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THE CTS NEW CATHOLIC

BIBLE

catholic truth society publishers to the holy see


The CTS New Catholic Bible This Edition first published 2007 by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, 40-46 Harleyford Road, London, SE11 5AY. Copyright © 2007 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, save as otherwise indicated. Nihil Obstat: The Reverend Canon John Redford S.T.L., L.S.S., D.D. Imprimatur: The Most Reverend Kevin McDonald B.A., S.T.L., S.T.D., Archbishop of Southwark, 31 July 2007. The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are a declaration that a publication is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed. The publishers are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material. All biblical text excluding the Psalms © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Company, Inc. Nihil Obstat: Lionel Swain S.T.L., L.S.S. Imprimatur: ✙ John Cardinal Heenan, Westminster, 4 July 1966. The texts of the Grail Psalms © The Grail (England) 1963, published by HarperCollins Publisher. Used by permission. Imprimatur: ✙ William Cardinal Godfrey, Westminster, 25 March 1962. ISBN 978 1 86082 466 1 (Compact Hardbound Edition) ISBN 978 1 86082 468 5 (Compact Travel Edition) ISBN 978 1 86082 467 8 (Standard Hardbound Edition) ISBN 978 1 86082 469 2 (Presentation Edition) ISBN 978 1 86082 542 2 (White Leather Presentation Edition) Layout by Bible Society, Swindon, UK. Printed by L.E.G.O. S.p.A., Milan, Italy.


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FOREWORD This edition of the Bible is intended to partner the use of the Bible in the liturgy, enabling public and private readers to prepare and follow up the liturgical readings. For this reason the translations used are those familiar from the books used in the Roman Catholic liturgy, the Jerusalem Bible and the Grail Psalter. The introductions to each Book and the explanatory notes are entirely fresh, written for this edition, though some use has been made of the notes to the New Jerusalem Bible. It is hoped that they will also prove a useful aid to private study of the Bible. Since the presumption has been that the text to be commented is that used in the liturgy, only in the rarest of cases has reference been made in the notes to alternative texts or manuscript readings. I am grateful to Dom James Leachman of Ealing Abbey for providing the admirable Liturgical Note to each book, situating the use of the Book in the liturgy of the Church. The biblical text is preceded by a resumÊ of the Constitution of Vatican II on the Bible, which sums up the Church’s view of the part played by the scriptures in the life of a Christian. The biblical text is followed not only by a brief conspectus of the usual biblical apparatus, but also by an Index to the Notes, a Table of the passages prescribed for reading at the Eucharist and an explanation of this arrangement, a list of the Psalms and Canticles used in the four-week cycle of Roman Breviary, a list of scriptural passages prescribed by the Church or suggested for use in various ritual celebrations and a note on Lectio Divina. Finally the maps of the New Jerusalem Bible have been included, with grateful acknowledgement to Darton, Longman & Todd. I am deeply grateful also to Bernard Robinson and Ian Boxall, who worked through the Notes respectively to the Old and New Testaments, and made many valuable suggestions. I am also grateful to my hosts and students at Holy Trinity Institute, Tafara, where a good deal of the work was done.

Henry Wansbrough Ampleforth Abbey Holy Trinity Institute, Tafara, Zimbabwe


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CONTENTS Scripture in the Life of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Preface to the Biblical Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

THE OLD TESTAMENT

THE PENTATEUCH Genesis (Gn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Numbers (Nb) . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Exodus (Ex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Deuteronomy (Dt) . . . . . . . . 250 Leviticus (Lv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 THE HISTORICAL BOOKS Ezra (Ez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659 Joshua (Jos) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Judges (Jg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 Nehemiah (Ne) . . . . . . . . . . . 675 Ruth (Rt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 Tobit (Tb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 1-2 Samuel (1-2 S) . . . . . 390, 437 Judith (Jdt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716 1-2 Kings (1-2 K) . . . . . . 477, 523 Esther (Est) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739 1-2 Chronicles (1-2 Ch) . 567, 610 1-2 Maccabees (1-2 M) . 757, 802 THE WISDOM BOOKS Job (Jb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .837 Song of Songs (Sg) . . . . . . . . 1110 Psalms (Ps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892 Wisdom (Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . 1123 Proverbs (Pr) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1049 Ecclesiasticus/Ben Sira (Si) . 1155 Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth (Qo) . . 1097 THE PROPHETS Isaiah (Is) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1238 Obadiah (Ob) . . . . . . . . . . . 1634 Jeremiah (Jr) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1358 Jonah (Jon) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1638 Lamentations (Lm) . . . . . . . 1460 Micah (Mi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1642 Baruch (Ba) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1473 Nahum (Na) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1654 Ezekiel (Ezk) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1484 Habakkuk (Hab) . . . . . . . . . 1660 Daniel (Dn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1556 Zephaniah (Zp) . . . . . . . . . . 1667 Hosea (Ho) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1589 Haggai (Hg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1675 Joel (Jl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1609 Zechariah (Zc) . . . . . . . . . . . 1679 Amos (Am) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1618 Malachi (Ml) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1695

THE NEW TESTAMENT

THE GOSPELS AND ACTS Matthew (Mt) . . . . . . . . . . . 1700 Luke (Lk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799 Mark (Mk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1761 John (Jn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1860

Acts of the Apostles (Ac) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1914


v THE PAULINE LETTERS Romans (Rm) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1972 1 Thessalonians (1 Th) . . . . 2072 2 Thessalonians (2 Th) . . . . 2078 1 Corinthians (1 Co) . . . . . . 2000 1 Timothy (1 Tm) . . . . . . . . 2081 2 Corinthians (2 Co) . . . . . . 2024 2 Timothy (2 Tm) . . . . . . . . 2089 Galatians (Ga) . . . . . . . . . . . 2039 Titus (Ti) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2094 Ephesians (Ep) . . . . . . . . . . . 2049 Philemon (Phm) . . . . . . . . . 2097 Philippians (Ph) . . . . . . . . . 2058 Colossians (Col) . . . . . . . . . 2065 Letter to the Hebrews (Heb) 2100 LETTERS TO ALL CHRISTIANS & REVELATION James (Jm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2120 2 John (2 Jn) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2152 1 Peter (1 P) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2128 3 John (3 Jn) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2154 2 Peter (2 P) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2136 Jude (Jude) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2155 1 John (1 Jn) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2141 Book of Revelation (Rv) . . . 2158 TABLES AND NOTES

1. Historical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2185 2. Weights, Measures & Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2187 3. Index to the Notes in the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2188 SCRIPTURE AND CATHOLIC LITURGY

4. The Sunday and Weekday Lectionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2199 A. The Pattern of the Readings at Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2199 B. Scripture Readings for Sunday Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2201 C. Scripture Readings for Weekday Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2206 D. Scripture Readings for Mass in Biblical Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2215 5. The Liturgy of the Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2236 A. The Cycles of Readings for the Liturgy of Hours . . . . . . . . . . . 2236 B. Psalms and Canticles used in the 4-week Breviary Cycle . . . . 2238 C. Office of Readings – 1 Year Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2240 D. Office of Readings – 2 Year Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2243 SCRIPTURE, PRAYER AND SACRAMENTS

6. Praying with the Bible: Lectio Divina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2249 7. Scripture for celebrating the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2250 8. Scripture and praying the Holy Rosary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2251 MAPS

9. Index to the Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2251


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SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH A ResumÊ of The Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation (Dei Verbum, 1965, Vatican II) Chapter One: Revelation 2. In his love God chose to reveal himself in order to invite us into his friendship. The plan of salvation is expressed both in God’s deeds throughout the history of salvation and in the words which make clear the mystery contained in them. 3. He already showed himself to the first human beings, and, though they fell, aroused in them the hope of being saved. He called Abraham and made of him a great nation. Through the patriarchs, Moses and the prophets, he prepared the way for the gospel. 4. Finally he sent his Son, the eternal Word, to tell us the deepest realities of God. Christ completed this revelation by his words and deeds, but especially through his death and resurrection and by sending the Spirit of truth. 5. By the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit we are enabled to respond to this revelation with the obedience of faith, which moves the heart and opens the eyes of the mind. 6. Although God can be known with certainty by the light of human reason, by revelation God shares with us those divine treasures which transcend human understanding. Chapter Two: The Transmission of Revelation 7. God ensured that his revelation would be handed on to all generations. So Christ commissioned the apostles to hand on by oral preaching and example the gospel which they had received from him. The same commission was also fulfilled by those apostles and apostolic men who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, committed this message to writing. In order to keep the gospel whole and alive the apostles handed over their own teaching role to bishops as their successors.


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8. With the help of the Holy Spirit there is a growth in the understanding of the message handed down, through the contemplation and study made by believers, and by the preaching of those who have received through episcopal succession the sure gift of truth. 9. Sacred scripture, written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the word of God. By the light of the same Holy Spirit the successors of the apostles preserve, explain and spread this word of God. Therefore tradition and scripture are to be honoured with the same reverence. 10. Tradition and scripture form one deposit of the word of God, interpreted by the teaching office of the Church, which serves the word of God by listening to it, guarding it and explaining it faithfully. Tradition, scripture and the teaching authority of the Church cannot stand one without the others. Chapter Three: Inspiration and the Interpretation of Scripture 11. Since the revealed realities presented in scripture were written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and every part of all the books of Old and New Testament is sacred and normative. They teach faithfully and without error everything that God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation. Since the authors of scripture made use of their powers and abilities in consigning to writing what God wanted, they are true authors. 12. Therefore the interpreter must carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers intended, and especially the literary form used, since truth is expressed differently in history, prophecy, poetry and other forms of speech. Due attention must be paid to contemporary conventions of writing and expression. At the same time, however, attention must be given to the unity of scripture and to the living tradition of the Church. The task of exegetes is to work towards a better understanding of scripture, so that through this preliminary study the judgement of the Church may mature. 13. The words of God are expressed in human language just as the Word of God took to himself frail human nature. Chapter Four: The Old Testament 14. In his love of all humanity, God chose for himself a people to whom he revealed himself in such a way that Israel came to experience more and more deeply the ways of God with men and women. This plan of salvation gives the Old Testament permanent value.


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15. The principal purpose of this plan of salvation was, however, to prepare for the coming of Christ and the messianic kingdom, and to announce it by prophecy and various types. The Old Testament offers a lively sense of God, noble teachings about God, sound wisdom about human life and a wonderful treasury of prayers. 16. The books of the Old Testament attain their full meaning in the New Testament and in turn shed light upon it and explain it. Chapter Five: The New Testament 17. The word of God is supremely set forth in the New Testament, for the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ established the Kingdom of God on earth and completed his work by his death, resurrection and ascension, and by sending the Holy Spirit. The writings of the New Testament witness to this. 18. Among the writings of the New Testament the gospels have first place as principal witness to the life and teaching of Jesus. What the apostles preached at Christ’s command they and other apostolic men wrote down under the inspiration of the Spirit. 19. The Church insists on the historical character of the gospels. The gospel-writers handed on the truth of what Jesus had said and done, with the clearer understanding gained from the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit of truth. They selected from the tradition they had received by word of mouth or in writing, synthesising and applying it to the situation of their churches, but always reliably telling the truth about Jesus. 20. The letters of Paul and the other apostolic writings express more and more fully the truth about Jesus, the saving power of his work, the beginnings and growth of the Church and its destined completion. Chapter Six: Scripture in the Life of the Church 21. The Church venerates the scripture as it does the body of the Lord, being nourished equally by both, especially in the liturgy. In the sacred books the heavenly Father meets his children with great love and speaks with them, providing power and energy for the Church, for ‘the word of God is alive and active’. 22. Easy access to the scripture should be available to all. The Church ensures that accurate translations are made from the original texts. If, with due approval of Church authority, these translations are made in co-operation with other believers, they will be available to all Christians.


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23. The Church is concerned continually to reach a deeper understanding of the scriptures, and encourages Catholic exegetes and other students of theology, under the guidance of the teaching office of the Church, to an exploration and exposition of the Bible, so that the ministers of the word may be able to nourish the people of God by the scriptures. 24. Study of the sacred text is the soul of theology, and must enrich all Christian preaching and instruction, especially the liturgical homily. 25. All priests, clergy and other ministers of the word should persevere in reading and study of the Bible. All Christians, especially religious, should learn the knowledge of Jesus Christ by frequent reading of the Bible and by taking advantage of available instruction. They should remember that prayer should accompany the reading of scripture, making possible a conversation with God. It devolves on bishops to provide instruction on the right use of the Bible, and translations equipped with explanations adequate to furthering familiarity with the Bible and its spirit. Editions of the Bible with suitable comments should also be provided for the use of non-Christians. 26. In this way the treasure of revelation should increasingly fill human hearts. As the life of the Church flourishes by participation in the Eucharist, so we may hope for a new surge of vitality from increased veneration of God’s word.


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PREFACE TO THE BIBLICAL TEXT The Hebrew and Greek Bibles The canon of the Hebrew Bible was fixed by the Palestinian Jews in the second century AD and contains only the Hebrew books. The Greek Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), supposedly translated by 70 people in 70 days, includes also Jdt, Tb, 1-2 M, Ws, Si, Ba, and certain passages in Est (printed in italics) and in Dn (3.24-90; chs. 13-14). These books, commonly termed ‘Deuterocanonical’, formed part of the earliest Christian canon. In the fifth century, however, St Jerome insisted that only those books written in Hebrew were part of the canon. He was followed by Luther and much of the Protestant tradition, which does not regard the books written in Greek as canonical. Some Eastern Orthodox traditions accept one or two other books (e.g. Henoch) as canonical. The translation The Jerusalem Bible is a translation made from the French Bible de Jérusalem by a distinguished team under the leadership of Alexander Jones, and first published by Darton, Longman & Todd in 1966. This text follows the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. For the Old Testament the Hebrew and Aramaic text is that established by Jewish scholars in the ninth century AD. Only when this text presents insuperable difficulties have other versions, notably the LXX, been used. For the Greek books of the LXX and the New Testament the text established by scholars in modern times has been used. For the Psalms the Grail translation has been used. It should be noted that this follows the numbering used in the Greek and Latin (Vulgate) versions, not the Hebrew; the Hebrew number of the Psalm is given in brackets. Verse-numbering When the Latin (Vulgate) numbering differs from the Hebrew or Greek numbering, the Latin number is given in italics in the inside margin.


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Italics Italics normally indicate a quotation from another book of the Bible. In Est and Dn, however, they indicate passages of the LXX which do not exist in the Hebrew Bible. Marginal References The source of an italicised quotation in the text is always given first. References within the same book are given before those in other books of the Bible. Introductions and Notes It is assumed that a reader consulting the Notes will have already read the Introduction to the Book. Material given in the Introductions is not normally repeated in the Notes. In the synoptic Gospels the priority of Mk is assumed as a working hypothesis, and notes given to a passage in Mk are not repeated in the parallel passages of Mt or Lk. Where a passage is paralleled in Mt and Lk, notes given in Mt are not repeated in Lk. Abbreviations (Abbreviations for titles of books of the Bible are given on pp. iv-v) Ch.

Chapter

Gk

Greek

Hebr.

Hebrew

LXX

The Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, made at Alexandria during the last two centuries BC, but according to legend by 70 translators in 70 days.

MS, MSS

Manuscript(s)

NT

New Testament

OT

Old Testament

Past

The Pastoral Letters, 1-2 Tm, Ti

v., vv.

verse, verses

+

indicates further marginal references given at the reference so marked.

=

parallel passage within the same book

//

parallel passage in another book

ďƒ

passage later used or quoted at the reference given



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