The New Jerusalem Bible

The New Jerusalem Bible is a beautiful book. It is complete in that it includes the Apocryphal Books. Reviews by biblical scholars have affirmed its high level accuracy. The abundant footnotes assist the laymen in understanding difficult passages.

The New Jerusalem Bible is a fine study aid. Though it is the product of Catholic scholars there is nothing in either the translation or the excellent notes which could not have been written by competent scholars of any denominational background. I like the idiomatic English: Jezebel to Ahab - "Some king of Israel you make!" Compare NRSV - "Do you now govern Israel?".

Any translation is a trade-off between the literal and the idiomatic. The latter scores in liveliness and instant intelligibility but will have a shorter shelf-life and may not travel so well across all the cultures where English is the preferred language of Christians. A more literal translation keeps closer to the Hebrew and Greek mode of expression but will make a greater demand on the reader's attention.

NJB (Standard edition) avoids double columns and breaks up the text with headings, making reference much easier. It's not a Bible to take to church with you, but I would recommend it wholeheartedly for any serious student's study.

I love the New Jerusalem Bible. It's the only translation I love to read. I already own one but, it has very small type. I bought this one for the larger type and supposed more notes. It does have larger type. I was expecting it to have more cross references, foot notes and information. It only has one map.
It's still the best version around, Catholic or not. Most accurate and I too, love to see "Yahweh" in the Bible. It's very fluid to read.

This translation is inspiring! One of the few translations to include the Holy Name Yahweh. I regret that possible future editions will revert back to using Lord rather than using Yahweh. Get this treasure while you can.

The bibles I ordered are for my friends. I have my own for long time. The package was poorly done and the dust covers were damaged and I feel bad to present to my friends as a gift. Wish you can do better in packing the books.