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Selecting a Catholic Bible for Lectio

What translation of a Bible should be used for lectio divina?

I recommend four translations for Catholic readers: The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), The New American Bible (NAB), The Jerusalem Bible (JB) and The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB).

My personal favorite translation is the Jerusalem Bible. It is translated from original languages then into French, then English. I find the Jerusalem text more poetic and it sounds true to my ears. I also think the Jerusalem Bible editions have taken much trouble to format and leave some white spaces for just resting with a text. The NJB has several editions that are easy to hold and pleasant to read.

The most recommended translation today is the NRSV. It is excellent and has Study Bible editions like the New Oxford Annotated Bible and is readable and full of help for study. The NRSV has attended to inclusive language issues.

For some months I used a Protestant Bible for travel, the large print compact edition of Holman Christian Standard Bible. It has a great feel of near-leather, with a Celtic cross cover, but I missed the Catholic canon that includes the book of Tobit, the complete book of Daniel, Judith, additions to Book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the letter of Jeremiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees.

As a Catholic who hears so much of the Bible at liturgy I missed those sections that were not included in my Protestant travel Bible.

Now, I use a NRSV Catholic Edition plus Anglicized Text for both travel and at home for study and teaching, but for my own prayer I use my Jerusalem Bible that I got as a present from my mother at first vows in 1963.

For lectio divina we need a translation that is from original languages, as in formal correspondence. We also need a bible with footnotes, commentary, and study guides.

For more information on choosing a Bible translation google John J. Pilch. Or order the pamphlet of that title from Liturgical Press, Collegeville MN copyright 2000.

There is certainly a risk in using a translation that has little correspondence with the literal sense of the text. These translations like the Good News Bible (Today’s English Version, TEV), or the Contemporary English Version (CEV) start with the meaning to meaning and there is more risk of the translator giving his/her meaning rather than the original intention of the author(s).

Avoid using the Good News Bible (TEV) or the Contemporary English Version (CEV). Since lectio divina is an encounter with God we need to read the most orthodox translations.

RSV (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition) Oxford University Press: London. “Introduction” The aim of this translation must be to render into inteligibl language, as faithfully as possible, what he regards on solid critical grounds, as the original text or the closest possible approximation to it.

In some cases the original has not come down to us, but it is still incumbent on the translator to try to get as near as possible to it by a study of the most ancient versions.” P. iv.