I recently purchased a Personal Size edition of the New Catholic Bible at a Catholic bookstore. When the complete Bible was first released in 2019, I received a review copy of the Giant Print edition from Catholic Book Publishing Corporation. They have subsequently released a full range of gift editions, large print editions, and youth bibles. I reviewed the giant print edition here, and I also published an in-depth look at the translation and footnotes in the NCB beginning with this post. For anyone interested in the large print option, blog reader Leighton provided a guest review on the blog ..read more

At long last, the complete Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (RSV-2CE) is officially scheduled for publication later this year. Ignatius Press has created a new website to promote the upcoming release with lots of information and sample images. Of note, the complete study Bible will be released as a single volume in both hardcover and leather editions. So far, there are no indications that a stand-alone Old Testament volume will be released to complement the previously published New Testament volume (which was released in 2010). The New Testament volume is quite large (advertised dimensions are 7 ..read more

Every once in a while over the past several years, I’ve paused to consider buying the pocket New Testament and Psalms by Cambridge University Press. The long and thin form factor is unique, and I expected the imitation leather to be good quality, judging from past experience with their imitation leather REB. I finally made the purchase a few weeks ago, and have spent time reading from it and taking it from place to place. The narrow design makes this easier to fit in a normal men’s pocket (in slacks or jeans) compared to my Cambridge REB New Testament. The overall size and shape is similar to ..read more

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I ..read more

TAN Books recently released an “ultra-soft leatherette” large-print edition of their Douay-Rheims (DR) Bible. While this edition is certainly not without its defects, it is overall a well-done product that satisfies the need for a large-print Douay-Rheims that doesn’t feel clunky. The book measures in at almost exactly 9 ½ by 6 ½ in., with a thickness of 1 ½ in. For comparison purposes, the size is comparable to the Great Adventure Catholic Bible, though just a hair thinner. It would easily fit in a backpack, computer bag, satchel, etc., unlike some of the large-print editions available from o ..read more

..read more

..read more

It’s been about a year since the Augustine Institute announced that they were beginning an entirely new Bible translation called the Catholic Standard Version (CSV). The Gospel of Matthew was released in January of 2023, and we discussed it at some length in a few posts here. Today, the Augustine Institute announced the next installment of the translation: the Gospel of Mark. The edition is a single-column paperback with the same typesetting and layout as the Gospel of Matthew. Both books are available for $9.99 through Catholic Market (the Augustine Institute’s store). There is also bulk pric ..read more

The SBL Study Bible (using the NRSVue translation) has been available on the market for a little over a month now. Unfortunately, product reviews from early customers mention extremely thin pages and a lot of ghosting. I am unlikely to purchase a hard copy. Here are links to Amazon and Christianbook for anyone interested in purchasing it. At this point, the Kindle edition is the only one I am personally considering, due to the ghosting reported in the printed editions ..read more

Now it happened that when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what they had been told about this child, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they ha ..read more