From the General Editor

 

Introduction

The Holy Scriptures are a priceless treasure entrusted to the people of God. From the earliest days of the Church, they have shaped Christian worship, prayer, teaching, and devotion. In the early years of the third millennium, we remain firmly committed to the Scriptures as inspired texts that guide our common life as Christian believers.

For Old Catholics, however, few contemporary translations can be incorporated readily into liturgical books. Many excellent translations exist and are commended for our use, but the cost and complexity of obtaining permission to reproduce them can be prohibitive for smaller communities. Public-domain translations are available, but many present other barriers, including archaic language, the absence of the Deuterocanonical books, or language and phrasing poorly suited to public proclamation.

Every translation necessarily reflects interpretive decisions. Some translations embody theological assumptions or linguistic choices that do not fully serve the needs of our public worship and prayer. The Old Catholic Ordinariate for Specialized Ministries – U.S.A. has therefore discerned that the time is right to prepare an edition of Scripture for use among Old and Independent Catholic communities. Through this work, we seek to provide an accessible, dignified, and liturgically informed presentation of the Scriptures for public proclamation, common prayer, study, and devotion.

Defining Principles of This Edition

This edition of Sacred Scripture has been prepared according to the following principles:

• The provision of an accessible and accurate text in contemporary liturgical English.

• The preservation of legitimate ambiguity where the source text permits more than one reasonable interpretation, avoiding the imposition of theological conclusions that the text itself does not require.

• The responsible use of inclusive language for human beings where the meaning of the text permits it, together with the preservation of historic language for God where the text identifies a particular Divine Person or employs a particular gendered image.

• Respect for the Byzantine textual tradition and its historic influence upon translations used in Christian worship. For the New Testament, the Robinson–Pierpont Byzantine Textform serves as the principal Greek text, considered alongside modern textual scholarship and other ancient witnesses.

• For the Psalms and other Old Testament texts, primary attention to the Masoretic Text, with reference to the Septuagint, the critical Latin Vulgate, and other relevant ancient witnesses. Septuagintal readings receive particular consideration where they are reflected in the New Testament, preserved in historic Christian translations, or embedded in the Church’s liturgical tradition.

• The preservation, where possible, of the beauty and dignity of liturgical English without retaining forms of speech that have become unnecessarily difficult for contemporary readers and hearers.

 

Mode of Preparation for this Edition of Sacred Scripture

In a spirit of honesty and humility, this work is described as an edition of Sacred Scripture rather than as a wholly new translation. Its language begins with existing public-domain English texts but is reviewed and revised in light of the original languages and the principles stated above.

The English starting point for each book is the American Standard Version of 1901 as adapted and updated in the World English Bible. The language of the King James Bible is also considered because of its deep influence upon the liturgical life of English-speaking Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and other Christian communities.

These English texts do not, however, determine the final reading. The New Testament is reviewed throughout against the Robinson–Pierpont Byzantine Textform. Significant textual variants are considered, and passages of doubtful provenance are treated according to the policy described below concerning bracketed passages. The Psalms and other Old Testament books are reviewed throughout against the Masoretic Text, with reference to the Septuagint and the critical Latin Vulgate. When the Greek or Hebrew is uncertain or permits more than one reasonable interpretation, the critical Vulgate may also provide evidence of how early Latin translators understood the passage. The Nova Vulgata is not consulted in the preparation of this edition.

AI-assisted tools are used in the preparation of this edition for textual comparison, consistency checking, identification of variant readings, and the detection of passages requiring closer human review. These tools do not determine the final wording, establish the meaning of a passage, or replace the judgment of translators and editors. Every proposed rendering is reviewed by a human editor.

Drafts and their accompanying notes are then submitted to the Editorial Committee. This review helps prevent the translation from reflecting only the vocabulary, theology, or stylistic preferences of a single individual. Automated comparison may also be used to identify wording that closely resembles modern copyrighted translations, but every such instance must be evaluated by human reviewers. AI-assisted comparison cannot by itself certify originality or determine legal status.

Once a book has been approved and designated as locked, it may be used provisionally in worship and publication. At the completion of the project, every book will receive a final review for textual accuracy, consistency of names and theological terms, readability in public proclamation, and conformity to the editorial principles of this edition. The purpose of this final review will be to preserve both the distinctive voices of the biblical authors and the clarity, dignity, and vitality required of contemporary liturgical English.

Bracketed Passages and the Johannine Comma

Certain passages have a long and honored place in the Church’s received Scriptures but are of uncertain provenance when compared with the earliest available textual evidence. Where such passages possess substantial manuscript support or an enduring place in Christian proclamation and worship, they are retained within brackets and explained in the notes. The brackets indicate textual uncertainty; they do not constitute a judgment upon the spiritual, theological, or liturgical value of the passage.

The passage traditionally known as the Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7–8) is treated differently. It is absent from the Robinson–Pierpont Byzantine Textform and lacks sufficient support among the Greek manuscripts to be included in the biblical text, even within brackets. Its omission is a textual judgment rather than a theological one and does not diminish the scriptural witness to the Holy Trinity.

Concerning the Use of the Tetragrammaton

Within Christendom, differing views exist concerning the use of the Tetragrammaton in public worship. English translations have historically printed Lord where יהוה appears in the Hebrew Scriptures. This reflects the ancient Jewish reluctance to pronounce the Divine Name. The practice developed before the Christian era and eventually became customary within rabbinic Judaism. The Greek textual tradition generally represents the Divine Name with the word Κύριος, though some early Greek manuscripts preserve the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew characters or employ other forms. The New Testament follows the established Greek convention by using Κύριος when quoting passages in which the Hebrew text contains יהוה.

In his 1530 translation of the Pentateuch, William Tyndale rendered the Tetragrammaton Iehouah, the form from which the English Jehovah developed. Modern scholarship generally considers the most probable vocalization to be Yahweh. This form first appeared in Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible of 1902 and later reached a broader English readership through The Jerusalem Bible in 1966. Its release coincided with the liturgical renewal in the Western Church following Vatican Council II and helped bring Yahweh into widespread liturgical use. In 2008, acting by directive of Pope Benedict XVI, the Congregation for Divine Worship directed that the Tetragrammaton should neither be used nor pronounced in Roman Catholic liturgical celebrations and should be translated as “the Lord.”

Recognizing the range of Christian practice, this translation will ordinarily render יהוה as Lord. The Hebrew יהוה will be printed only in a limited selection of Old Testament passages where the personal name is itself emphasized: in divine self-revelation, in explicit identification over against other ancient Near Eastern gods, or where the statement specifically requires a name rather than the general title of ‘Lord.’ This approach is informed in part by the editorial policy of the 2013 edition of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), which employed Yahweh rather than the Hebrew יהוה. This edition, however, will apply that policy more selectively than the HCSB.  

Where יהוה is printed, the reader may pronounce it as Yahweh or substitute ‘the Lord’ or ‘Adonai,’ according to conscience and the established practice of the worshipping community. In private reading, some may instead pause in silence and bow the head when the Hebrew form appears. Congregations using this translation should agree upon a common practice so that ministers, readers, and people will know how to respond when encountering the Tetragrammaton.

Because יהוה does not appear in the Greek New Testament, it will never be inserted there. When the New Testament directly quotes an Old Testament passage in which the Hebrew text contains יהוה, Greek Κύριος will be rendered as small-cap Lord. In other contexts, Κύριος will be translated according to its ordinary meaning and the identity of its referent.

Language regarding Jews, Judeans, and Jewish Authorities

The Greek terms Ἰουδαῖος and Ἰουδαῖοι, traditionally rendered “Jew” and “Jews,” carry a range of meanings in the New Testament. The expression οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι is traditionally rendered “the Jews.” Depending upon the context, these terms may refer to the Jewish people generally, to inhabitants of Judea, to particular Jewish communities, or to specific religious and civil authorities. Rendering every occurrence of οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι indiscriminately as “the Jews” can therefore obscure the intended meaning and, especially when heard in public worship, may appear to assign the actions of a particular group to the Jewish people as a whole.

The conflicts recorded in the Gospels and Acts arose largely within a Jewish setting. Jesus, Mary, the apostles, and the earliest disciples were themselves Jews, and the disagreements presented in these writings must not be recast as a conflict between Jesus and the Jewish people as though he stood outside them. Nor may responsibility for the Passion of Christ be attributed collectively to all Jews living at that time or to Jewish people in subsequent generations. In this matter, we as Old Catholics acknowledge the wisdom expressed by our siblings in the Roman Catholic Church, who rightly affirmed in Nostra Aetate (1965) that the events of Christ’s Passion cannot be charged “against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.”

This edition therefore translates Ἰουδαῖος and Ἰουδαῖοι according to their apparent referent in each context. “Jew,” “Jews,” or “the Jewish people” is retained when Jewish identity or the Jewish people generally is intended. “Judean” or “the people of Judea” may be used when a geographical distinction is controlling. “Jewish authorities,” “Jewish leaders,” or a more specifically identified group is used when the context concerns governing, priestly, or institutional opponents. Where the text itself identifies chief priests, Pharisees, scribes, members of the council, or a particular crowd, that identification is preserved. Where the intended referent remains uncertain, the ambiguity will be preserved and, when necessary, explained in a note.

This contextual approach is not intended to soften difficult passages or conceal the Jewish identity of their participants. Its purpose is to ensure that the English translation makes an accusation no broader than the language and historical setting warrant. The persistence of antisemitic rhetoric and violence in our own age makes such care not merely advisable but necessary.

Consistency in Names and Geographic Terms

Biblical people, places, and geographical features are sometimes identified by different names in different books or textual traditions. A name may be translated from Hebrew into Greek, transliterated in more than one way, or replaced by a name more familiar to a later audience. Although these variations are historically significant, reproducing all of them indiscriminately can cause unnecessary confusion, particularly when Scripture is proclaimed aloud. This edition therefore ordinarily uses the most familiar and widely recognized English name for the same person, place, or geographical feature.

For example, the body of water variously identified as the Sea of Chinnereth, the Lake of Gennesaret, and the Sea of Tiberias will ordinarily be called the Sea of Galilee. This allows listeners to recognize that the passages concern the same geographical feature without requiring an explanation each time its name occurs.

This principle will not be used to erase distinctions that are meaningful to the text. When a passage itself provides parallel names, explains a change of name, or depends upon a particular name for its historical, poetic, or theological meaning, that wording will be preserved. Thus, Peter may also be identified as Simon or Cephas when the passage draws attention to those names, while Saul is also identified as Paul where the narrative introduces that usage. Less familiar names may also be retained when their preservation contributes materially to the meaning of the passage.

Zion will be used when the text refers specifically to Mount Zion or when Zion carries a distinct poetic, personified, or theological significance. When the name refers simply to the city, it will ordinarily be rendered Jerusalem.

The Hebrew יַם־סוּף, commonly understood as “Sea of Reeds” or “Reed Sea,” will be rendered the Red Sea. Its precise geographical identification remains disputed, but “Red Sea” preserves continuity with the ancient Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the New Testament, and historic liturgical usage.

The purpose of this policy is not to impose an artificial uniformity upon Scripture, but to help readers and worshippers recognize the people and places being named. Consistency will govern where variation would merely confuse; the wording of the source will govern where the variation itself bears meaning.