The Hebrew Bible recognizes the books referred to as the Old Testament in the Protestant Bible, but not the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books or the New Testament.
See this list of the books of the Bible.
There are many translations of the bible. My personal preference is for the Ignatius* (Catholic) version: read a sample (the book of Daniel).
(Here's a marketing description: "This is the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (RSV-CE). It has been acclaimed for decades as the clearest, most accurate, and most beautiful translation of the Bible in modern English.")
The complete text of the "Revised Standard Version" can be found here (TheOnlineBible.com). TheOnlineBible.com has many bible versions, as well as a search utility.
Another useful online tool for Bible reasearch is the BibleGateway.com.
About the New Jersusalem Bible. More details about the different Bible versions can be found here.
Typical searchable Bible versions:
New International Version
|
NIV |
New American Standard Bible
|
NASB |
The Message
|
MSG |
Amplified Bible
|
AMP |
New Living Translation
|
NLT |
King James Version
|
KJV |
English Standard Version
|
ESV |
Contemporary English Version
|
CEV |
New King James Version
|
NKJV |
21st Century King James Version
|
KJ21
(King James 21) |
American Standard Version
|
ASV |
Worldwide English (New Testament)
|
WE |
Young's Literal Translation
|
YLT |
Darby Translation
|
DARBY |
Wycliffe New Testament
|
WYC |
| New International Version - UK |
NIV-UK |
| Revised Standard Edition - Catholic Edition (a.k.a. the "Ignatius Bible"*) |
RSV-CE |
*the popular version of the RSV is from "Ignatius Press"
The Apocrypha
New Testament Apocrypha can be found here. [Note that Old Testment (Hebrew canon) apocrypha are different than New Testament apocrypha. See also Pseudepigrapha.]
The apochryphal Gospel of Thomas has the young Jesus killing a little boy on the spot because the boy bumped into Jesus while the boy was running.
("apocryphal" means "Not canonical. Hence: Of doubtful authority; equivocal; mythic; fictitious; spurious; false.")
Trivia/Amusing:
A Mountain View, California man has spent a great deal of time depicting the Bible in Legos at http://www.thebricktestament.com/.
However, he is a self-procalimed atheist, so his depections are deliberately focused on finding (critical) humor (and include naked lego figures in sexual positions).
Towards this end, it appears that B.P. Smith (deliberately?) misquotes the Bible:
On bricktestament.com [http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_epistles/instructions_for_slaves/1co07_21a.html]:
1 Co 7:21- "Even if you have a chance of freedom......you should prefer to make full use of your condition as a slave."
The Ignatious bible:
7:17 Only, let every one lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him [when he was called to Christianity], and in which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
7:18 Was any one at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was any one at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision....
7:21 Were you a slave when called? Never mind. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.
The King James Version:
7:21 Are you called being a servant? care not for it: but if you may be made free, use it rather.
The Bible In Basic English:
7:21 If you were a servant when you became a Christian, let it not be a grief to you; but if you have a chance to become free, make use of it.
New International Version:
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so.
This example makes all of the "Brick Testament" quotes suspect as far as I'm concerned. But don't get me wrong: some of it is very funny.
