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The Holy Bible
Douay-Rheims Version
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages
THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610
and
THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582
With Annotations
The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752
HISTORY
This version comes from multiple editions of Challoner's revised Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible. In 1568 English exiles, many from Oxford, established the English College of Douay (Douai/Doway), Flanders, under William (later Cardinal) Allen. In October, 1578, Gregory Martin began the work of preparing an English translation of the Bible for Catholic readers, the first such translation into Modern English. Assisting were William Allen, Richard Bristow, Thomas Worthington, and William Reynolds who revised, criticized, and corrected Dr. Martin's work. The college published the New Testament at Rheims (Reims/Rhemes), France, in 1582 through John Fogny with a preface and explanatory notes, authored chiefly by Bristol, Allen, and Worthington.
Later the Old Testament was published at Douay in two parts (1609 and 1610) by Laurence Kellam through the efforts of Dr. Worthington, then superior of the seminary. The translation had been prepared before the appearance of the New Testament, but the publication was delayed due to financial difficulties. The religious and scholarly adherence to the Latin Vulgate text led to the less elegant and idiomatic words and phrases often found in the translation. In some instances where no English word conveyed the full meaning of the Latin, a Latin word was Anglicized and its meaning defined in a glossary. Although ridiculed by critics, many of these words later found common usage in the English language. Spellings of proper names and the numbering of the Psalms are adopted from the Latin Vulgate.
In 1749 Dr. Richard Challoner began a major revision of the Douay and Rheims texts, the spellings and phrasing of which had become increasingly archaic in the almost two centuries since the translations were first produced. He modernized the diction and introduced a more fluid style, while faithfully maintaining the accuracy of Dr. Martin's texts. This revision became the 'de facto' standard text for English speaking Catholics until the twentieth century. It is still highly regarded by many for its style, although it is now rarely used for liturgical purposes. The notes included in this version are generally attributed to Bishop Challoner.
The 1610 printing of the second tome of the Old Testament includes an appendix containing the non-canonical books 'Prayer of Manasses,' 'Third Booke of Esdras,' and 'Fourth Booke of Esdras.' While not part of Challoner's revision, the 1610 texts are placed in the appendices. Also included are the original texts of two short books, 'The Prophecie of Abdias' and 'The Catholike Epistle of Iude the Apostle,' to give the reader a sense of the language of the first editions in comparison to the Challoner revision. Furthe background on the Douay-Rheims version may be found in a selection from the preface to the 1582 edition and the original glossary included in the appendices.
Book of Exodus
Book of Leviticus
Book of Numbers
Book of Deuteronomy
Book of Josue
Book of Judges
Book of Ruth
First Book of Samuel, alias 1 Kings
Second Book of Samuel, alias 2 Kings
Third Book of Kings
Fourth Book of Kings
First Book of Paralipomenon
Second Book of Paralipomenon
First Book of Esdras
Book of Nehemias, alias 2 Esdras
Book of Tobias
Book of Judith
Book of Esther
Book of Job
Book of Psalms
Book of Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Solomon's Canticle of Canticles
Book of Wisdom
Ecclesiasticus
Prophecy of Isaias
Prophecy of Jeremias
Lamentations of Jeremias
Prophecy of Baruch
Prophecy of Ezechiel
Prophecy of Daniel
Prophecy of Osee
Prophecy of Joel
Prophecy of Amos
Prophecy of Abdias
Prophecy of Jonas
Prophecy of Micheas
Prophecy of Nahum
Prophecy of Habacuc
Prophecy of Sophonias
Prophecy of Aggeus
Prophecy of Zacharias
Prophecy of Malachias
First Book of Machabees
Second Book of Machabees
Gospel According to St. Matthew
Gospel According to St. Mark
Gospel According to St. Luke
Gospel According to St. John
Acts of the Apostles
Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans
First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians
First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
Second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
Epistle of St. Paul to Titus
Epistle of St. Paul to Philemon
Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews
Catholic Epistle of St. James the Apostle
First Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
Second Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
First Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Second Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Third Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Catholic Epistle of St. Jude the Apostle
Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle
The Prayer of Manasses
The Third Booke of Esdras
The Fourth Booke of Esdras
The Prophecie of Abdias
The Catholike Epistle of Iude the Apostle
The Preface to the Reader