Next stop on our tour through Chapter 7 of Pocket Guide to the Bible, which details the most popular biblical translations. Previously, we covered the KJV, the RSV, and The Jerusalem Bible. Today’s subject is the New American Bible.

New American Bible (NAB)

First published in: 1970, by the Catholic Bible Association of America

Translation style: Formal Equivalence

Quick description: The official Roman Catholic Bible for public reading, and along with the Jerusalem Bible, one of the Catholic church’s most popular translations.

Why you should read it: If you’re a Catholic, this is what’s being read at Mass. Plus, the high-quality translation maintains the delicate balance between word-for-word equivalence and good readin’.

Not so fast: The footnotes are chockabloc with Catholic doctrine, so Protestants may be a little uncomfortable with all the popishness and references to Church councils. Plus there’s that whole Deuterocanonical section to worry about.

Example:
“You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth” (Exodus 20:4)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)