Catholic Bibles | Online Bible Store | ESV Bible – Catholic Edition (original) (raw)

The ESV® Catholic Edition is a translation that seeks as far as possible to reproduce the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each biblical writer. As such, its emphasis is on a word-for-word correspondence, at the same time taking full account of differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus, it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and exact force of the original.

Some Bible versions have followed a thought-for-thought rather than word-for-word translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the precise meaning of the original. A thought-for-thought translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive views of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture. In contrast, the ESV® Catholic Editionfollows aword-for-wordtranslation philosophy, offering the most precise and up-to-date translation available.

Every translation is at many points a trade-off between precision and readability, between “formal equivalence” in expression and “functional equivalence” in communication—and the ESV® Catholic Edition is no exception. Within this framework, we have sought to be as precise as possible, while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence.