The New American Bible

by Anonymous, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Editor)

Uniquely American, this popular translation is the easiest to understand Catholic edition of the Bible. This modern translation was prepared by over 50 scholars to capture the thought and individual style of the inspired writers while still making this translation easy to use for all ages.The New American Bible is the perfect Bible for your Catholic family and friends, and these editions from Catholic World Press will make perfect gifts. It's the official Catholic Bible -- as authorized by the Bishop's Committee of Christian Doctrine.
Special versions of the official Catholic translation with features for students and gift giving.
Concise, authoritative notes
Revised New Testament and Psalms
Family register and full-color maps (2405 and 2406 editions only)
Chronological listing of Christ's miracles and discourses
List of the Popes
Book introductions
Cross references
Footnotes
Maps
Presentation page
Red letter (except 2401)

Genres: Religion, Reference, Catholic, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith, Theology

1394 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bring the hate. This translation is standard issue for anyone doing anything remotely "scholastic" in Catholicism - if you want pretty, go for the King James, if you want accurate, go here. I still have the now duct-taped-together copy I was issued in 1996 when I started Catholic High School. I've read the majority of it at least 3 times per book since then, and it's still (Sort of) in one piece.
One important thing to note is that there are several flat-out errors in the King James that this corrects.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took the challenge and read the entire Bible cover-to-cover in exactly 90 days. It was one of the most spiritually gruelling and intense experiences of my life. I learned so much about God, myself, and everything in general. I couldn't even begin to sum up everything that I got out of it. This is the ultimate book of all time! I'll be reading it until I die. I can't recommend it enough. It's God's Word, after all. ;-) One hundred stars.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can I really even review this? It's the freaking Word of God! I am a Catholic and proud of it, so I cherish this book. I don't read it as much as I should, I will admit, but there is so much the Bible offers us. It offers courage and hope, gives us rules as to how to live our lives right. Most of all, it offers us God. There are some great stories in here as well. I particularly like the women of the Bible: Ruth, Esther, Mary, etc. Esther has to be my favorite. She had courage, possibly more courage than any women has ever had since. She risked her life for her people and showed that God could work through even a woman. Women were still second-class citizens at the time, and yet God chose to work through them so much. Who said the Bible is all about men? *shakes head* Go pick on up! It's the #1 selling book in the world for a reason.

[rafael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished it!! Took me roughly 11 months of (almost) daily reading, but I managed to see it through and read the whole thing, cover to cover. I still have so many misgivings about the Catholic Church and its doctrines, a great deal of which are based on sacred scripture. Often, I feel that the Church--as it is still a human institution--has this dangerous and unfortunate tendency to be oppressive, discriminatory, and averse to inclusivity. That said, this rating is more for the overall experience of (finally) finishing the whole Bible, after literal decades of trying to do so.

Some books were harder to read than others, like Leviticus, Numbers, the latter portion of Ezekiel, Chronicles, and Maccabees. Other books were an absolute joy: Job, Tobit, Daniel, Ruth, Jonah and Ecclesiastes stood out. So yeah, all in all, there were some moments of desolation, frustration, anger, and bewilderment, but I also felt a profound sense of consolation at times, and those moments legit made me tear up.

[Anita Grendell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave it a 4 at first because it was so repetitive in places. Then I felt bad for giving The Bible only a 4! So I gave it a 5. But it really was so repetitive in places. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could, but it'll have to be a 4.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started to read the Bible straight through from the very beginning in early February, but I wasn't sure whether - or how - to list it on Goodreads. I wondered how I can possibly rate it. Would giving it a rating mean that I, as a mere mortal, was attempting to judge the work of God Himself and the countless ancient authors and editors He inspired? Or would it mean that I was attempting to judge how this particular translation conveys God's sacred message compared to any other translation? As I am just beginning my studies, I do not feel qualified to do that.

But since Goodreads is meant to show what its members are currently reading, I realized that it is a chance to witness to the faith by sharing that I am reading/studying the Book at its very foundation.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give the Bible less than 5 stars?

In all seriousness, this is the first time I’ve read the Bible. It was eye opening. I used the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, which has you read each book in context of the larger narrative of Jesus.

I used The Bible in a Year podcast from Ascension Press; narrated by Father Mike Schmitz. For the majority of the year, I began my day by taking a morning walk and reflecting on God’s Word. Very powerful.

[Kelsey Gietl · Rating 5 out of 5]

11 months and 1 day after starting to read, I can say I’ve finished the entire Bible. What a wonderful experience. It was incredible to see how everything in our faith ties together and how the issues of today are reflected in those of the past. I started with the New Testament, then went back to read the background in the Old Testament, and now plan to read The New Testament again with a greater understanding.

[Galicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genesis

Exodus

I am surprised by the amount of violence in the Bible.

Job

The purpose of the writing is instructional. Job is a prosperous and pious man of some fortune. He loses his family and property suddenly. We are told however that before this happened one day Satan challenges God by telling that Job’s blameless and upright life would not hold up to misfortune. God let’s Satan take away all that he has as long as he does not lay hands on him. Job however does not complain against God. He says he came naked to the world and he is naked now.

Job’s friends come to condole him but Job protests his innocence. Job asks God for explanation. God does respond telling Job how can he compare himself to his almighty power from the creation of the world onward. Job recovers his humility and puts his trust in God. God chastises his friends and tells them to make an offering. The lesson is that our mind is finite and cannot see the divine omniscience of God.

Joshua

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Book of Judith

Chronicles
. . . . .

Maccabees 2: I have never in my life ever come across the tortures and deaths as described in Maccabees 2. The numbers used in all of the Old Testament must be skewed. I wish I kept a list, like I did with biography of Alexander “the Great” because the tens of thousands that are routinely “smitten” are a litany throughout. How did the priests sacrifice five thousand sheep, a thousand bullocks to Jehovah at one time? How many butchers were at hand? Where did they get the fuel? Must have cut down a small forest.

Sirach is actually by Jesus who is a grandson of Sirach and its title is “The Wisdom of Sirach”. I think if would be very confusing to have named retained Jesus’ name in the title, such as “The Book of Jesus”.
The book has a good review of the twelve prophets.

Up to The Book of Daniel . . .

Onto the New Testament now, Revelation

[Ricky Bosso]

I have read the entire bible. I don’t know how long it took. You’ll notice no rating, because I have expressed my opinions on several major books of the Bible individually. If you are curious, dig through what I have read and determine my separate opinions yourself. The Bible is vast, many authors contributed to it. My favorite book is probably Job.

I will be moving on to shorter books for a long while. The Bible is the longest “single” book I’ve ever read. I might read The Mahabharata one day, though. Anyways, I would rather not think about The Mahabharata now, so that’s that for now. Happy New Years.

[Silvia Abreu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't have a book list without the most important one included :)

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bible in a Year with Father Mine Schmitz! Wonderful Bible study. I plan on reading it again with Father Mike in 2022!

[Apollo Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

wish i could give this more of a 2.75 or whatever but. yeah, wow! took me like 4 months to get through this hefty book. i read this when i was a child multiple times, but i never sat down and read the whole thing through with no instruction. it was interesting to get through this, see all contents of this very famous book. there were a few banger moments, some cool lines here and there, but mostly i think it’s more of a … history book? a picture of what people cared about and found important, than a rule book for a modern individual. scaly skin was a big issue back then, so was being payed fairly for doing vineyard work, and cleaning altars. tonsss of misogyny, wow. and some really bad takes about slavery. compared to other myths i’ve read, i can’t say this is a favorite. so much of this is lamenting about babylon and rome that it really is more a succinct document for the time, and isn’t very moving for me. i’m glad ive gotten through this, so i can have it under my belt, but i don’t know if i would say it’s a very compelling story to be honest.

[Ai Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I would definitely recommend this edition if you're looking for a definitive Catholic bible; the annotations are often helpful (though sometimes they end up feeling repetitive, but might be helpful for folks who aren't just reading it straight through like I did.) The introductions are also fairly helpful, and there are often summaries of sections. If I were to do this again (which I might some day, but given it took me over a year to read it this time it'll be a while,) I would probably change the way I did it and try to focus more on the text itself and less on the annotations, but that's about me reading and not the book itself.

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see it took me 16 months! This Bible was a gift to me from my mother 23 years ago. I felt close to her reading it. There were parts that were difficult and I felt my faith wavering. I asked many questions. This was a life long goal and I’m glad I persevered. It did change me, and the way I think, but ultimately, the more time I spend with God, the closer I become. God is with me always, and the more I am aware of God’s presence, the more peaceful I become.

[Lee Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can be said about the inspired word of God that can rightly do it justice?! I am SO pleased to have set this goal for myself and accomplished it (while concurrently listening to The Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz ). I am already looping around this podcast for a second go around and might search out a different bible translation to check out any small differences.

[Theran Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever written. First time reading this translation in its entirety. Sometimes the verbiage feels too plain or less poetic (especially comparing it to Douay Rheims) but it really aids in understanding, in modern language. I don’t believe the essence of the message suffers. The explanatory notes are very helpful and the confer (cf.) passages are great to reference.

[Doug Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by my loving wife, I read it all this year. Not just the checkt the box read I've done in the past, but a read to try and truly understand. What a treat. I cant wait to do it again. This yearwill be study of the Psalms.

[Carolane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent translation and notes

[Kevin W]

Finally!

[Gwen Fern · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fan club for this is so fucking annoying

Song of Songs and the talking Donkey in Numbers are great tho

[katie campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

lowkey crazy plot

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

a bit preachy

[luisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking to log the New Testament of the Bible which I read from February-may of 2025, so I logged it as this

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I followed a daily reading schedule to complete this accomplishment...🤗

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally.

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the official translation of the Bible that is used by the Catholic Church in the United States and several other English-speaking countries. The aim of this translation has been to make the Bible more accessible to the modern readers, especially in the context of liturgical use. In that respect the translation has been fairly successful: the language used is standard modern English with North American usage, most of the terminology is straightforward, and many obscure terms and references have been reworded in order to get the basic meaning across. However, this updating of the translation has come at some cost: many passages that have become familiar to the generations of English speakers in their more archaic forms have lost a lot of their punch. The language is less powerful and poetic, and lacks a lot of strength and conviction of some other translations. On several occasions the choice of words and phrases comes across as motivated more with the current political sensibilities, rather than with clear meaning of the particular passage.

One of the best features of this edition is the ample commentaries. There is a page or two of introduction to each book of the Bible, and every page is filled with footnotes. There are in fact many pages where there are as many footnotes as there is text. This may be a bit of detraction if you are just using this Bible for devotional reading, but even then it is useful to have easy and accessible references if you come across some obscure or puzzling passage. However, the best use of this Bible is for study or small discussion groups. That's where ample references really come in handy. Furthermore, all of the footnotes and explanations are consistent both with the most current biblical scholarship and the official theological stance of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, I feel that in some instances the commentators tend to be unduly apologetic for particular more politically incorrect passages.

The overall quality of this book is actually pretty low: the paper is cheap, and the binding extremely fragile. If you use this book frequently, be prepared for pages to come out. This has its advantages, however, as you will probably not feel too reticent to write comments or highlight passages. This again works in favor of using this book more for study than for devotional reading.

If you are a Catholic living in the United States or any other country that uses this Bible translation in its liturgy, I would strongly recommend getting your own copy of this wonderful book. It is a useful and necessary tool for deepening your faith in communion with your fellow believers.

[Dina (ReviewTime) · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband gave me this Bible in Aug of 2007. This is a very nice Bible but I would like to point out that a Companion Edition isn't the same as a study Bible. The notes of a study Bibles are way more in depth than that of a Companion Edition. Personally I didn't find the notes to be very helpful in this edition. That said this is a very fine quality Catholic Bible.

About the binding & cover
The cover is a new type of flux leather, its very soft like the high quality genuine leather Bibles.
This Bible has a very nice, high quality feel. The Crucifix on the front & the Rosary on the back are embossed into the cover. Fireside Catholic Publishing is the only company that publishes Bibles with a Pray-along Rosary embossed in the cover.

Whats in side?
The text is 14 point GIANT print. The pages are make of high quality paper, with Gold-gilded edges & Silk Ribbon Marker.

In The front

1. A page with Photos & quotes from Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II & Pope Pius XII
2. Three Imprimaturs for one for the Old Testament, the revised Psalms, & the revised New Testament.
3. Table of Consent: Books of the Bible in order & A list of the books of the Bible alphabetically arranged.
4. The Bible- A Catholic Perspective
5. The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation


In The Back

1. Table of Weekday Lectionary Readings
2. Table of Sunday and Feast Day Lectionary Readings
3. The Basic Tenets of the Catholic Church
4. A list of The Ten Commandments
5. The Stations of The Cross
6. The Seven Sacraments
7. The Seven Deadly Sins
8. The Spiritual works of mercy
9. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
10. The fruits of the Holy Spirit
11. The Cardinal Virtues
12. The Theological Virtues
13. The four Marks of the Catholic Church
14. The Last Things
15. The Precepts of the Catholic Church
16. The Beatitudes
17. All four Mysteries of The Rosary
18. A list of the Holy days of Obligation for the USA & Canada.

About this Translation.
This Bible is the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Psalms. This is the most popular Catholic Bible translation..The New American Bible is an English Bible translation that was produced by members of the Catholic biblical scholars in cooperation with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The original languages were translated into English by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine according to the principles of Vatican II for use in the liturgy.

[J.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do people give religious books higher ratings because they really enjoyed reading them or because they don't want to be penalized by the Almighty when they die for not giving the Bible five stars on a review site?

I received this Bible as a senior in high school and yes, I've read it cover to cover. This being a Catholic version, there are additional books included which other Christian denominations don't consider part of the traditional canon. The translation is very straight-forward and easy to read (definitely not your high-brow King James' version). My copy is heavily marked up ~ an old friend once told me "a dinged up Bible is a sign of someone who isn't."

One thing I really appreciate about this version is the footnotes included throughout the text. In addition to clarifying some of the translations and referencing related passages, these footnotes also mention the original text which referred to the story or passage in the first place. This came in very handy for me when I took several classes on the Bible in college and could use my own copy for exams. Who had to memorize which sections in the book of Luke were taken from a source known only as Q when the footnotes in my Bible pointed these out?

[Victoria Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Run so as to win." 1 Corinthians 9:24
I HIGHLY recommend using the Bible in a Year podcast by Fr. Mike Schmidtz. It may not pair exactly with this translation, but it helped me read through the Bible for once (though it was a little over a year and a half). And Fr. Mike's reflections brought things to light I wouldn't have grasped on my own. Through this journey, I have come to understand the world and how God is working in it better. And I enjoyed listening to one translation while reading another as it helped me gain perspective on what God is saying to us.
With God's grace and strength, you can make it through the Bible. And you'll be so grateful and all the more rich for it afterward.