Scripture
What Bible Do Catholics Use? Versions Compared
Catholics use a 73-book Bible in a translation approved by the Church. The Douay-Rheims, the Knox, the New American Bible, the RSV and ESV Catholic editions: what each is, and what is read at Mass.
Catholics use a Bible of 73 books in a translation approved by the Church. In English, the traditional Catholic version is the Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), translated from the Latin Vulgate; it is the one we use. Modern approved versions are also in use: the New American Bible is the basis of the Mass readings in the United States, the ESV Catholic Edition has served the same purpose in England, Wales and Scotland since Advent 2024, and the RSV Catholic Edition is widely read. Protestant editions such as the King James Version, the NIV or the standard ESV are not Catholic Bibles.
The question hides two others: which books (the canon, explained in The Catholic Bible), and which translation. This article answers the second.
What version of the Bible do Catholics use?
Whatever the version, a Catholic Bible has two marks together:
- The full canon. All 73 books, including Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Machabees and the longer Esther and Daniel. A Bible without them is a Protestant Bible, however reverent.
- Church approval. The Church does not leave the text of Scripture to private initiative. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (canon 1391) allowed vernacular Bibles to be printed only if approved by the Holy See or published under the bishops' supervision with notes drawn from the Fathers and Catholic scholars. An approved edition carries an imprimatur and, normally, explanatory notes.
The Catechism of St Pius X puts the rule in one sentence: "We can read those translations of the Bible in the vernacular which have been acknowledged as faithful by the Catholic Church and which have explanations also approved by the Church."
The Douay-Rheims: the traditional Catholic Bible in English
For more than three centuries the Douay-Rheims was, in practice, the Bible of English-speaking Catholics. English Catholic scholars in exile, led by Gregory Martin at the English College, translated the Vulgate: the New Testament appeared at Rheims in 1582, the Old Testament at Douay in 1609-1610. Bishop Richard Challoner revised the whole in 1749-1752, modernising spelling and smoothing the Latinisms, and his text with its notes is what is printed today as "the Douay-Rheims."
Why it remains the traditional reference:
- It is made from the Latin Vulgate, the text the Council of Trent declared "authentic" for the Church (see The Latin Vulgate Bible), so it follows closely the Latin read in the traditional Mass and sung in the Breviary.
- It keeps the Vulgate names and Psalm numbering used by the Fathers, the saints and the liturgical books.
- Its notes give the Catholic reading of disputed texts.
Its limits are honest ones: the English is that of the eighteenth century, some Latinisms remain, and modern scholarship has corrected readings in the Hebrew and Greek. For prayer, for the liturgy and for reading Scripture as the saints quoted it, those limits are small. Every verse quoted on this site is from the Douay-Rheims, as in our Catholic Bible Verses.
Catholic Bible translations in English
| Translation | Date | Translated from | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douay-Rheims (Challoner) | 1582-1610; rev. 1749-1752 | Latin Vulgate | The traditional English Catholic Bible |
| Confraternity New Testament | 1941 | Latin Vulgate | American revision of the Challoner New Testament |
| Knox Bible | NT 1945, OT 1949 | Latin Vulgate | Mgr Ronald Knox's single-handed translation in modern English |
| RSV Catholic Edition | 1965-1966 | Hebrew and Greek | Catholic adaptation of the Protestant Revised Standard Version; Ignatius Press published a second Catholic edition in 2006 |
| Jerusalem Bible | 1966 | Hebrew and Greek | Used for the Mass readings in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from 1969 |
| New American Bible | 1970; revised (NABRE) 2011 | Hebrew and Greek | Translation of the US bishops; basis of the US Lectionary |
| ESV Catholic Edition | 2017 | Hebrew and Greek | Catholic adaptation of the ESV; Lectionary of England, Wales and Scotland from Advent 2024 |
The first three belong to the age before the Council and translate the Vulgate. The others translate the Hebrew and Greek and were made after it; the Catholic editions among them carry the full canon and ecclesiastical approval. They differ in style and in the tendency of their notes, and readers attached to tradition generally prefer the Douay-Rheims or the Knox for that reason. In the United States the bishops are preparing a revision of the NABRE, to be called the Catholic American Bible, with a new Lectionary to follow later.
Catholic study Bibles. A study Bible is a translation with extended notes and introductions. The best known in English are built on modern versions: the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (notes by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch on the RSV Second Catholic Edition), The Great Adventure Catholic Bible (Ascension, also RSV-2CE) and the Catholic Study Bible of Oxford on the NABRE. The Challoner notes of the Douay-Rheims and the footnotes of Haydock's edition (1811-1814) are the older equivalent, written before the modern schools of exegesis.
What Bible is read at Mass?
At the Traditional Latin Mass, the Epistle and Gospel are sung or read in the Latin of the Vulgate, as printed in the Roman Missal; the priest may read them again in the vernacular before the sermon, and hand missals give them in the Douay-Rheims or a similar version. See What Is the Tridentine Mass? for the rite itself.
At the modern Roman rite in the United States, the readings come from the Lectionary for Mass, based on the New American Bible; in England, Wales and Scotland they have come from the ESV Catholic Edition since the First Sunday of Advent 2024.
Bibles that are not Catholic
- The King James Version (1611) is the Bible of the Church of England, translated from the Hebrew and Greek. It originally printed the deuterocanonical books in a separate Apocrypha section; most editions now leave them out. It is not an approved Catholic edition.
- The NIV, the standard ESV, the NLT, the NKJV and similar versions are Protestant translations without the deuterocanonical books.
- A Catholic edition of a Protestant translation (RSV-CE, ESV-CE) is a different book from the Protestant original: it adds the missing books and adjusts certain passages, and it bears approval.
Psalm numbers and book names
Two practical differences surprise readers who switch Bibles. The Douay-Rheims and the Knox number the Psalms after the Greek and Latin, usually one lower than the Hebrew numbering used by the NABRE, RSV-CE and ESV-CE (the "Twenty-Third Psalm" is Psalm 22 in the Douay). They also keep the Vulgate names: 1-4 Kings for 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, Paralipomenon for Chronicles, Apocalypse for Revelation. The full table is in The Catholic Bible; the history of the seven disputed books in The Deuterocanonical Books.
To read the Douay-Rheims on a phone, the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app sets it beside the Latin Vulgate; we compare it with the other options in our guide to the best Catholic Bible app.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Bible do Catholics use?
A Bible of 73 books in a translation approved by the Church. The traditional English Catholic Bible is the Douay-Rheims, translated from the Latin Vulgate; modern approved translations include the New American Bible (used for the Mass readings in the United States) and the RSV and ESV Catholic editions.
What version of the Bible does the Catholic Church use?
The Church's own Latin text is the Vulgate, declared authentic by the Council of Trent; the liturgical books of the traditional Roman rite quote it. In the vernacular each bishops' conference approves translations; there is no single version for the whole Church.
Do Catholics use the King James Bible?
No. The King James Version is a Protestant translation made for the Church of England, and it lacks Church approval and, in most editions, the deuterocanonical books. Its English Catholic counterpart, from the same generation, is the Douay-Rheims.
Is the NIV a Catholic Bible?
No. The New International Version is a Protestant translation and omits the seven deuterocanonical books. There is no approved Catholic edition of it.
Is the ESV a Catholic Bible?
The standard ESV is a Protestant Bible. The ESV Catholic Edition, which adds the deuterocanonical books, is approved and has been used for the Mass readings in England, Wales and Scotland since Advent 2024.
What Bible is used at the Traditional Latin Mass?
The Latin Vulgate, as quoted in the Roman Missal of 1962. Missals for the faithful give the readings in English, traditionally in the Douay-Rheims.
What is the most traditional Catholic Bible in English?
The Douay-Rheims in Bishop Challoner's revision, translated from the Vulgate and used by English-speaking Catholics from the seventeenth century to the twentieth. The Knox Bible (1945-1949) is also translated from the Vulgate, in a more modern English.
The Iter Fidei app carries the Douay-Rheims Bible beside the Latin Vulgate, with the traditional prayers and calendar. Join early access here.
Sources. Council of Trent, Session IV (1546), Decree concerning the Edition and Use of the Sacred Books; 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 1391; Catechism of St Pius X, on Holy Scripture; the Douay-Rheims Bible (Rheims New Testament 1582; Douay Old Testament 1609-1610; Challoner revision 1749-1752).