A BIBLE BUYER'S CATALOGUE

With the recent rash of English translations, versions now available with both Testaments include:

KING JAMES VERSION (1611). A masterpiece whose cadenced phrasing is an indestructible part of Western culture. It is, in fact, something of a miracle that a church committee could produce a volume that three centuries later sells in the millions and can be found in perhaps two-thirds of America's homes.

REVISED STANDARD VERSION (1952). A U.S Protestant product that preserves the literary strength of the King James, with updated wording and changes based on more authentic texts. It is under continuing revision, with the next likely change to be elimination of "thee" and "thou" when addressing the Deity. Widely accepted (35 million in print) and available with Apocrypha for Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.

THE JERUSALEM BIBLE (1966). A majestic much-praised Catholic version, which is indebted to an earlier French translation but puts off some readers by rather self-consciously calling God "Yahweh." Historic because it broke with Jerome's ancient Latin text, and --in the preferable editions--offers modern critical notes.

NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (1970). An elegant, churchly, yet readable British version under Anglican-Protestant auspices, drawn from ancient texts without depending on previous translations. Apocrypha available.

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (1970). A rigorously contemporary, sometimes spare, U.S. Catholic rendition. Also a translation from the original languages, it and the Jerusalem Bible are supplanting the Douay-Rheims Bible, a Catholic version contemporary with, but inferior to, the King James.

NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (1971).

This stiffly worded revision of an earlier, neglected version has become a Fundamentalist favorite. Accused of slightly falsifying the text to make the Bible appear more accurate.

THE LIVING BIBLE (1971). Scorned by purists for taking liberties with the text, this paraphrase by Evangelical Kenneth Taylor popularizes Holy Writ. It has sold nearly 19 million copies, many of them in supermarkets and dime stores.

Notable versions of one of the two Testaments:

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (1917). The authoritative Bible (i.e., "Old" Testament) for Jews, based on older Bibles in English and with a 17th century sound to it. Scholars will complete an improved modern version in the 1980s.

NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH (1958). A graceful paraphrase, by English Parson J.B. Phillips, that makes the Gospels and letters come alive. The best choice for people who think they do not like the Bible.

TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION (1966). A translation of the New Testament in basic, pared-down language; from the American Bible Society. Its distribution of 50 million copies surpasses Dr. Spock. Full Bible due in 1976.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (1973).

The latest entry, a lucid, fresh rendering of the New Testament by an international panel of 108 Evangelical scholars who plan to publish a full Bible by 1978.

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