The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
1609
The most authoritative English translation of Scripture for the Catholic Church, the Douay-Rheims stands as a monument of English religious literature. Originally completed by English Catholic scholars in exile during the turbulent reign of Queen Elizabeth I, this translation worked directly from St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate, the ancient text that had served the Church for over a millennium. The project began at the Catholic college in Douai in 1582, with the New Testament appearing first, followed by the complete Old Testament in 1609. The language retains a solemn, archaic beauty that distinguishes it from later translations, marked by phrases that have entered English religious consciousness: "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." This edition includes the traditional Catholic canon, the deuterocanonical books absent from most Protestant Bibles. For Catholic readers seeking a translation that reflects the Church's liturgical and theological heritage, the Douay-Rheims remains unparalleled. Its language shaped the King James Bible and continues to inform Catholic biblical scholarship and devotion.
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“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.””
— Unknown
“{21:2} “Question the Lord on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is fighting against us.””
— Unknown
“{57:21} There is no peace for the impious, says the Lord God.””
— Unknown
“{57:17} Because of the iniquity of his avarice, I was angry, and I struck him down. I concealed my face from you, and””
— Unknown
“{57:2} Let peace arrive. Let he who has walked in his righteousness find rest on his bed.””
— Unknown
“12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: 13 And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?””
— Unknown
“And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.””
— Unknown
“Chapter 4 1 Moses answered, and said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, but they will say: The Lord hath not appeared to thee. 2 Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rod. 3 And the Lord said: Cast it down upon the ground. He cast it down, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses fled from it. 4 And the Lord said: Put out thy hand, and take it by the tail. He put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod. 5 That they may believe, saith he, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to thee. 6 And the Lord said again: Put thy hand into thy bosom. And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it forth leprous as snow. 7 And he said: Put back thy hand into thy bosom. He put it back, and brought it out again, and it was like the other flesh. 8 If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign. 9 But if they will not even believe these two signs, nor hear thy voice: take of the river water, and pour it out upon the dry land, and whatsoever thou drawest out of the river, shall be turned into blood. 10 Moses said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before; and since thou hast spoken to thy servant, I have more impediment and slowness of tongue. 11 The Lord said to him: Who made man’s mouth? or who made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? did not I?””
— Unknown
“4:11. For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness.””
— Unknown