THE HOLY BIBLE




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 e-text 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 electronic edition are generally
attributed to Bishop Challoner.





CONTENTS


The Old Testament

Book of Genesis
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


The New Testament

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 BOOK OF GENESIS

This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is,
of the creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it
BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only
the history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its
progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of
JOSEPH.


Genesis Chapter 1

God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1:1. In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of
the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

1:3. And God said: Be light made. And light was made.

1:4. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light
from the darkness.

1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was
evening and morning one day.

1:6. And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and
let it divide the waters from the waters.

A firmament… By this name is here understood the whole space between
the earth, and the highest stars. The lower part of which divideth the
waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds.

1:7. And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under
the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

1:8. And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning
were the second day.

1:9. God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be
gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it
was so done.

1:10. And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of
the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

1:11. And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have
seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

1:12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth
seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed
each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1:13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

1:14. And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven,
to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days and years:

1:15. To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the
earth, and it was so done.

1:16. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day;
and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

Two great lights… God created on the first day, light, which being
moved from east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and
evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light,
and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the
stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light
to the earth than any of them.

1:17. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the
earth.

1:18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the
darkness. And God saw that it was good.

1:19. And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

1:20. God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature
having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the
firmament of heaven.

1:21. And God created the great whales, and every living and moving
creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and
every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1:22. And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the
waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

1:23. And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

1:24. And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its
kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to
their kinds. And it was so done.

1:25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and
cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And
God saw that it was good.

1:26. And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let
him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air,
and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that
moveth upon the earth.

Let us make man to our image… This image of God in man, is not in the
body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with
understanding and free will. God speaketh here in the plural number, to
insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity.

1:27. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he
created him: male and female he created them.

1:28. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the
earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls
of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Increase and multiply… This is not a precept, as some Protestant
controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful;
for God had said the same words to the fishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who
were incapable of receiving a precept.

1:29. And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon
the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind,
to be your meat:

1:30. And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and
to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they
may have to feed upon. And it was so done.

1:31. And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very
good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.