The text of the first edition of the New American Bible is composed of:
The New Testament directly translated from the Greek, appearing in portions from 1964 and completed in 1970.
The Old Testament : the Confraternity Bible text translated in stages between 1952 and 1969 from the original languages, with minor revisions to the text and notes in 1970.
Genesis newly translated from the Hebrew in 1970, replacing the 1948 translation.
The spelling of proper names found in this edition departs from the ones found in older Catholic Bible versions, such as the Douay, and instead adopts those commonly found in Protestant Bibles. The notes in many places present 20th century theories still current, for example the Q source and different sources for the Pentateuch. Catholic scholars translated this version with collaboration from members of other Christian denominations.
Second Edition: RNAB
Regarding the Revised New American Bible of 1986, a compromise was made: while traditional phraseology, absent from the edition of 1970, was restored to the New Testament, several non-traditional, gender-neutral words were incorporated. The New Testament was almost completely revised, and bore a much closer resemblance to the Confraternity version of 1941 as opposed to the much more periphrastic New Testament of the NAB of 1970.
Third Edition: RNAB
In 1991 the Book of Psalms was amended to incorporate extensive gender-neutral language. Controversy ensued because of its use of vertical gender-neutral language, i. e. for God and Christ, and some use of horizontal gender-neutral language, i. e. "human beings" or "they" instead of "men" or "he". This amended Book of Psalms was rejected for liturgical use. The only difference between the 1986-90 RNAB and the 1991-2011 RNAB is the Book of Psalms, all of the 72 other books being identical.
Fourth Edition: NABRE
In 1994, work began on a revision of the Old Testament. Since the 1991 revised Book of Psalms were rejected for liturgical use, a committee of the Holy See and the Bishops revised the text again for use in the Latin-Rite Catholic liturgy in 2000, and this revised text became that used in lectionaries of the Catholic Church in the United States. The Holy See accepted some use of gender-neutral language, such as where the speaker speaks of a person of unknown gender, rendering "person" in place of "man", but rejected any changes relating to God or Christ. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the instruction Liturgiam Authenticam on May 7, 2001 in Rome. In 2002, the Old Testament, excluding the Book of Psalms, was completed and sent to the United States Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee to determine if it was a suitable Catholic translation. In June 2003, another revision of the Book of Psalms was completed but was rejected by the Ad Hoc Committee. In September 2008, the Ad Hoc Committee accepted the final book of the Old Testament, namely, Jeremiah. In November of that year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the complete Old Testament, including footnotes and introductions, but it would not permit it to be published with the Book of Psalms of 1991. It accepted the revised Grail Psalter instead, which the Holy See approved and which replaced the revised NAB Psalter for lectionaries for Mass in the United States. The Psalms were again revised in 2008 and sent to the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship but also rejected in favor of the revised Grail Psalter. A final revision of the NAB Psalter was undertaken using suggestions that the Ad Hoc Committee vetted and to more strictly conform to Liturgiam Authenticam. In January 2011, it was announced that the fourth edition of the NAB would be published on March 9 of that year. This latest text, titled the New American Bible, Revised Edition, being the fourth edition of the NAB, includes the newly revised Old Testament and its Book of Psalms, and the revised New Testament of the second edition. While the NABRE is a revision of the NAB toward greater conformity to Liturgiam Authenticam, no plan has been announced to use the NABRE for the lectionary in the United States.
Future editions of the NAB
In 2012, the USCCB "announced a plan to revise the New Testament of the New American Bible Revised Edition so a single version can be used for individual prayer, catechesis and liturgy." After they developed a plan and budget for the revision project, work began in 2013 with the creation of an editorial board made up of five people from the Catholic Biblical Association. The editorial board is made up of the following individuals:
