Welcome to the fourteenth and final post in the series comparing the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised New Jerusalem Bible for one of the readings at each Sunday’s Mass. For today, the Solemnity of Christ the King, I’ve chosen the second reading (from Colossians). I am also including the English Standard Version for this comparison.
Sunday, November 24th, 2019 — Solemnity of Christ the King (Year C)
Second Reading: Colossians 1:12-20
Jerusalem Bible
…thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers —
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is in the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.
New Jerusalem Bible
…giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God’s holy people and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done. It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin.
He is the image of the unseen God,
the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers —
all things were created through him and for him.
He exists before all things
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body,
that is, the Church.
He is the Beginning,
the first-born from the dead,
so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness to be found in him
and through him to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
by making peace through his death on the cross.
Revised New Jerusalem Bible
…giving thanks with joy to the Father who has enabled you to share the inheritance of God’s saints in light.
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
He is the image of the unseen God,
the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
thrones, sovereignties, rulers, authorities —
all things were created through him and for him.
He exists before all things,
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the head of the body, the Church.
He is the beginning,
the first-born from the dead,
so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness to be found in him
and through him to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.
English Standard Version
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
New American Bible Revised Edition
…giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
[through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Marc,
Thank you very much for putting this series together!
As I had wrote earlier, it appears that the Conference of Bishops in England is leaning to replace their Jerusalem Bible based lectionary with the ESV. In response to this leaning, Henry Wansbrough OSB, editor of the NJB has produced the RNJB. I see nothing significantly different in the RNJB versus the NJB other than “word-smithing ;” which makes it more appropriate for a lectionary.
While one could argue some word choices in all the translations; in the end, I would suggest that all do the job. However, for me, I would not choose the ESV as my Catholic ear hears echoes of its roots which to me is the King James Version. Thus, for a lectionary II would choose the RNJB for its readability.
Lastly, while perhaps not intended in your study, it has shown to me that at times the Bible extracts used in the lectionary often take a section out of context; and to me, become misleading. To me the developers of the lectionary selections were, in general, masterful in connecting the Old Testament writing with the Gospel writings. However, at times I think they used a sledge hammer to fit the Old Testament reading with the Gospel. Perhaps, rather than focusing only on translations our Liturgy developers (whoever they are) ought to look at tuning the readings up. My guess this might result in longer Old Testament readings. This is not necessarily bad as you can never get enough Bible!
Thanks again for your efforts.
Jim
The RNJB was finally published yesterday.
My apologizes for asking my question on an old post, but have any of you used the paperback CTS Bible?
I am new to the Catholic Church…my wife and I are hopefully going to start RCIA soon.
I am looking to get a CE of the Scriptures.
I am thinking the NABRE – I do have the NLT non Catholic edition, however I would like a translation that is more “formal equivalent”.
I have found a couple NABRE’s that are coming out in October, they are leathersoft.
The non Catholic editions have lots of options, particularly thinline’s and nice leathersoft.
Can you point me to where to find some?
Thank you
https://www.christianbook.com/large-print-catholic-bible-leather-brown/9780785233923/pd/233925?event=ESRCG
This one is large print though, and I don’t necessarily need or want that.
Welcome, Justin! For the NABRE, one of the nicest medium-size editions that is currently on the market is from Catholic Book Publishing Corporation. Here’s a link to the product page on the publisher’s website:
https://catholicbookpublishing.com/product/27
The font is clear in this edition, and the size is reasonable — not cumbersome and not so small that the print is a struggle to read. The main potential downside of this edition (depending on your taste) is that Catholic Book Publishing Corp inserts glossy pages with illustrations at multiple places in the Bible. Since the illustration pages are a different thickness and weight compared to the rest of the Bible’s paper, these illustration inserts make it a little cumbersome to quickly flip from one passage to another.
If you’re open to using the NRSV, another option is the new personal-size NRSV-CE from Catholic Bible Press. It’s a beautiful leathersoft edition which is extremely portable, and yet the text is clear and easy to read. I did a review of it here:
http://catholicbibletalk.com/2020/03/first-look-nrsv-ce-personal-edition-from-thomas-nelson-catholic-bible-press/
This is one of my favorite Bibles right now. The feel of the leathersoft is close to real leather. It’s a joy to read from.