To ensure the enduring value of inspired sacred texts, Friendship Press, together with the National Council of Churches and in partnership with the Society of Biblical Literature, has undertaken the careful task of updating the NRSV Edition of the Bible. We are pleased to present you with what we can in full confidence call the world’s most meticulously researched, rigorously reviewed, and faithfully accurate English-language Bible translation. Recent scholarship is applied to help readers explore the meanings of ancient texts in light of the cultures that produced them. The NRSV Updated Edition is intended to be as literal as possible so that the meaning of scripture can be as clear as possible to the fervent lay reader as it is to the dedicated biblical scholar.