Apocrypha Books

The term "apocrypha" comes from the Greek word meaning "hidden" or "secret". Originally, the term was applied to sacred books whose contents were too exalted to be made available to the general public. Gradually, the term "apocrypha" took on a disparaging connotation, since the orthodoxy of these hidden books was often questionable.

"The Apocrypha" includes 15 books, all but one of which are Jewish in origin and found in the Septuagint (parts of 2 Esdras are possibly Christian and Latin in origin). Influenced by the Jewish canon of the OT, the custom arose of making the Apocrypha a separate section in the Protestant Bible, or sometimes even of omitting them entirely.

The Catholic view, expressed as a doctrine of faith at the Council of Trent, is that 12 of these 15 works (in a different enumeration, however) are canonical Scripture; they are called the Deuterocanonical Books. The three books of the Protestant Apocrypha that are not accepted by Catholics are 1-2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. Bible Study Tools offers popular apocrypha included in the Latin Vulgate, King James Version, and Revised Standard Version. Additional Deuterocanonical books are available in the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible translation.

The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly by Paul, and also by the Greek Church Fathers. The title and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books Of Moses as early as the late 2nd century BC.

The Good News Translation was first published in 1976 by the American Bible Society in a "common language." The simple, everyday language makes it especially popular for children and those learning English.

The KJV is the first version of Scripture authorized by the Protestant church and commissioned by England's King James I.

The New Revised Standard is a popular translation that follows in the traditions of the King James and Revised Standard Versions. It was written with the goal of preserving the best of the older versions while incorporating modern English.

The Revised Standard Version is a revision of the King James Version, the Revised Version, and American Standard Version. This text is intended for both private reading and public worship.

The Latin Vulgate Bible is an early translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. Jerome and completed in 405 AD. The Latin Vulgate's Old Testament is the first Latin version translated directly from the Hebrew Tanakh rather than from the Greek Septuagint. It became the definitive and officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized VersionTM, is an updating of the full and complete text of the Authorized (King James) Version of the Holy Bible, first published in A.D. 1611.

The Common English Bible is a translation of the scriptures intended to be a comfortable reading level for over half of all English readers. It attempts to substitute more traditional biblical terminology with more natural wording.