The Bible is series of books written by different authors over roughly 1,500 years. It is composed of the Old Testament, which is considered the Written Torah or Tanakh by Jews, and the New Testament, which is considered Scripture exclusively by Christians. The Bible has profoundly influenced Western culture and literature, so even if you’ve never read the Bible, you are probably familiar with phrases and images from it. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek, so what we read today are translations. There are a wide variety of translations, from the King James Bible to the New Revised Standard Version. There are also disagreements within Christianity about which books are considered part of the Bible, which is why you might see some books included in some translations but not others. Though scholars debate the exact meaning of certain phrases, the Bible is accessible to anyone.

Links to Reading and Understanding the Bible:

• Today’s Bible Reading

• Today’s Bible Reading (Audio)

• Find a Scripture or Book of the Bible

• Understanding the Bible

• Study Materials for the Bible

Have you ever wondered what book, chapter or verses are listed when you see a Bible citation? Or have you wondered what those abbreviations mean—who or what is Nm or Jgs? Below is a key to help you find what each part of a bible citation means and to which book each of those abbreviations refers. Also below are links to each of the books of the Bible on the USCCB website for the The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)