A reader recently sent me a tip that Anglican Liturgy Press will be publishing the ESV with Apocrypha as a pew bible. According to the product description, this bible will be an “adaptation” of the Oxford ESV with Apocrypha which was published in 2009 and is no longer in print. The Apocrypha (or deuterocanonical books) will be placed in a separate section at the back of the bible (after the New Testament), and it will be printed in a slightly smaller font “in order to reflect the Apocrypha’s less authoritative status within the Anglican Church in North America.”

The description contains a lengthy explanation of why the Apocrypha is included and a careful explanation of the distinction between the Apocrypha and the rest of scripture in Anglican teaching and practice. Although the Anglican church does not accept the Apocrypha as doctrinally authoritative, some of the lectionary readings are drawn from the Apocrypha. These readings are generally confined to Morning and Evening Prayer.

The bible measures 6 inches X 9 inces X 2 inches, and it will begin selling for $21.95. The publication date is expected to be June 30th.

14 thoughts on “Coming Soon: ESV with Apocrypha from Anglican Liturgy Press”

  1. Putting the ‘Apocrypha’ after the New Testament an in smaller print than the rest of the Bible is not the Anglican tradition. It seems Crossway is still making unreasonable demands and the publisher is politely trying to put a positive spin on it.

    1. Regarding putting the Apocrypha after the NT: the Oxford RSV Annotated study Bible published in the late 1970s and edited by Bruce Metzger did exactly that. And the recent Oxford ESV with Apocrypha (now out of print) also puts those books after the NT.

  2. Yeez! Don’t let us twist your arm or anything! This to me feels like confirmation that the only reason there hasn’t been a ESV:CE stateside yet is almost entirely because of Crossways. With conditions like this put on an edition that still keeps the ‘Apocrypha’ in a separate section, I’m also beginning to get skeptical about how much willingness Crossways was willing to accommodate any changes to the main text based on the Indian Bishops input.

    I’ve been holding out on getting and RSV2CE to add to my collection until I saw how this whole ESV:CE thing played out, but given how weird Crossways is being about it, I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t just grab the RSV2CE instead.

    Why did they even agree to do a Catholic version anyway, or even a translation of the “Apocrypha.”

      1. Crossway is a non-profit organization, and I think that if they wanted to make money from the Catholic Edition, they would publish it in the entire English speaking world and not just India.

    1. The NASB is probably the most literal translation currently in print (or at the most literal of the major modern translations) and is excellent overall, but since it only has the truncated Protestant canon, its utility for Catholics is limited.

      The NASB is currently under revision and a new edition should be released in 2020 or 2021. From what I’ve seen, the changes are not good.

  3. Just go to the Facebook page and see the changes for yourself, one of the few remaining conservative translations is going full PC, just like the NIV did in 2011.

  4. I managed to get a copy of the ESVCE through a bookbinder in South Africa. It was pricy but worth the cost (for me). She rebound the volume in goat skin leather. I now have both the Crossway version sans “apocrypha” and the Catholic Version.

    1. Could you give me a link to your source? I loved my simple little ESV Bible before I converted, and I would love to have a Catholic Edition that I can use for myself and for conversing with Protestants both.

  5. Read 1 Tim. 3.15 in the ESV. Compare with RSV or any other translation. Catholics will NOT want the ESV.

    1. This is not an anti-Catholic verse. The way this is translated, the church is not being referred to as a pillar of truth: Timothy himself is, as a bishop within the church. The ESV is a great translation, and if I ever get a chance to get my hands on the ESV-CE I’ll buy it in a heartbeat.

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