Dear Ken:

When doing Bible study it is good to look at numerous translations, including the King James Version, New International Version, and other Protestant translations.

But as for primary translations for Catholics what we have includes:

Douay-Rheims (1899 Challoner's edition)--Tan Publishers sells this one
Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition (Ignatius Bible)
Confraternity Edition (1950s)--out-of-print, very hard to find
Jerusalem Bible (1966)--out-of-print, very hard to find
New American Bible (1970)--this edition is hard to find and is, I believe, out-of-print. It is a good translation but it unnecessarily changes some tradition phrases like "full of grace" to something else

Bibles to avoid as they are contaminated with inclusive language bias (even though they may have an imprimatur):

• The New Jerusalem Bible (1990)
• New Revised Standard-Catholic Edition (1989)
• New American Bible with Revised New Testament (1986) -- hard to find, out-of-print
• New American Bible with Revised Psalms and Revised New Testament (1981) -- this is one most people have as it is the one you will find in the bookstores. It was rejected by the Holy See for the Lectionary due to improper inclusive language. A modified version of this translation that excluded the improper inclusive language is approved by the Holy See and is what is read in the Lectionary at Mass today, but this modified version is not available in the store for us to buy as a bible edition. It is only found in the Lectionary book.

The Notes in the NAB, however, are useful.

The Bible commentaries worth having include (in this order):

• the multi-volume Navarre Bible
• the new multi-volume Ignatius Study Bible (with people like Scott Hahn contributing to the notes)
• Heydock Edition of the Douay-Rheims
• Jerome Bible Commentary (in 2nd edition,  1st edition is better, but both must be used with discernment)

The standard for most Catholic Scholars and the version used in the Navarre Bible Commentary (and I think in the Ignatius Study Bible) is the Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition (RSV-CE).

The RSV-CE is actually a Protestant revision of the King James. The CE (Catholic Edition) has several minor alterations to conform to Catholic teaching.

The RSV-CE has just recently come out in a "2nd Edition" in which the language form as been updated to a late 20th Century English style (not slang or informal English, but formal English of the late 20th Century). It is much fresher and a very nice edition. That is the one that I bought in nice leather-bound as my main Bible.

The language always evolves. Most of us could not even begin to read the original 17th century editions of the Douay-Rheims or King James. The editions of the early 20th Century are readable but sound a little stale to the 21st Century ear.

That problem with the original RSV-CE and the Confraternity Bible (of the 1950s) is that the language style is dignified but rather stale as it reflects an English style of the the first part of the 20th Century. The Douay-Rheims was updated from its 17th Century English style in the Challoner and subsequent revisions up to the 1899 edition, but still contains 19th century language style.

But, if you want a recommendation for a single edition as a main Bible to have, I would recommend the Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition, 2nd Edition.

The original Jerusalem Bible is great too, but since it is no longer produced the only edition that I know of is a very big and thick hard-cover. You'll need to lift some weights at the gym if you carry this one around.

I hope this helps.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary