New Revised Standard Version

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The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is an update of the Revised Standard Version (RSV).

There are three editions of the NRSV:

the NRSV standard edition, containing the Old and New Testaments (Protestant canon);
the NRSV with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books in addition to the Old and New Testaments;
the NRSV Catholic Edition containing the Old Testament books in the order of the Vulgate.

The NRSV has received acceptance among a broad range of Christian churches including the Catholic church, nearly three dozen Protestant churches, and at least one Greek Orthodox leader.

Although the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves only the New American Bible for liturgical use, the NRSV is used in the English-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and is the version authorized for liturgical use in Canada. Several versions of the Bible, including the NRSV, carry an imprimatur.

There are also Anglicised editions of the NRSV, which modify the text slightly to be consistent with British spelling and grammar.

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History

The NRSV was translated by the Division of Christian Education (now Bible Translation and Utilization) of the National Council of Churches, an ecumenical Christian group. There has also been Jewish representation in the group responsible for the Old Testament.

Only one of the translators of the main original RSV, Harry Orlinsky, was also involved with the NRSV. However, the Chairman of the NRSV translators, Bruce Metzger, had been involved with the RSV Apocrypha.

The revisions made to the RSV include: more accurate translations due to newly found manuscripts, modernizing archaic English (such as "thee" and "thou"), and the use of gender-inclusive language, which has been criticized by some conservative Christians. Gender-inclusive language does represent a change from the traditional translations; however, in many cases, the original language, Koine Greek, is gender ambiguous. For example, adelphoi, can be translated as either "brothers" or "brothers and sisters."

An alternative revision of the RSV that does not use gender-inclusive language was published in 2001: the English Standard Version (ESV).

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Study Editions

The Harper Study Bible (1991, ISBN 0310902037)
The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (1997, ISBN 0060655275)
The Spiritual Formation Bible (1999, ISBN 0310900891)
The Access Bible with Apocrypha (1999, ISBN 0195282175)
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 3rd edition (2001, ISBN 019528478X)
The New Interpreter's Study Bible with Apocrypha (2003, ISBN 0687278325)
The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible with Apocrypha (2005, ISBN 0060671084)