New Revised Standard Version

This is the authorized revision of the Revised Standard Version (1952). A committee of about thirty members of various Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church participated. Eastern Orthodox and Jewish representatives were members of the Old Testament section.

Since the publication of the Revised Standard Version, there have been advances made in the discovery and interpretation of documents in the Semitic languages. The Dead Sea Scrolls provided information on the Books of Isaiah and Habakkuk and fragments on the other books of the Old Testament. Greek manuscript copies of books of the New Testament also became available. Thus, authorization was given for revision of the entire Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

For the Old Testament, the 1977 edition of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia was used. For the New Testament, the 1966 edition of The Greek New Testament was used.

Occasionally, it was necessary to make changes. Footnotes indicate how other ancient authorities read. The style of English used reflects current usage. Masculine-oriented language has been eliminated, where possible. The Tetragrammaton is rendered as LORD and GOD, in capital letters. Archaic English pronouns and verb endings are not used. Essentially, it is a literal translation, but it has a few paraphrastic renderings.

Genesis 1: 1, 2
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

John 1: 1 – 3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

The following comparative studies include this version:

1. Burden and Yoke to Be Removed
2. Commandments or Clean Robes?
3. Fringe on the Borders of a Garment
4. God So Loved the World
5. Hebrew Poetry in the Bible
6. Hebrew Synoptic Gospels
7. Israelites and Baal-Peor
8. Offering Sacrifices to the He-Goat
9. Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread
10. Reference to the Trinity
11. Sabbaths and Sundown
12. Scripture Inspired by God
13. Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
14. Sides of the Court of the Tabernacle
15. Some Variations in the Book of Acts
16. Story of the Adultress
17. That Which Will Happen Before the End
18. Those Who Work Iniquity
19. Tragedy at Beth-Shemesh
20. Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures