The New English Bibles can be traced back to May of 1946 when the General Assembly Church of Scotland received an overture from Rev. G.S. Hendry of the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane recommending that a new translation be made in the language of the present day. The Assembly passed this on to other churches in Great Britain who responded favorably. In 1947 a conference was held in Westminster in which the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, Methodists, Baptists, and Congregational Churches appointed representatives to the Joint Committee of the New Translation of the Bible. Later the Roman Catholic Church sent representatives as observers.
The translating panels adopted the following procedure. An individual provided a draft translation that was then circulated and discussed within the panel. These drafts were closely held and were not made available to the public. The final draft was also evaluated by a panel of literary advisers before being given final by the Joint Committee of the New Translation of the Bible.
The New Testament was published in 1961 with a second edition appearing with the Old Testament and Apocrypha in 1970.
Click here for sample verses from the New English Bible.
New Testament
First Edition - 1961
Title: The New English Bible New Testament
Date: 1961
Publisher: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press
Contents: New Testament
References: Chamberlin p. 45-1, Taliaferro-EELBV 8075.100
Images: Title page, Library Edition Jacket, Library Edition Title, Regular Edition Jacket
Second Edition - 1970
Title: The New English Bible The New Testament Second Edition
Date: 1970
Publisher: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press
Contents: New Testament
References: Chamberlin p. 45-1, Taliaferro-EELBV 8075.110
Images: Title page, Jacket
Complete Bible
The complete Bible published in 1970 includes the Second Edition of the New Testament.
Edition with Apocrypha
Title: The New English Bible with the Apocrypha
Date: 1970
Publisher: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press
Contents: Bible and Apocrypha
References: Chamberlin p. 45-1, Taliaferro-EELBV 8075.110
Images: Jacket, Title page
Edition without Apocrypha
Title: The New English Bible
Date: 1970
Publisher: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press
Contents: Bible
References: Chamberlin p. 45-1, Taliaferro-EELBV 8075.110
Images: Title page
