years old. The experience of discovering these texts was so great that he spent the next twenty-one years studying them. This translation is the result of the need for personal clarity and the meaning of the New Testament texts.
He started work on the letters of Paul in 1957. Not until 1972 did he feel prepared to translate the New Testament in its entirety. He aimed for clarity that would be sensitive to every inflection of the original Greek. His style is probing rather than a watering down. Although he did not want his work to be a paraphrase, he did draw out a meaning with greater spiritual accuracy, if warranted.
The Gospel of John -- in particular chapters 7 and 8 -- was a stumbling-block for a long time. The decision to translate the New Testament came only when he was satisfied that the passages that had long fueled anti-Semitic reactions had been disastrously distorted and misinterpreted over the centuries and were not in themselves anti-Semitic. He later advocated its essentially Jewish character.
Old Testament quotations are in bolder typeface. References are at the bottom of pages. Many of these were found in the Greek New Testament texts and Old Testament texts that he used.
He did not care to have his translation published in his lifetime. His widow provided much assistance to the work before and after his death.

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and The Mystical Theology
Publisher: Shrine of Wisdom, 1949

These two writings of Dionysius were first published separately, but since have been placed in a single edition.
Mystic Theologies has had far-reaching influence, but it is comparatively little known. There were few English versions available when this edition was published.
Its five chapters deal with such topics as the necessity to be united and to praise God, the affirmations and negations concerning God, and the Cause of all things not being any of them.
The Celestial Hierarchies is based on passages from the Old and New Testaments, yet embodies the essential principles of the Neoplatonic teachings.
Its fifteen chapters deal with such topics as Divine and Celestial Matters, Angel Hierarchies, and Angelic Powers.

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Abbreviation: CTNT
Year Released: 1924

This version, translated by Helen Barrett Montgomery, was published to signalize the completion of the first hundred years of work of the American Baptist Publication Society. Two of the seven aims of the translator were to offer a translation in the language of everyday life and to make a translation chiefly designed for the ordinary reader. She offers her work in deep humility, recognizing shortcomings in her translation.
At the beginning of each of the gospels is a page which briefly gives such information as: probable date, writer, characteristics, key verses, symbol, and to whom addressed. Each chapter has a title. There are also subject headings throughout the chapters.

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Old Testament

Job Unknown Date of Writing Anonymous
Genesis 1445-1405 B.C. Moses
Exodus 1445-1405 B.C Moses
Leviticus 1445-1405 B.C. Moses
Numbers 1445-1405 B.C. Moses
Deuteronomy 1445-1405 B.C. Moses
Psalms 1410-450 B.C. Multiple Authors
Joshua 1405-1385 B.C. Joshua
Judges about 1043 B.C. Samuel
Ruth about 1030-1010 B.C. Samuel (?)
Song of Solomon 971-965 B.C. Solomon
Proverbs 971-686 B.C. Solomon primarily
Ecclesiastes 940-931 B.C. Solomon
1 Samuel 931-722 B.C. Anonymous
2 Samuel 931-722 B.C. Anonymous
Obadiah 850-840 B.C. Obadiah
Joel 835-796 B.C. Joel
Jonah about 775 B.C. Jonah
Amos about 750 B.C. Amos
Micah 735-710 B.C. Micah
Hosea 750-710 B.C. Hosea
Isaiah 700-681 B.C. Isaiah
Nahum about 650 B.C. Nahum
Zephaniah 635-625 B.C. Zephaniah
Habakkuk 615-605 B.C. Habakkuk
Ezekiel 590-570 B.C. Ezekiel
Lamentations 586 B.C. Jeremiah
Jeremiah 586-570 B.C. Jeremiah
1 Kings 561-538 B.C. Anonymous
2 Kings 561-538 B.C. Anonymous
Daniel 536-530 B.C. Daniel
Haggai about 520 B.C. Haggai
Zechariah 480-470 B.C. Zechariah
Ezra 457-444 B.C. Ezra
1 Chronicles 450-430 B.C. Ezra (?)
2 Chronicles 450-430 B.C. Exra (?)
Esther 450-331 B.C. Malachi
Malachi 433-424 B.C. Malachi
Nehemiah 424-400 B.C. Ezra

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James A.D. 44-49 James
Galatians A.D. 49-50 Paul
Matthew A.D. 50-60 Matthew
Mark A.D. 50-60 Mark
1 Thessalonians A.D. 51 Paul
2 Thessalonians A.D. 51-52 Paul
1 Corinthians A.D. 55 Paul
2 Corinthians A.D. 55-56 Paul
Romans A.D. 56 Paul
Luke A.D. 60-61 Luke
Ephesians A.D. 60-62 Paul
Philippians A.D. 60-62 Paul
Colossians A.D. 60-62 Paul
Philemon A.D. 60-62 Paul
Acts A.D. 62 Luke
1 Timothy A.D. 62-64 Paul
Titus A.D. 62-64 Paul
1 Peter A.D. 64-65 Peter
2 Timothy A.D. 66-67 Paul
2 Peter A.D. 67-68 Peter
Hebrews A.D. 67-69 Unknown
Jude A.D. 68-70 Jude
John A.D. 80-90 John
1 John A.D. 90-95 John
2 John A.D. 90-95 John
3 John A.D. 90-95 John
Revelation A.D. 94-96 John

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Abbreviation: CENT
Year Released: 1865

This Revised Testament was prepared under the auspices of the American Bible Union by the most competent scholars of the day. No expense was spared to obtain the oldest translations of the Bible, copies of the ancient manuscripts, and other facilities to make the revision as perfect as possible.
The paragraph form was adopted in preference to the division by verse, a mode never used in the ancient Scriptures. However, for convenience of reference, the numbering of the verses was retained.
All quotations from the Old Testament are distinctly indicated. The poetic form is restored to those which appear as poetry in the original.
The received Greek text, critically edited, was followed. The original common English version was the basis of revision. The exact meaning of the inspired text of the original Scriptures at the time that they were written were given in corresponding words and phrases, so far as they could be found in the English language.
This is an exact reprint of the second edition published in 1865, and is the work of Drs. H. B. Hackett, A. C. Kendrick, and J. C. Conant. It was reproduced by B. C. Goodpasture in 1955.

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Jewish New Testament
Abbreviation: CJB
Year Released: 1989


Description
This version expresses its original and essential Jewishness. Most other English translations of the New Testament present their message in a Gentile-Christian linguistic, cultural, and theological framework. Yeshua, the Messiah, was a Jew, was born to Jews, grew up among Jews, ministered to Jews, and died and rose from the dead in the Jewish capital.
Much of what is written in the New Testament is incomprehensible outside its Jewish context. The best demonstration of its Jewishness is also the most convincing of its truth, namely, the number of Tanakh prophecies which are fulfilled in Yeshua. Three of the areas in which the Jewish New Testament can aid in "fixing up the world" are: Christian antisemitism, Jewish failure to receive the Gospel, and separation between the Church and the Jewish people.
Semitic names and terms belonging to "Jewish English" substitute for certain English words (e.g., Yochanan for "John" and emissary for "apostle"). Cultural or religious terms change to a Jewish context (e.g., the "fringe" or "edge" of Yeshua's robe to his tzitzit, which is a ritual tassel). Theological changes are made where Gentile-Christian theologies de-emphasize Jews as God's people (e.g., New Covenant "has been enacted through better promises" to has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises -- Hebrews 8:6).
Formally equivalent translation, or paraphrase, has been used to bring out meanings that original readers would have understood.
It is based primarily on the United Bible Societies' The Greek New Testament, which is a critical edition. "Kurios" is not translated Lord, but Adonai. In Messianic Christianity, as opposed to Judaism, this term can include Yeshua the Messiah and Holy Spirit.

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Abbreviation: CLNT
Year Released: 1926

Since men carry over the truth into another language only so far as they grasp it themselves, no translation can be fully satisfactory. The compiler of this version, the late A. E. Knoch, was aware of his shortcomings in this regard. To keep from emphasizing his personal views and traditional errors, he developed the concordant method of translation.
The purpose of the compiler was to make a translation that agreed as closely as possible to the original language, yet be presented in readable English. This method recognizes the importance of the vocabulary of Scripture keeping distinct the well-chosen words of God in His revelation of truth. There is an effort to keep to a minimum the confusion resulting from translating different Greek words with only one English word. Thus, phileo is rendered "be fond" and agapao is rendered "love." Except for a few idiomatic usages, each English word stands for only one Greek word in this version.
The word order and sentence structure of the early Greek manuscripts are followed more in this version than in most others. However, when needed, the Greek sentence structure is altered in order to achieve acceptable English.

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Abbreviation: CCDT
Year Released: 1953

The editors have incorporated in this new edition of the Holy Bible the better translations which modern Bible scholarship has put at their disposal. The Old Testament, in prose paragraph format, is the venerable Douay Version, with the exception of the first eight books (Genesis to Ruth), translated by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America under the patronage of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. In addition, the Book of Psalms is a new English translation from the new Latin version approved by Pope Pius XII. The New Testament is the newly revised version of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Other features of this edition include the following: (1) appropriate chapter and sub-headings; (2) newly edited and numbered annotations in the Old Testament; (3) historical dates conforming with the most recent discoveries in Bible Lands; (4) an easy-to-read, sight-saving type face; and (5) two Bible reading guides.

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Abbreviation: CEV, CE

It was translated with the attempt that the text be faithful to the meaning of the original and that it can be read with ease and understanding by readers of all ages. It was made directly from the original languages of the Scriptures and is not an adaptation of any existing translation.
Some nouns (e.g., "salvation") of traditional translations are not used as they describe actions. Every word, phrase, and of the original was carefully studied by the translators. Then, they tried to find the best way to translate the verse so that it could be easily read and understood.
Poetic sections were expected not only to sound good but also to look good. Poetic lines were carefully measured to avoid awkwardly divided phrases and words that run over to the next line in clumsy ways.
The New Testament was translated directly from the Greek text and published by the United Bible Societies (third edition, corrected, 1983). Psalms and Proverbs were translated directly from the Masoretic Hebrew text printed in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (fourth edition, 1990) and published by the German Bible Society.
Drafts in their early stages were sent for review and comment to a number of Biblical scholars, theologians, and educators representing a wide variety of denominations, also to all English-speaking Bible Societies and to over forty United Bible Societies translation consultants around the world. Final approval was given by the American Bible Society's Board of Trustees upon recommendation of its Translation Subcommittee.

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Abbreviation: CVNT
Year Released: 1898

This version in the Northern Dialect is also known as Memphitic or Bohairic. The work was undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. Wallis Budge, Keeper of the Egyptian Department of the British Museum. The original idea was to ascertain the character of the MSS., and to print a text with various readings of ten or twelve authorities. The process of collating MSS. began in 1890. Printing began in 1894.
The object of the translation was to supply the English reader with some knowledge of the Greek text which was translated by the Egyptians of the North-Western province, whose dialect had survived to the time of this work in the liturgical books of the Coptic church. This being the main object, it was also intended by literal treatment to give an idea of the peculiarities of the language and the method of the version.
Care has been taken with the vocabulary, yet no claim is made to secure and fix absolutely the best meaning of Coptic words in English. The translated word must be regarded as a token for a Greek word. The Revised Version was used at times as an aid.
The preface gives details of the collating of the manuscripts. The introduction gives details of the text, the translation, and the description of the manuscripts. Both the Coptic and the English have been printed.
Coptic is the Hamitic language of the Copts, the latest form of the ancient Egyptian: a dead language since 1500 but still the liturgical language of the Coptic Church. (Standard Dictionary of the English Language, vol. 1. Page 287.)
It contains the New Testament in four volumes.

[dizzle]

This is a great thread!!

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Abbreviation: DHB
Year Released: 1923


This translation of the Old Testament has been derived from a study of the common Hebrew text, and represents at the same time a collation of the late J. N. Darby's German and French Versions, he having himself revised the first few books within a short time of his decease. Those who use this English translation may accordingly expect to find incorporated with it whatever is of special value in the above-mentioned Versions, particularly the French, where the common English Bible is defective.
The purpose of this translation is not to offer to the man of letters a learned work, but rather to provide the simple and unlearned reader with as exact a translation as possible. To this end, all available helps have been used. The work is not a revision of the Bible in common use. The style of the Authorised Version [KJV] has been retained as far as possible within the purpose of the translation.
Poetical parts are distinguished from the rest by a metrical arrangement to which those are accustomed who use Paragraph Bibles. However, this has been abandoned in the Prophets where the poetical form is often complicated.
Elohim will in the text appear only in the name Jehovah Elohim; moreover, when Elohim following immediately on Jehovah has a grammatical adjunct, its place will be taken by the English word "God." For the meaning of Jehovah, Yahweh or Yehveh, see Exodus 3:14,15; Isaiah 40:28; for Jah, see Exodus 25:2. Ordinary spelling of proper names has been adhered to, subject to numerous and necessary corrections. Italics indicate emphasis.
In the first edition of the New Testament, the translator used the Textus Receptus. But the Textus Receptus was itself often changed in the text of the work. He decided to adopt its reading, not attempt to make a text of his own. His object was a more correct translation: only there was no use in translating what all intelligent critics held to be a mistake in the copy.
Since the first edition, various new helps became available. However, there has been little change in the actual translating. There have been changes involving clarity, inaccuracies, and uniformity.

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Translator: Theodor H. Gastner
Publisher: Doubleday, 1976


The purpose of this book is to provide a complete and reliable translation of the celebrated Dead Sea Scrolls, insofar as the original Hebrew texts have yet been published. No translation is offered of the Dead Sea Scrolls of Isaiah or of the other more fragmentarily preserved Biblical manuscripts. This edition is concerned only with what the Scrolls themselves have to say.
The texts presented here were composed at various dates between about 250 B.C.E. and 68 C.E. They formed part of the library at a religious brotherhood located at Qumran. The Scrolls and the religious movement help us to reconstruct the spiritual climate of early Christianity. The brotherhood did not believe in a martyred Messianic Teacher of Righteousness who reappeared posthumously to his disciples and whose Second Coming was awaited. They possess value in their own right as conveying the religious message of men who gave up the world and were able to find God in a wilderness.
The Scrolls were found in a cave at the northern end of the Dead Sea by an Arab boy in 1949. It is not known for certain who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, when, and where. Attempts to date them by palaeography or by allusion to known persons or events have not yielded conclusive results.
The Scrolls furnish a picture of the religious and cultural climate in which John the Baptist conducted his mission and in which Jesus initially was reared. However, they contain no trace of any of the cardinal theological concepts.

The Service of God:
The Manual of Discipline
The Zadokite Document
The Letter of the Law: Ordinances
A Formuary of Blessings

The Praise of God
The Hymn of the Initiants
The Book of Hymns
Poems from a Qumran Hymnal
Lament for Zion
Hymns of Triumph

The Mercy of God
Prayer for Intercession

Glory to God in the Highest
The Litany of the Angels

The Word of God
Expositions of Scripture
Everyman's Bible

The Triumph of God
The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness
The Rout of Belial: Scriptural Predictions
The Coming Doom
Weal and Woe: An Exhortation
The Last Jubilee: A Sermon
Melchizedek Texts
The New Covenant
Manual of Discipline for the Future
Congregation of Israel
Thy Kingdom Come

Virtue
The Wooing of Wisdom [Sirach 51.13ff.]

Vice
The Wiles of the Harlot

Visions and Testaments
The Last Words of Amram

Destiny
The Epochs of Time

Appendix
The Copper Scroll and the Prayer of Nabonidus

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Translator: Editors of The Shrine of Wisdom
Publisher: The Shrine of Wisdom, 1957


In this treatise, the writer gathers together and explains a number of the symbolical Names by which the nature of the Supreme and Absolute God is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The author speaks of two aspects of the nature of the Supreme God -- the undifferentiated and the differentiated.
It would appear that the work was written in the 5th century BCE by Dionysius the Areopagite.
There are thirteen chapters as follows:

1: The purpose of the discourse, and the tradition concerning the Divine Names
2: The undifferentiated and the differentiated; union and distinction
3: The power of prayer
4: God, Light, Beauty, Love, Ecstacy, Jealousy; the existence or non-existence of evil
5: Being and Paradigms
6: Life
7: Wisdom, Intellect, Reason, Truth, Faith
8: Power, Justice, Preservation, Redemption, Inequality
9: Great, Small, Same, Different, Similar, Dissimilar, Rest, Motion, Equality
10: Omnipotent, Ancient of Days, Eternity, Time
11: Peace, Being Itself, Life Itself, Power Itself
12: Holy of Holies, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, God of Gods
13: Perfect and One

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Abbreviation: DRB
Year Released: 1610/1899
Contents: Old Testament 1610, New Testament 1609


Catholic answer to King James Bible
This is a scrupulously faithful translation into English of the Latin Vulgate Bible which Jerome (342-420) translated into Latin from the original languages. The Latin Vulgate Bible had been declared by the Council of Trent to be the official Latin version of the canonical Scriptures. The DRB translators took great pains to translate exactly. When a passage seemed strange and unintelligible they left it alone, even if obscure.
The translators translated from a translation for ten reasons, ending by stating that the Latin Vulgate "is not onely better than al other Latin translations, but then the Greeke text itselfe, in those places where they disagree." They also state that the Vulgate is "more pure then the Hebrew or Greke now extant" and that "the same Latin hath bene farre better conserved from corruptions."
It has the imprimatur of James Cardinal Gibbons.
When Catholics were considering a vernacular Bible, professors at the English College at Douay, France, took up the work. Because of political unrest, the college was moved to Rheims, also in France. Work started in 1578. The New Testament, translated faithfully into the English out of authentic Latin and diligently conferred with the Greek, was printed at Rheims in 1582. The purpose was to discover corruptions in numerous late translations and to clear controversies in the religion of the day. In more peaceful times, the vernacular would not have been necessary. The Church never wholly condemned vulgar (popular or pertaining to common people) versions but warned against indiscriminate interpretation.
The groundwork was supplied by such sources as Coverdale, Bishop's Bible, and the Geneva Bible, but mostly Wycliffe. The Vulgate was used for translation because of its ancient character, its tradition, its accuracy, its sincerity, and the decree of the Council of Trent. The aim of the translators was a literal translation. The Old Testament was published in two volumes in 1609-1610. At the time of publication, both Testament translators were criticized. Later scholars praised the accuracy of the Douay-Rheims Bible.

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The Apostolic Fathers
Translator: Maxwell Staniforth
Publisher: Dorset Press, 1968


Regarded as virtually equal to Holy Scripture by the nascent Church, these works are immensely valuable both historically and doctrinally. Written for the most part in the form of letters, they provide historians with the only available source from a dark era, and illuminate the emerging Church during a time when its powers and principles were still independent from the state.
In addition to the translation of the writing, there is information about each writer and writing.

The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
The Epistles of Ignatius (To the Ephesians; To the Magnesians; To the Trallians; To the Romans; To the Philadelphians; To the Smyrnaeans; To Polycarp)
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
The Epistle to Diognetus
The Epistle of Barnabas
The Didache

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Abbreviation: EVD, OE
Contents: Old Testament 1986, New Testament 1978
Easy-to-Read Version

This version has been prepared to meet the special needs of the deaf. Whether it is published as the English Version for the Deaf or the Easy-to-Read Version, the text is the same. Hearing persons learn English largely through oral conversation. However, for the deaf, this experience with language is severely limited. Children, people who learn English as a foreign language, and many others face similar difficulties in reading. This specialized English version is designed to help such people overcome or avoid the most common obstacles to reading with understanding.
One of the basic ideas that guided the work on this version was that good translation is good communication. The main concern of the translators was always to communicate to the reader the message of the Biblical writers as effectively and as naturally as the original writings did to people in that time. The translators worked to convey to their special audience the meaning of the Biblical text in a form that would be simple and natural. There are several special features used to aid understanding. Uses less than 4,000 word vocabulary for verb syntax not understood by those who can not hear.

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Abbreviation: EVPB
Year Released: 1858

This is a thick, pocket-size edition of the King James Version. There is no evidence of what the other languages or versions of the original Polyglott Bible, of which this was a part, are. The print is extemely small. There are two columns of text on each page, with a narrow column of cross-references between them. At the beginning of each Testament are two paintings of Biblical settings. Following the New Testament is the second inclusion of the Book of Psalms, this time in metre.
On the flyleaf is the following handwritten inscription: "Presented to Mifs. Julia Parker by a friend Jan. 1st, 1860, China, A. G."

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Translator: Malcolm Lee Peel
Publisher: SCM Press, 1969


This is a Valentinian letter on resurrection. This edition contains a fresh translation and exposition of one of the writings from the Nag Hammadi Library. Its importance is that it provides the first Gnostic document devoted exclusively to the subject of individual eschatology.
The letter is one of the numerous writings from a religious library probably used by a fourth century Gnostic community of Sethian disposition. It was probably composed sometime prior to that century. The thought and vocabulary of Paul are found throughout it. It contains eight pages.

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Editor: J. M. Harden
Publisher: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920


It is one of the least known of a number of similar documents that have come down to us from comparatively early times. It has been preserved by the Monophysite Church of Abyssinia. It has been said to be a somewhat rambling discourse on Church life and society.
It is claimed to be a message to the Church from the Twelve Apostles assembled in Jerusalem. It deals with such topics as morality, studying the Scriptures, strict obedience of the Seventh Commandment, mutual duties of husband and wife, offices and duties of Christian ministers, and other topics. There are forty-three chapters.

[NSMinistries]

Translator: J. B. Lightfoot and others
Publisher: Harper Brothers, 1927


The person who wrote the Introduction dislikes the title because, to him, it suggests that these writings were once a part of the New Testament but later ejected for various reasons. The translator places the books listed in this volume into two categories. The first is Apocryphal in that added information of Jesus given. The second is a treatise in the form of a letter and of highest historical value. Some of these writings appear in other books reviewed on this site.
The Contents list the following:

Introduction
The Book of James
The Gospel of Nicodemus, Part I
The Gospel of Nicodemus, Part II
The Gospel of Peter
The Revelation of Peter
The Genuine Epistle of Clement
The So-called Second Epistle of Clement
The Epistle of Barnabas
The Shepherd of Hermas

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: GTNT
Year Released: 1905

This version was translated from the original Greek by a minister of the Holiness Movement, W. B. Godbey, sometime between 1904 and 1911. Soon after his graduation from college in 1859, he obtained a copy of the critical Greek Testamant, founded on the Sinaic Manuscript, by Dr. Tischendorf. Mr. Godbey read the New Covenant in Greek for more than forty years.
After entering the evangelical work in 1884, he found himself in camp meetings, where he was surrounded by people listening to his exposition of the Scriptures from the original Greek. Soon, he was urged to translate the Greek into the plain diction of the current English.
He had neither the desire nor the expectation that his translation should supersede the good Old English Bible, but that it would help people to understand it. He felt that the majority of the many mistakes of the King James Version, which were either omission or interpolation, are of no importance. He mentions some of these in the Prologue, and has corrected them. He felt that the Tischendorf Text had been hidden in a Christian convent on Mt. Sinai by God in His mercy.
The Gospels are arranged in chronological order, side by side.

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Abbreviation: GW
Contents: Old Testament 1995, New Testament 1988

Today's Bible Translation

This translation, which is the work of God's Word to the Nations Bible Society, fills the need to communicate clearly to contemporary Americans without compromising the Bible's message. It employed full-time Bible scholars and full-time English editorial reviewers. It uses natural grammar, follows standard punctuation and capitalization rules, and is printed in a single column.
The theory followed by the Bible Society's translators is closest natural equivalent translation. The first consideration was to find equivalent English ways of expressing the meaning of the original text. The second consideration was readability. The third consideration was to choose the natural equivalent that most clearly reflects the style of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text.
In prose, this translation looks like other works of literature. Poetry is instantly recognized by its format. It capitalizes the first letter in proper nouns and sentences and in all letters of the word LORDwhen it represents Yahweh. It does not capitalize any pronouns (except I and unless they begin sentences). In passages that apply to all people, it tries to use gender-neutral language so that all readers will apply these passages to themselves. If a passage focuses upon an individual, it does not use plural nouns and pronouns to avoid the gender-specific pronouns he, him, and his. It avoids using difficult theological terms, substituting words that carry the same meaning in common English. However, some traditional theological words are contained in footnotes the first time they occur in a chapter.

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Translator: Lonsdale and Laura Ragg
Editor: Lonsdale and Laura Ragg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1907


This edition was edited and translated from the Italian MS. in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The translators have endeavoured to preserve the archaic form and something even of the crudeness of the original. Where the text follows that of the Bible exactly, they have adopted the language of the Revised Version. The more obvious important parallels from the Qorân will be found either cited or referred to in the footnotes.
In regard to the material content, the following are evident: an obvious and primary dependence upon the Christian Bible, especially upon the four Canonical Gospels; frequent insertions of Jewish and Mohammedan matter; and, traces of hagiological and other Mohammedan material. There are 222 chapters. The left pages are in Italian, while the right pages are in English.

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Translator: R. M. Wilson
Publisher: A. R. Mowbray, 1962


This edition has been translated from the Coptic text. The Gospel of Philip belongs to the same collection of Gnostic documents as the more famous Gospel of Thomas. It has never been considered as anything but a Gnostic document.
It has been suggested that it was written in the second century B.C.E. Thus, it may be one of the earliest documents for some of the themes which figure in later apocryphal literature.
In addition to the English translation of the gospel, there are two other parts of interest in the book: The Theology of Philip; and Commentary.

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Translator: Disciple of the Master
Editor: Disciple of the Master
Publisher: Health Research, 1974


This writing of the Christian Dispensation is one of the most ancient and complete of early Christian fragments, preserved in one of the monasteries of the Buddhist monks in Tibet, where it was hidden by some of the Essene community for safety from the hands of corrupters. The original of this reprint marked the first time that it had been translated from the Aramic. The contents clearly show it to be an early Essenian writing.
This gospel was not addressed to the heathen, but chiefly to the true followers of Jesus in the early days of the Church of Jerusalem. The editors feel that, like all other inspired writings, these from within the Veil must be taken on their own internal evidence of Higher Teaching.
The Contents lists a Prologue, ninety-six Chapters, and the Epistle of Apollos the Prophet.

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A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel
Translator: Kendrick Grobel
Publisher: Abingdon Press, 1960


About 1945, a jar of forty-eight works were found in a tomb in Egypt. All but one of the works were obtained by the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. These came to be known as the Nag Hammadi Library. The remaining work was purchased by a Belgian antiquary. It eventually was given to the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. Thus, this papyrus document of five writings became known as the Codex Jung. One of them is The Gospel of Truth. All the writings are of Gnostic origin. In the contents of this book under the heading of The Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel are the following sub-headings:

The Plot of Plane 17:14
The Withheld Completeness 18:38
The Teacher of the Book 19:18
Jesus Suffers for the Book 20:10
The Book Grants Completion 21:3
Meditation I on the Name 21:30
Similitude of Drunkenness 22:16
Hymn on the Perfect Book 23:3
Revelation 24:9
Similitude of Ignorance and Darkness 24:32
Jars and Judgment 25:25
Illusory Existence 27:34
The Nightmare Parable 28:28
A Beatitude 30:12
The Shepherd of the Sheep That Strayed 31:35
Salvation on the Sabbath 32:18
Those Who Were Yours 33:35
The Anointing 36:17
The Logos 37:4
The Will 37:21
The Name II 38:8
The Place 41:4
Epilogue 42:39

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Translator: James H. Charlesworth
Editor: James H. Charlesworth

This edition is the Greek Recension
This apocryphon is composite and is dated in its present form not earlier than the fifth or sixth century C.E. The Greek and English texts are on facing pages. It has circulated under numerous titles. Its importance is the record of Jewish reflections on the legend of the lost tribes and the marvelous characteristics of the terrestrial paradise of its inhabitants, the Rechabites.

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Abbreviation: HBRV
Year Released: 1885

The Revised Vesion of the Bible was the first -- and remains the only -- officially authorised revision of the King James Version. The work was entrusted to some fifty scholars from various denominations in Britain; American scholars were invited to co-operate, by corrrespondence. The revisers were charged with introducing alterations only if they were required in order to be faithful to the original text. In the New Testament alone more than 30,000 changes were made, over five thousand of them on the basis of a better Greek text. The work was begun in 1879, and the Revised Version was published in 1885; the Apocrypha came out in 1895. The American Standard Edition, based on the Revised Version, was published in 1901.

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Abbreviation: HSH
Year Released: 1951

This version of the Holy Scriptures was revised in accordance with Jewish tradition and modern Biblical scholarship by Alexander Harkavy. The translator changed obsolete words and updated the spelling in the Leeser Version of 1814, which was based on the King James Version. He also paraphrased certain passages in order to achieve greater expliciteness.
The books follow the traditional Jewish order under Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings. The text is in English. However, page headings are in both English and Hebrew. An index, tables for the readings of the Law and of the Haftaroth, and tables for family records are located at the end of the book.

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Translator: G. R. S. Mead 1963

The translator feels almost certain that this Hymn is no hymn, but a mystery-ritual, and perhaps the earliest ritual in which there was any trace at the time that this edition was published. As in other Coptic Gnostic works of mystery-rituals, the Disciples are bidden to surround the Master at certain praise-givings and invocations of the Father.
The prayer itself is only five pages long, double-spaced. Following it there are several pages of comments.

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Editor: Ronald F. Hock

This edition has the original Greek text with the English from the New Scholars Version Translation.
The Infancy Gospel of James extends the canonical birth stories back to the circumstances surrounding the birth of Mary and childhood and ends shortly after the birth of Jesus. There is a dependence on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Within the context, it is stated that it was written by James at the time of the death of Herod.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a collection of largely self-contained stories that are loosely held together by a series of indications of Jesus' age -- five years. There is not enough to establish a genuine narrative thread. The author apparently was not the apostle. The name is pseudonymous. No date has been definitely set.

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Abbreviation: IV
Year Released: 1867


This is an inspired revision of the Authorized Version by Joseph Smith. Begun in June 1830 and completed in July 1833, it was the result of the commandment of God through direct revelation. Many plain and precious things had been taken away from the Bible. In most places, the language form arrangement of the King James (Authorized) Version was followed. Certain completely new portions given in the form of revelatory documents were included in the text. At the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, the manuscripts were held by his widow until 1866, when they were delivered to a committee appointed by the Reorganized Latter Day Saints Church.
This edition is a corrected edition. Some words and phrases were transposed or improperly placed in the work done by Joseph Smith. These errors and mechanical errors were corrected. The original manuscripts indicate that there was additional editing done by Joseph Smith after 1833.
It does not contain Song of Solomon. The Apocrypha was not added because of a revelation stating that "it was not needful that it be translated. Many true things therein were correctly translated, but many things were not true, being interpolations of man."

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Abbreviation: IB IT IL
Year Released: 1976

It is the first such Bible available to students of Scriptures who speak English. With it, one can utilize lexicons, word books, and other recent aids.
The Hebrew text in the Old Testament is the Masoretic text. The Greek text in the New Testament is the Received Text (differing slightly from other printed editions).
There are two English translations: one located directly under each Hebrew or Greek word and "The Literal Translation of the Bible" in a narrow column to the left. The latter straight-forward translation makes it easy to see proper word order in English and to assimilate the message of the text. Both translations are word-for-word, but are not absolute, literal representations of the Hebrew and Greek words.
The personal name of God is rendered either Jehovahor Jah. The translators preferred JHWH to YHWH because of the established English usage for Bible names beginning with this letter (e.g., Jacob and Joseph). Greek names for Old Testament persons in the New Testament are spelled as in the Old Testament. "Mary" is rendered Miriam in consistency with the Greek form when translated under the Greek word.
Above each Hebrew or Greek word is a number as it appears in Strong's Concordance and lexicons. This opens Bible study possibilities for those who wish to understand the Scriptures better. The Hebrew and the Greek alphabets appear before the preface.

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Abbreviation: ISV
Year Released: 1998

This version, which will include both Covenants in the year 2000, was translated by a committee of academics. It is a literal-idiomatic translation, which avoids the dangers of being over-literal and over-interpretative. The goal has been to achieve both accuracy and excellence in communication.
A number of specific principles of translation have been followed. The twenty-seventh edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece and the fourth corrected edition of the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament are the base texts. Inclusive language is used wherever possible without compromising scholarly integrity or good English style.
The ISV logo is a tryglyth of three historic symbols. The upper symbol is the Menorah. The centre symbol is the Star of David. The lower symbol is the Ichthus, or fish. English-language Bible readers who have access to the Internet's World Wide Web will be able to read the ISV at the Learn Foundation's web site at http://isv.org.

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Abbreviation: JBK
Year Released: 1962

The English translation of this Bible was revised and edited by Harold Fisch. It is a thoroughly corrected, modernized, and revised version of the Anglo-Jewish Bibles that have been accepted for home and synagogue throughout the English-speaking world. The Jewish Family Bible of M. Friedlander, published in 1881, was the basis for this edition. That version was faithful to the Masora, or received Hebrew text. It also retained as much Jewish sentiment as permitted of the unsurpassed language and rhythm of the "Authorized Version" of 1611. Also, a comparison was made with the nineteenth century Jewish Bible of Isaac Lesser and with other later translations.
The language of the old versions has been modernized where ancient linguistic and grammatical forms would be difficult for the present-day reader. Many points of detail have been corrected in light of modern scholarship.
A primary aim of the translators has been to offer a rendering of the English Bible which would match the spirit and outer appearance of the Hebrew test printed opposite it. This text, the "Koren Bible," is unique among Hebrew printed Bibles in rejecting Greek titles, Latin numerals, and chapter divisions based on non-Jewish authority. The English text is divided up according to the traditional system of petuhot (open line divisions) and setumot (closed spaces) as found in ancient Hebrew manuscripts. This Koren Tanakh is in English on the left-hand pages and Hebrew on the right-hand pages.

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Jews for Jesus
60 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94102-5895
United States of America
1(415)864-2600

E-mail: jfj@jewsforjesus.org




This best selling new translation freshly renders the original Greek into enjoyable modern English, while dramatizing the Jewish roots and flavor of New Testament times by giving names of people, places, events and concepts in the original spoken Hebrew.
The Jewish New Testament
by David H. Stern
Hardcover / 350 pages
ISBN 0-8276-0096-8
This new translation is the culmination of three decades of collaboration
by scholars and rabbis representing the three largest branches of
organized Judaism in America.


Complete Jewish Bible
Stern, David H. (Translator)
Jewish New Testament Publishers
Po Box 615
Clarksville, MD 21029-0615
UNITED STATES
Local Fax: 410-764-1376 (UNITED STATES)
Local Tel: 410-764-6144 (UNITED STATES
ISBN 9-653-59015-4
Translated by David H. Stern % Names and key terms presented in
easy-to-understand transliterated Hebrew enabling readers to
pronounce them the way Yeshua (Jesus) did % 1,697 pp. % 5 7/8 X 8
7/8 % Font size: 9


Jewish New Testament
Translated by David H. Stern % Uses neutral terms and Hebrew names
% Highlights Jewish features and Jewish references % Corrects
mistranslations from an anti-Jewish theological bias % 436 pp. % 5
3/4 X 8 1/4 % Font size: 9
ISBN 9-653-59006-5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Jews for Jesus:

BOOK REVIEW Book Review: Jewish New Testament Commentary By Louis Goldberg, Ph.D. This article originally appeared in The Messianic Review of Books, Volume 3:1 Jews for Jesus - David Stern's massive Jewish New Testament Commentary follows through on his Jewish New Testament. It represents a Herculean effort to provide a commentary of the New Testament that works with the original Greek text and also attempts to demonstrate the first-century cultural background among the people of Israel. As long ago as the 1930s, the Yiddish writer Sholem Asch and the Israeli scholar Joseph Klausner already broke ground when they wrote about Jesus from a Jewish perspective. Since then, the old approach of seeing the New Testament as completely Greek, divorced from any Jewish background, has largely been set aside in the thinking of many writers and scholars. But the task has not been easy. It is now time for Messianic Jews themselves to deal theologically with the issues concerning not only Jesus but Paul as well. Stern has provided us with a great deal of Jewish background to the New Testament. For example, many of the lessons that Y'shua taught find background in the common cultural and religious pool from which he as well as the rabbis drew. The teaching of "acts of righteousness" (Matthew 6:1) finds a background in the Sayings of the Fathers 2:13. The saying in Matthew 6:7 that our words be few is also found in B'rakhot 61a (pp. 30-31). The same would be true of the Lord's Prayer, all of which is at home in the Judaism of Y'shua's day (p. 32). Similarly, the Golden Rule that Y'shua cited already had an accepted part in Jewish writings, even as early as the third century b.c. book of Tobit (pp. 33-34). The citation from Yoma 39a-39b that in the forty years prior to the destruction of the temple, the scarlet cloth never turned white again is an interesting comment on the rending of the temple curtain in Matthew 27:51 (p. 84). One cannot begin to mention the great number of passages for which Stern provides interesting supporting evidence from various facets of Jewish materials. He demonstrates adequately that the New Testament is set in a specific cultural context of the people of Israel and not in a foreign Greek context. The development of a theology of Messianic faith is extremely important. One does not write theology in a day and perhaps not even in fifty years. We need to work at it until many of us can agree on an expression of what we believe and how we are to live our beliefs. Among the key theological questions are these:

1. The use of the term "Messianic Judaism." In explaining Messianic Judaism, Stern defines it as: "100% Jewish and 100% Messianic" (p. xv). "Messianic" draws our focus to Y'shua as the Messiah, but what does it mean to be "100% Jewish"? Is it what the traditional Jew would describe as Jewish, or is it what the Reform Jew would want to define as Jewish? Of course, Stern does make a distinction between Messianic Judaism and "non-Messianic Judaism," where the latter refers to any form of expression of Judaism that does not acknowledge Y'shua as the Messiah and Redeemer. This still leaves us with a problem concerning the term "Judaism." Perhaps, rather than trying to use the word "Judaism" and then going into a long explanation as to how one should define it, it would be best to simply speak in terms of the Messianic Jew and "Messianic faith."

2. The question of Torah. Stern insists that "Messianic Judaism recognizes that the Torah is eternal, and Yeshua did not abrogate it" (p. 240, on Acts 6:13-14; see also his comments on Acts 2:42, 12:12, 15:2-3 and Matthew 5:17). But what does he mean by Torah? He explains that by Torah, he means the written Torah, commonly known as the Old Testament, not any legalistic system (pp. 344-346, on Romans 3:20b). Discussing Galatians, Stern writes that "some branches of Christianity teach that the ethical Law remains, while the civil and ceremonial statutes have been done away with. For Gentiles, this may seem a satisfactory solution to the problem of the Torah, but for Jewish believers it isn't so simple as that." Instead, he draws our attention to the fact that "some rules [in the Torah] were transformed by their fulfillment; this is a process found already in the Tanakh, for example, when the Tabernacle was superseded by the Temple." He relates this to the New Testament, in which the death of the Messiah fulfills the "function of the temple sacrifice for sin and either superseded it or changed it into a memorial, as explained in Messianic Jews [his name for the Book of Hebrews] 7-10" (p. 568). Moreover, Stern tells us that the New Testament is really the Torah of the Messiah and has been incorporated into the Torah as a whole, that is, into the written Torah; the Torah of the Messiah explains fully and more completely what the written Torah hints at as a pointer to the day when Messiah will finally appear. He even translates Hebrews 8:6b as "[The New Covenant] has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises" (compare the NIV, "and it is founded upon better promises"). Indeed, Stern is quite clear on the difference between Messianic Jews and the Judaism espoused by other Jewish people when he declares that the New Testament is Torah and that there is no such person as a Torah-observant Jew unless he or she accepts the New Testament (p. 687)! The point is that there is something about the Mosaic Covenant that is changed, but there is something of it that still remains, further explained, indeed, by the "Torah of Messiah" as Stern defines it. His observation serves notice on the rest of us that we need to wrestle with these concepts to produce a better Messianic Jewish theology.

3. Original sin. Stern offers a lengthy and valuable comment on this topic, taking some fourteen pages to discuss it (pp. 359-373), concluding, "I do not propose to construct a Messianic Jewish theology of sin in this note!" He points out a number of instances where the issue of sin is discussed in the Tanakh (p. 368) and makes a case for what is wrong with people and why they need to be justified by God or declared righteous, in order to have a new life and be one with the Lord. As Stern suggests, perhaps the "sins of ignorance" (Leviticus 4:2) can shed light on the question. These sins are those that provide the context for the sin offering. Sins of ignorance are not those of commission or omission and they force us to ask why a person can sin and not be aware of it. Could it be that something is wrong with the inner being of a person whereby he or she can sin in such a way? Could it be that Moses provided the sin offering in order to care for the question of "who we are" (justification), in contrast to the guilt offering, which takes care of "what we do" (sanctification)? The issue of justification forces us to deal with who we are, a most important question, because of non-Messianic Jewish opposition to this doctrine and their insistence that people through their free will can achieve righteousness. It might be mentioned that the use of Hebrew for the various New Covenant names may be baffling to Americans in general and Jewish believers in particular. For example, in Matthew 5:21 (p. 27), the Hebrew for the "Ten Commandments" is a case in point. Perhaps a glossary of how Hebrew and Greek words are pronounced might have been helpful. A final word concerning the readability of this commentary. In general, it seems best geared to someone with formal exposure to the Bible and to theology. For instance, in discussing Matthew 23:37-39 (p. 71), Stern refers briefly to "the theology, developed later by the Church," an issue that not all readers would be conversant with. All in all, Stern has provided us with a work that will provide a distinctive contribution to the beliefs of Messianic Jews. It will, no doubt, be the springboard for further meaningful discussions between Jewish believers in the Messiah, as well as for the Church at large. Louis Goldberg was for many years the chairman of the Jewish Studies department at Moody Bible Institute. He is currently Scholar-in-Residence at the New York City branch of Jews for Jesus.

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Abbreviation: JWNT
Year Released: 1755

John Wesley made a study of an understandable New Testament the key to the knowledge of sound doctrine. Scholarly accuracy, literary excellence, and precision in word selection have made the Wesley New Testament valuable to the "common and unlettered man" for this purpose.
Wesley's generation was one of transition in forms of speech. Chaucerian English was passing, and modern English was emerging. The English New Testament had to be "read and digested" by the converts of the Wesley Revival if the results of the movement were to be conserved.
In preparation for his work, he "examined minutely every word of the New Testament in the original Greek." Thus, his translation contained twelve thousand deviations in words, sentence structure, and chapter divisions from earlier translations. Two dots in the text indicate the omission of a word (or words) appearing in the King James Version. Italics indicate a deviation from the King James Version. Traditionalists greatly criticized his work.

[NSMinistries]

Translator: E. W. Brooks

This is the confession and prayer of Asenath, daughter of Pentephres the priest. In the Book of Genesis, Asenath is mentioned three times only. However, from these references, the elaborate romance contained in this book has been constructed. That the book is the work of a Christian writer will at once be recognized by the reader.
The book was in existence prior to 569 C.E. It is said to be an allegory with Joseph standing for the Messiah. Three suggested interpretations for Asenoth are the Church, the converted soul, and virginity. The original language was Greek. The translator used Batifoll's text, except in a few places where it is obviously wrong. The book is divided into twenty-nine chapters.

[NSMinistries]

Editor: Gerald Hausman

This is the lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith from Ethiopia and Jamaica. The text of this edition was selected from a portion of a book entitled The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek, which was translated by E. A. Wallis Budge and first published in English in 1922.
The Kebra Nagast is a great storehouse of legends and traditions, some historical and some of purely folklore character, derived from the Old Testament and the later rabbinic writings, and from Egyptian, Arabian, and Ethiopic sources. Of the early history of the compilation and its maker and of its subsequent editors, nothing is known; but the principal groundwork of its earliest form was the traditions that were current in Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt during the first four centuries of the Christian era. The earliest form of the text, in Ethiopic, appeared around the sixth century C.E.

Earth
Power
Wisdom
Angel
Vision
Pearl
Prophet

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Abbreviation: KJV
Year Released: 1611

Authorized Version

It was translated out of the original tongues and with previous translations, including that of William Tyndale, diligently compared and revised. In the preface of the 1611 edition, the translators stated that it was not their purpose to make a new translation but to make a good one better. It is a revision of the Bishop's Bible of 1568.
It was the desire of the translators to make God's holy Truth more and more known unto the people, even though they may be maligned by those religious persons who would keep the people in ignorance and darkness concerning it. It was presented to King James I when completed in 1611. It has been the standard English translation for almost four hundred years.
It is noted for the quality of translation and the majesty of style. The translators were committed to producing an English Bible that would be a precise translation and by no means a paraphrase or broadly approximate rendering. The scholars were fully familiar with the original languages of the Bible and especially gifted in their use of their native English. Because of their reverence for God and His Word, only a principle of utmost accuracy in their translation could be accepted. Appreciating the intrinsic beauty of divine revelation, they disciplined their talents to render well-chosen English words of their time as well as a graceful, often musical, arrangement of language.
There have been many publishers, many editions, and various features for this version.

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Today @ 09:04 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=144209#post144209)
NSMinistries:

Abbreviation: KJV
Year Released: 1611

Authorized Version

It was translated out of the original tongues and with previous translations, including that of William Tyndale, diligently compared and revised. In the preface of the 1611 edition, the translators stated that it was not their purpose to make a new translation but to make a good one better. It is a revision of the Bishop's Bible of 1568.
It was the desire of the translators to make God's holy Truth more and more known unto the people, even though they may be maligned by those religious persons who would keep the people in ignorance and darkness concerning it. It was presented to King James I when completed in 1611. It has been the standard English translation for almost four hundred years.
It is noted for the quality of translation and the majesty of style. The translators were committed to producing an English Bible that would be a precise translation and by no means a paraphrase or broadly approximate rendering. The scholars were fully familiar with the original languages of the Bible and especially gifted in their use of their native English. Because of their reverence for God and His Word, only a principle of utmost accuracy in their translation could be accepted. Appreciating the intrinsic beauty of divine revelation, they disciplined their talents to render well-chosen English words of their time as well as a graceful, often musical, arrangement of language.
There have been many publishers, many editions, and various features for this version.

Corrections in the KJV

1613 A.D. thy right doeth ---corrected to--- thy right hand doeth
1616 A.D. which was of our father's ---corrected to--- which was our fathers
1617 A.D. Seek good ---corrected to--- seek God
1629 A.D. requite good ---corrected to--- requite me good
1629 A.D. this book of the Covenant ---corrected to--- the book of this covenant
1629 A.D. chief rulers ---corrected to--- chief ruler
1629 A.D. For the king had appointed ---corrected to--- for so the king had appointed
1629 A.D. The cormorant ---corrected to--- But the cormorant
1629 A.D. The crowned ---corrected to--- Thy crowned
1629 A.D. which was a Jew ---corrected to--- which was a Jewess
1629 A.D. the city ---corrected to--- the city of the Damascenes
1638 A.D. And Parbar ---corrected to--- At Parbar
1638 A.D. For this cause ---corrected to--- And for this cause
1638 A.D. a fiery furnace ---corrected to--- a burning fiery furnace
1638 A.D. now and ever ---corrected to--- both now and ever
1638 A.D. this thing ---corrected to--- this thing also
1743 A.D. the wayes side ---corrected to--- the way side
1762 A.D. shalt have remained ---corrected to--- ye shall have remained
1762 A.D. Achzib, nor Helbath, nor Aphik ---corrected to--- of Achzib, nor of Helbath, nor of Aphik
1769 A.D. returned ---corrected to--- turned

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: KLNT
Year Released: 1956

The translator of the Gospels, James A. Kleist, SJ, felt that the Bible should use a diction that keeps pace with modern developments in the English language. This edition was translated directly from the Greek, using the text of Joseph M. Bover, in his Novi Testamenti Biblia Graeca et Latina (Madrid, 1943).
He avoided obsolete words and expressions as well as words which would not be readily understood by the average reader of today. There is also a change in word order or sentence structure of the original whenever it seemed that the requirements of current English usage or of clearness itself would be served by so doing. His purpose was to express, as far as possible, the exact meaning of the original text as opposed to a literal rendering of word for word. Sometimes this meant using several words to convey the meaning of a single word in Greek. Where a Greek word or phrase is actually capable of more than one interpretation, the correct alternative generally is indicated in the notes.
In Part 2 of this edition, prepared by Joseph L. Lilly, SJ, is a careful and well-worded translation of the Acts of the Apostles, of the numerous Epistles that follow next in order, and finally of the Apocalypse with which the New Testament closes. Scholarly introductions have been provided by the translator. He has also supplied the notes for his section.

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: KTC
Year Released: 1956

Ronald Knox was requested in 1936 by the hierarchy of England and Wales to undertake a completely new translation of the New Testament. This he produced single-handed in 1945. The Old Testamant was completed in 1955. The translation is from the Vulgate "in light of" the originals and with many textual notes. It has a style all of its own, perhaps more discussed than any other modern version. (New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2. Page 466.)
This translation passed rapidly into common use worldwide in the Catholic community. It has been commended for its freshness of approach, for its lively language, and for the ease with which it may be read. Its style has succeeded in giving meaning to passages which in earlier versions have been difficult to understand.
The purpose in preparing this translation was to give readers a greater knowledge and understanding of inspired Sacred Scripture. Prayer and the sacraments are a lay apostle's strength, the Bible, his armor. A knowledge of Holy Scripture is a valuable element in his participation in the Church's liturgy. The translation by Monsignor Knox was presented to meet the need of having in every home a Bible that is easy to read and a joy to handle.

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Abbreviation: LBP
Year Released: 1957

This translation of the Old and New Testaments is based on Peshitta manuscripts which have comprised the accepted Bible of all those Christians who have used Syriac as their language of prayer and worship for many centuries. The Church of the East and some noted Western scholars dispute the belief of modern scholarship that the originals of the Four Gospels and other parts of the New Testament were written in Greek. In any case, Aramaic speech is an underlying factor and New Testament writers drew on documents written in Aramaic. Syriac is the literary dialect of Aramaic. From the Mediterranean east into India, the Peshitta is still the Bible of preference among Christians.
George M. Lamsa, the translator, devoted the major part of his life to this work. He was an Assyrian and a native of ancient Bible lands. He and his people retained Biblical customs and Semitic culture, which had perished elsewhere. With this background and his knowledge of the Aramaic (Syriac) language, he has recovered much of the meaning that has been lost in other translations of the Scriptures. There is a section on the problems of translating from the Aramaic to the Greek.
Manuscripts used were the Codex Ambrosianus for the Old Testament and the Mortimer-McCawley manuscript for the New Testament. Comparisons have been made with other Peshitta manuscripts, including the oldest dated manuscript in existence. The term Peshitta means straight, simple, sincere and true, that is, the original. Even the Moslems in the Middle East accept and revere the Peshitta text.
Although the Peshitta Old Testament contains the Books of the Apocrypha, this edition has omitted them.

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: LNT
Year Released: 1962

The translator, Richard Lattimore, was among the most distinguished translators of the Greek classics. His aim was to provide a simple, literal rendering in which the syntax and order of the Greek dictate the character of the English style. He let the words of the Apostles and early disciples speak for themselves with an accuracy and fidelity to the original language that is a gift to today's reader. He tried to let all of his texts translate themselves with as little interference as possible.
Since Mark is, by general if not universal consent, the earliest evangelist, the translator starts with his gospel. There are some terms in this gospel which cannot always be translated in the same way, or even at all. The rest of the books are in the traditional order.
He has followed The New Testament in Greek, by Westcott and Hort, as a text. Rare exceptions have been noted. Words enclosed in square brackets are of doubtful authenticity. The translator also regularly consulted The Pelican Gospel Commentaries and A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2nd Edition. At the back is a section of notes which explain his translations or give alternate interpretations.
On the front of the dust jacket is a photo by Andres Serrano, "The Morgue (Hacked to Death II)." Some readers may find this distracting, offensive, or inappropriate for the cover of a book of Scriptures.
It was first published by Farrar, Strauss, Giroux in 1962.

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Abbreviation: LVME
Year Released: 1948

This version was prepared in the belief that there is still room for a version in current English, free from old-fashioned words and unfamiliar grammar, free also from colloquialisms and slang expressions; a version which follows the original closely, paraphrasing only where necessity dictates; one which seeks above all to maintain the simple, dignified style of writing which has for so long been associated with the Scriptures in English.
This version will be found to make use of words which are Anglo-Saxon rather than of classical extraction. There are some words, however, such as justification, remission, propitiation (to name only a few) of Latin origin, and not in common use, which cannot be dispensed with as they are so woven with Christian thought. In a few places, for clarity purposes, words have been supplied which are not in the original Greek. Certain pronoun and verb forms that are not in use today have been discarded.

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: LB LI
Year Released: 1971

A paraphrase is the restatement of an author's thoughts, using different words. The purpose of this version is for it to say as exactly as possible what the writers of the Scriptures meant, and to say it simply, expanding where necessary for clear understanding by the modern reader. There is a danger in paraphrasing that the translator, though honest, may give the English reader something that the original writer did not mean to say. When the Greek or the Hebrew is not clear, the theology of the translator and his sense of logic are his guides. The theological guide in this version has been a rigid evangelical position.
This version has undergone several manuscript revisions. It has also been under the scrutiny of a team of Greek and Hebrew experts to check the content and of English critics to check for style. Thus, this edition is tentative.
It is a compilation of previous paraphrases by Tyndale: Living Letters (1962), Living Prophecies (1965), Living Gospels (1966), Living Psalms and Proverbs (1967), Living Lessons of Life and Love (1968), Living Books of Moses (1969), and Living History of Israel (1970).

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Publisher: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920


The object of this edition is to collect in a form convenient to English readers the remains of some of the apocryphal writings connected with the Old Testament which have not survived in their entirety. It is impossible in most cases to assign anything like a precise date to these writings. It would not be far out to say that most of them were produced in the period of the first century B.C.E. and the first century C.E. The sources of information about them are mainly of two kinds: lists of books and quotations.

Adam
Eve
Seth
Lamech
Noah
Noria, Wife of Noah
Ham
Abraham
Melchisedec
Jacob
The Twelve Patriarchs
Joseph
Jannes and Mambres
Eldad and Medad
The Book of Og
Moses
Solomon
Elijah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Zechariah
Baruch
Ezra
Hezekiah
Quotations from Apocryphal Books, Unnamed in Writings
Prophecy of Hystaspes

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This is a list of the lost books found within scripture. Each book has been listed in scripture by name at least once.


Book of the Covenant-
( No books found in print )
Exodus 24:7
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." (NIV)

Book of the Wars of the Lord/Wars of the Lord-
Numbers 21:14
That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: "... Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon (NIV)

Book of Jasher-
Joshua 10:13
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. (NIV)

2 Samuel 1:18
and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar): (NIV)

Manner of the Kingdom/Regulations of the Kingship-
( No books found in print )
1 Samuel 10:25
Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home. (NIV)


The Acts of Uzziah-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 26:22
The other events of Uzziah's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. (NIV)


Book of Samuel the Seer/Record of Samuel the Seer-
1 Chronicles 29:29
As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, (NIV)

Book of Gad the Seer/Records of Gad the Seer-
( No books found in print )
1 Chronicles 29:29
As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, (NIV)


Books of Nathan the Prophet/Records of Nathan the Prophet-
( No books found in print )
1 Chronicles 29:29
As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, (NIV)

2 Chronicles 9:29
As for the other events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? (NIV)


Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 9:29
As for the other events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? (NIV)


Visions of Iddo the Seer/Annotation of the Prophet Iddo-
( No books found in print )
1 Chronicles 29:29
As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, (NIV)

2 Chronicles 12:15
As for the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. (NIV)

2 Chronicles 13:22
The other events of Abijah's reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo. (NIV)


Book of Shemaiah/Records of Shemaiah-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 12:15
As for the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. (NIV)


Book of Jehu/Annals of Jehu-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 20:34
The other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel. (NIV)


Book of Kings of Isreal-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 20:34
The other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel. (NIV)


Sayings of the Seers/Records of the Seers-
( No books found in print )
2 Chronicles 33:19
His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself--all are written in the records of the seers. (NIV)


Epistle of Paul to the Corintians-
( No books found in print )
1 Corinthians 5:9
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- (NIV)


Earlier Epistle to the Ephesians-
( No books found in print )
Ephesians 3:3
that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. (NIV)


Epistle to the Church of Laodicea-
( No books found in print )
Colossians 4:16
After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.(NIV)

Prophecies of Enoch/Book of Enoch
Jude 1:14
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones (NIV)
By, R. Adam Quigley

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: MCT
Year Released: 1989

By diligent study, thorough academic preparation, self-discipline, and heart cultivation, Dr. Hugo McCord has become one of the leading and ripest scholars in the United States. He was an author, lecturer, preacher, and professor. He was a local preacher in nine cities across the United States. His evangelistic work took him to forty-two states and several countries around the world.
His greatest scholarly contribution is his translation of the New Testament. Because of his superior linguistic ability and commitment to the truth, he prepared a translation that can be accepted with confidence by all. He sought diligently to give an accurate translation of the inspired Word of God in an easily understood modern day English.
The basic text (with some exceptions) from which this translation comes is the third edition (corrected 1983) of the Greek New Testament, edited by Kurt Aland, et al. Careful attention was given to the companion volume A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, by Bruce Metzger, in cooperation with the Editorial Committee of the United Bible Societies. Disputed words considered important in this translation are bracketed. Doubly bracketed words indicate textual additions "of evident antiquity and importance."
Some words have been eliminated because they are inaccurate translations of New Testament words. Included are the following: church, baptism, repent, and begotten. In the Appendix is a list of departures from the text, with the reasons why.

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: MRB
Year Released: 1923



This translation, presented in modern literary form, was edited by Richard G. Moulton, a professor of literary theory and interpretation at the University of Chicago. It is based on the English Revised Version.
When we look into our ordinary versions, we cannot see the lyrics, epics, dramas, essays, sonnets, and treatises as in other great literatures of the world. Instead, we see a monotonous uniformity of numbered sentences, more suggestive of an itemized legal instrument than literature.
The most ancient manuscripts could not distinguish verse and prose. In prose, they make no distinctions of sentences and paragraphs. In verse, they make no distinctions of meter. In drama, they do not discriminate speeches nor suggest the names of speakers. Many do not make divisions of words. The scribes, rabbis, and medieval doctors who have intervened between the authors and us can be described as commentators. These preserved the words of Scripture, but they did not consider the literary character. The purpose of this translation is to give assistance in meeting this difficulty. The spirit of this work is bounded by the idea of literature. Within the covers of this volume, if it be adequately used, is the material of a liberal education.
The order of the books is not the same as for the King James Version. At the back are two sections, an introduction and a collection of notes, for each book.

[NSMinistries]

Abbreviation: MNT
Year Released: 1922

The aim of the translator, James Moffatt, a doctor of divinity, was to present the Old and New Testaments in effective, intelligible English. No translation of an ancient classic can be quite intelligible unless the reader is sufficiently acquainted with its environment to understand some of its flying allusions and characteristic metaphors. The translator felt that ought to be done at the present day to offer the unlearned a transcript of the Biblical literature as it lies in the light thrown upon it by modern research. A real translation is in the main an interpretation. To the best of his ability he has tried to be exact and idiomatic.
The initial difficulties in making a new version are started by the text used. The traditional or "massoretic" text of the Old Testament, though of primary value, is often desparately corrupt. At points where the text was in such disrepair that no conjecture could heal it, he inserted three dots. A longer line of dots in the poetical books indicated the original text was missing or it was in too much disrepair.
Some Hebrew terms have no English equivalent which corresponds to the original meaning. Something is dropped if they pass from Hebrew to English. The Tetragrammaton is rendered "the Eternal," except in an enigmatic title like "the Lord of Hosts," although the translator would have preferred to use "Yahweh."
The text used for the New Testament was that of H. von Soden, whose critical edition of the Greek New Testament based upon unprecedented researches, appeared during the first decade of the twentieth century. Quotations or direct reminiscences of the Old Testament are printed in italics.

[NSMinistries]

Inner Teachings of the Master

Editor: Yogi Ramacharaka
Publisher: Yogi Publication Society of Chicago, 1907


The lessons which comprise this volume originally appeared in monthly form from October 1907 to September 1908. These lessons met with a hearty and generous response from the public. Thus, this book was published in response to the demand for the lessons to be in a permanent and durable form. Students have stated that they found it necessary to read and study each lesson carefully in order to absorb the information.
The twelve lessons are as follows:

The Coming of the Master
The Mystery of the Virgin Birth
The Mystic Youth of Jesus
The Beginning of the Ministry
The Foundation of the Work
The Work of Organization
The Beginning of the End
The End of the Life Work
The Inner Teachings
The Secret Doctrine
The Ancient Wisdom
The Message of the Master

[NSMinistries]

Translator: Members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project
Publisher: Harper, 1988


The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of religious texts that vary widely from each other as to when, where, and by whom they were written. The focus of this library has much in common with primitive Christianity, with eastern religion, and with 'holy men and women' of all times, as well as with more secular equivalents of today. The library of fourth century papyrus manuscripts consists of twelve codices plus eight leaves from a thirteenth comprising a complete text and contains fifty-two separate tractates. Because of duplications, there are forty-five separate titles. Most of the tractates derive from the Hellenistic sects now called gnostic but survive in Coptic translations.
Since the original manuscripts are fragmentary in many places, ellipsis dots (. . .) are included to indicate the place, but not the extent of all lacunae. The page and line numbers of the papyrus codex, given in the translations, should indicate the extent of the damage. There is no clean control copy to allow for correction when compared. Thus, there may be many unintentional errors.
The manuscripts were buried about 400 C. E. and were discovered in 1945. They were found not far from a Panchomian monastery at Chenoboskia in Egypt. Two brothers, while fertilizing their crops in the Naj' Hammadi region of Upper Egypt, came across a jar at the base of a boulder. When they broke the jar, the books appeared. The brothers took the books to their home. A long story follows until the manuscripts reached the Department of Antiquities in Cairo. The man