OLD TESTAMENT
| Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Kingdoms (1 Samuel) 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 3 Kingdoms (1 Kings) 4 Kingdoms (2 Kings) 1 Paralipomenon (Chronicles) 2 Paralipomenon (Chronicles) 1 Ezra 2 Ezra Nehemiah Tobit Judith Esther 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees 3 Maccabees Psalms [incomplete] Job |
Proverbs of Solomon Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom of Solomon Sirach Hosea Amos Micah Joel Obadiah Jonah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Isaiah Jeremiah Baruch Lamentations of Jeremiah Epistle of Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel Susanna Bel and the Serpent |
NEW TESTAMENT
| St. Matthew St. Mark St. Luke St. John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians |
1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation |
International Orthodox Version
Old Testament from the Septuagint – New Testament from the Byzantine Text
The International Orthodox Version (IOV) is based on the work of Robert A. Boyd’s editions of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s English translation of the Greek Septuagint (LXX) Old Testament, along with the ASV-Byzantine Text New Testament.
The edition presented here is in the public domain.
Preface to The International Orthodox Version
The Holy Scriptures stand as the inspired record of God’s revelation to mankind, preserved and proclaimed through the ages by His Holy Church. For the Orthodox faithful, the Old Testament and New Testament are not two disconnected books, but one unified witness to the saving work of God in history, culminating in the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has safeguarded these texts from the days of the Apostles until the present, transmitting them as part of her living Tradition.
The International Orthodox Version presents, in the English tongue, the complete Scriptures as received and used within the Orthodox Church: the Old Testament translated from the ancient Greek Septuagint, and the New Testament translated from the Byzantine text-type, the form of the Greek text preserved and read in the Orthodox Church for centuries.
The Old Testament portion is drawn from the Septuagint (LXX), the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek made between the third and first centuries before Christ. The Septuagint was the Bible of the Apostles and the early Church; it was from these Greek Scriptures that the New Testament writers most often quoted. Preserved and transmitted in the Christian East, the Septuagint remains the authoritative Old Testament of the Orthodox Church to this day.
The New Testament portion follows the Byzantine text-type, the traditional Greek form found in the vast majority of surviving manuscripts. This text was read, copied, and proclaimed in the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church for more than a millennium. While modern critical editions of the New Testament often rely upon a limited selection of earlier manuscripts, the Byzantine text represents the text as it was preserved in the worshipping community of the Church, embodying a living continuity from the apostolic era through the Byzantine centuries and into our own time.
By uniting the Septuagint Old Testament and the Byzantine New Testament within a single English edition, the International Orthodox Version seeks to present the Scriptures in the form in which they have been received, preserved, and proclaimed in the Orthodox Church across the world. It is offered as a faithful rendering for reading, study, and liturgical use, and as a witness to the unbroken tradition of the Church’s sacred texts.
This translation does not seek novelty, nor does it impose modern theological theories upon the sacred text. Rather, it aims to transmit with clarity and dignity the words of Holy Scripture as they have come down to us, allowing the English-speaking faithful to hear the voice of the Church’s Bible in their own language.
It is our prayer that this edition will serve to deepen the love of the faithful for the Word of God, to strengthen catechesis, and to foster unity in the shared heritage of Orthodox Scripture. May all who read these pages be illumined by the same Spirit who inspired the holy Prophets and Apostles, and who guides the Church into all truth.
“Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths.” — Psalm 118:105 (LXX)