Revised Standard Version

Revised Standard Version

The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in several parts during the mid-20th century. The RSV is an authorized revision of the American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901. It was later revised and published as the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

The RSV posed the first serious challenge to the popularity of the King James Version (KJV). It was intended to be a readable and literally accurate modern English translation. The intention was not only to create a clearer version of the Bible for the English-speaking church but also to "preserve all that is best in the English Bible as it has been known and used through the centuries" and "to put the message of the Bible in simple, enduring words that are worthy to stand in the great Tyndale-King James tradition."

The RSV was published in the following stages:

  • New Testament (first edition), 1946 (originally copyrighted to the International Council of Religious Education)
  • Old Testament (and thus the full Protestant Bible), 1952
  • Apocrypha, 1957
  • Modified edition, 1962
  • RSV Catholic Edition, (NT 1965, Complete Bible 1966)
  • New Testament (second edition), 1971
  • Common Bible, 1973
  • Apocrypha, expanded edition, 1977
  • Second Catholic Edition, 2006

Read more about Revised Standard Version:  Making of The RSV, Features, The RSV Today

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