All Bibles are not the same. The Catholic Bible contains seven books of the Old Testament which are not found in Protestant Bibles. These books include:

• Judith
• Wisdom
• Tobit
• Sirach
• Baruch
• 1 and 2 Macabees
• Portions of Esther
• Portions of Daniel

These books are sometimes referred to as the "Apocrypha" by Protestants or the "Deuterocanonical" books meaning "also canonical" by Catholics.

Bible History

During the early centuries of the Church there was plenty of debate and discussion about which books actually were authentic and inspired Sacred Scripture. The early Church councils of Hippo (393) and of Carthage (397) both declared that the books currently contained in the Catholic Bible (the canon of Sacred Scripture) were the inspired Word of God and belonged in the Bible.

During the Reformation, Martin Luther and other Protestant leaders removed these books from the Bible. Luther even argued that the Letter of St. James and the Book of Revelation (The Apocalypse) should be removed from the Bible! The Council of Trent in 1546 reaffirmed what the councils of Hippo and Carthage had proclaimed over 1000 years earlier: that the texts found in the Catholic Bible are all the authentic Word of God and comprise the complete canon of Sacred Scripture.

Catholic Bible Translations

There are several different English translations available for the Catholic Bible. The primary ones include:

• Douay Rheims - This is the oldest English translation available and is frequently compared with the King James version because of its use of "Thee", "Thou" and other older forms of words. This translation is considered highly accurate but can be more difficult to read for some people.
• Revised Standard (RSV) - This was a joint translation project between American Protestants and Catholics with the Catholic Church completing the translation of the Apocrypha. This translation is considered the most accurate modern translation but still contains "Thee" and "Thou" when referring to God. This translation along with the New American Bible was approved for liturgical use in the United States.
• Revised Standard 2nd Edition - This version is almost identical to the regular Revised Standard but updates the language by getting rid of "Thee" and "Thou".
• New American Bible (NAB) - This version is the most common American translation. It was written for an eighth grade reading level and contains the most "modern" language of the primary Catholic translations. The New American Bible is available in more versions than any other Catholic Bible.
• Jerusalem Bible - The Jerusalem Bible, completed in 1966, is very similar to

Pre-cut, 1" self-adhesive tabs fit most Bibles.  Seven glossy rainbow colors divide major sections of the Bible: rose- The Pentateuch; peach- History; yellow- Poetry and Wisdom; green- The Prophets; blue- The Gospels; violet- The Letters; lavender- Bible Helps.

The Seven Last Words Of Christ - A Bible Study On Jesus' Passion Rich Cleveland This Lent, meditate and pray with Jesus as he endures the cross. Learn to pray with Jesus, "Father, forgive them..." and hear his comforting words, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." This bible study will draw you closer to Jesus' Passion so that the real meaning of Easter comes alive!

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Understanding the Scriptures is designed for the sophmore grade level.

A beautiful vinyl over paper flexible cover gift edition specially designed for a girl's First Holy Communion.  Pages are edged in pink. This Bible contains: a full-color 8-page First Communion Certificate Presentation Page a Prayer Section--containing the Lord's Prayer a listing of the Sacraments the Rosary and the Nicene Creed.(Rosary includes the luminous …

My Daily Catholic Bible - 20-Minute Daily Readings - Revised Standard Version Edited by Paul Thigpen My Daily Catholic Bible offers a reading plan that divides all of Sacred Scripture into 365 segments, one for each day of the year; features two small, manageable readings for each day, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament; offers an insightful quote from a saint for every …

Fr. Christopher Rengers , O.F.M. Cap. Few Christians can recall all Seven of Our Lord's Last Words on the Cross. Yet these "Seven Words" - brief sentences spoken by Him - give us Our Saviour's sacred parting instructions, messages intended not only for their few immediate hearers on the hill of Calvary, but spoken to all generations by way of Holy Scripture. For nothing that Our …

This edition of the venerable Douay-Rheims Bible is a complete reprinting of the Challoner edition. Features include: Burgundy leather flex cover Gold-edged pages Double ribbon bookmark Completely re-typset for clarity 11 Color Re-drawn maps of Israel and the Temple 32 woodcut prints of biblical scenes Family register Historical and Chronological index of the Old and New Testaments Table …

This book is a new release and will be available July 2007. Leatherflex cover.

This green cloth hardcover Navarre New Testament has a high gloss paper cover depicting St. John the Evangelist(based on a Greek manuscript). This new edition of the entire New Testament offers a freshly-edited commentary drawn from a greater variety of sources than were used in the original Navarre Commentaries.

A beautiful vinyl over paper flexible cover gift edition specially designed for a boy's First Communion.  Pages are edged in blue and the words: "First Communion and Saint Joseph Edition" on the cover are also in blue.  This Bible contains: a full-color 8-page First Communion Certificate Presentation Page a Prayer Section--containing the Lord's Prayer a …

The Douay-Rheims Bible with Commentary, Dictionary of Biblical Terms and Names. This bible gets its name from the fact that in the 19th century Rev. George Haydock collected commentary from many of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church and appended it to the Douay version of the Sacred Scriptures. This is the newest edition of what was the most common bible in all Catholic homes from the 1840s …

Are Catholics biblical illiterates? So goes the frequent question, proving that myths die hard. But Catholics ought to be able to answer the charge made by many non-Catholics in this regard. This book is a response to Fundamentalist critics and an explanation of the Catholic biblical tradition. The Catholic Church and the Bible is a significant scriptural study guide, published from a Catholic …

The History of the Church is intended for high school seniors.  

This is a Spanish-English parallel translation edition of the Holy Bible.

Characters of the Passion By Fulton J. Sheen The Eternal Drama of the Cross This inspiring book, written by one of Christianity's most prolific authors, discusses faith and the vital part it plays in our modern world. Using the stories of many of those who were influential in the life and death of Jesus, author Fulton J. Sheen gives us a better understanding of, and a fuller meaning to, faith. …

This new edition of the venerable Douay-Rheims Bible is a complete reprinting of the Challoner edition. Features include: Leather flex cover Gold-edged pages Double ribbon bookmark Completely re-typset for clarity 11 Color Re-drawn maps of Israel and the Temple 32 woodcut prints of biblical scenes Family register Historical and Chronological index of the Old and New Testaments Table of …

The writings of the prophets are almost three thousand years old, but "their message transcends the events that made them speak and the interval that separates them from the modern age." The prophets were sons of Israel from every social class. Because they lived in times very different from our own, their message and its background might seem obscure to us. This book helps to bridge …

The Bible Timeline provides a clear understanding of the underlying Scriptural narrative, which is essential to all Bible reading and study. The 24-part Bible Timeline Bible Study dives deep into the Biblical story. A combination of individual reading and study, group discussion, and lecture commentary guides participants as they read through the 14 narrative books of The Bible Timeline and …