Revised Standard Version celebrates 50 years

 TAMPA, Fla. — The National Council of Churches (NCC) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible Nov. 16 at the NCC’s annual conference.

Translators who worked on the project shared “what it means to them to work so closely with the Bible’s sacred texts,” reported an NCC press release.

“Translation is a serious business,” Walter J. Harrelson said. The Bible is “a reality so mysterious and powerful that it has opened the eyes of many through the centuries. It’s a text that has claimed our own lives.”

The NCC holds the copyright on the RSV, which was first published in 1952, as well as its successor, the New Revised Standard Version Bible, published in 1989.