Let me begin by saying that when I refer to the bible and when I refer to the scriptures I am speaking about two completely different things. Let me explain, the scriptures consist of; books of History, books of Wisdom, books of Poetry famous Letters and Prophetic writings. Scrolls, tomes and books written by wise men and women which share the rich history, culture, laws and morals of a people. Every religion in the world today hangs it's beliefs on some sort of scriptures. Whether it is Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Wicca or even Satanism and Atheism they all have scriptures that teach them the history and guidelines for what they believe, why they believe and how to live.

The Bible, also known as the Holy Bible, is technically only an English commentary written as an attempt to translate scriptures into and understandable language for the community. Let me also comment quickly on the name "Holy" Bible, Bible translates simply enough into the word book, but "holy"? Perfect and unflawed? If "holy" then why the constant revisions, reprintings, retranslating and different versions? I'm sorry but I have not yet found any English translation that can best translate the emotion and meaning of every jot and tittle of the complex languages used in the original scriptures. What I do know is that the early scholars that made copies of scriptures, upon making a mistake would burn all the pages and start over. They did NOT want mistakes to carry over. Today however, we just make a new copy and leave the bad ones out there! Then we wonder why the religious world is in such a state of confusion.

I have spent decades (and am still currently) studying all scriptures from all cultures. My current findings are, we have a lot more in common than we have differences!

The problem is when we begin to waste time arguing about the  misinterpreted English translations of these scriptures rather than doing GOD's work.

I will begin with a condensed timeline of the English Translated Bible.

__________

130 BC - Old Greek translation of Old Testament complete thus creating the Septuagint.

2nd century - Syriac translation of the New Testament complete.

3rd century - Coptic dialect translations of the New Testament complete.

382 - Jerome commissioned by Pope Damasus 1 to translate the Old and New Testaments (including the Apocrypha) into Latin thus creating the Vulgate.

1384 - John Wycliffe (Catholic) translated the Bible into English from the Vulgate.

1415 - John Wycliffe declared a heretic!

1516 - Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (Catholic) completes the Novum Instrumentum omne (Textus Receptus), language - Latin/Greek.

1517 - Complutensian Polyglot Bible (Catholic) was published by Complutense University in Alcalá de Henares, Spain by order of Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, language - Latin.

1517 - Martin Luther begins the Protestant Reformation.

1525 - William Tyndale (Protestant) prints the first Middle English translation of the Bible.

1527 - Robert Estienne (Catholic turned Protestant) prints first version of the New Testament Bible separated by numbered verses. (Textus Receptus).

1535 - Myles Coverdale (Lutheran) presents first complete English translated Bible to King Henry 8 based on Tyndale's research.

1537 - John Rodgers (Protestant) version, the The Matthew Bible combining Tyndale's New Testament with much of the Old Testament is published.

1539 - Richard Taverner (Puritan) published a revised version of Matthew's Bible called Taverner's Bible.

1539 - The Great Bible (Protestant) becomes the first English translation of the Bible authorized for public use.

1560 - First full edition of the Geneva Bible (Protestant) published by Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton.

1568 - The Bishop's Bible (Protestant), based on The Great Bible, is printed by the authority of the Church of England.

1572 - Bishop's Bible is revised (revised means fixed mistakes).

1579 - Scotland passed a law requiring every household of sufficient means to buy a copy of the Geneva Bible.

1582 - Douay Rheims Bible New Testament (Catholic) is translated from the Vulgate into English with commentary for the Catholic Church.

1602 - Bishop's Bible is revised.

1609-10 - Douay Rheims Bible Old Testament (Catholic) is translated from the Vulgate into English with commentary for the Catholic Church.

I'm going to pause here for a moment because as you can see, different people printing their own translations for their own churches. Another point is that word "Revised" What we literally have going on is someone saying, "I don't like their translation, I think I can do it better!" If GOD's Word is Holy, why do we think we, sinful humans, can "make it better" with a different translation? It causes nothing more than confusion and fighting rather than fellowship and worship. I wonder...who could possibly be behind something like wanting GOD's people confused and fighting?

However it's about to get even crazier.

1604- King James decided to try and make the authorized version even better. He called upon 50 scholars to gather all the scrolls, all the tomes, all the books, anything that has to do with the Christian scriptures together. Compared and contrasted them to each other using Masoretic Texts, Apocrypha, Septuagint, Vulgate, Textus Receptus, Hebrew Rabbinic Bible, Bishop's Bible and Tyndale's books as a template.  

The problem comes with the fact that King James chose these 50 scholars, 3 of which chose to turn him down, from his home church, The Church of England. (That's like saying your going to make up the rules to a game that has multiple teams, but you pick the people that make up the rules from just your team!)

Next, they were split up into groups of only a couple of scholars focusing only on a couple of books each.

Then, when they could not decide on a word's translation, or even translate a word properly, it was up to King James to choose what words to use!

1611 - The Authorized King James Version (Anglican) of the Bible is published in English and accepted for public use.

1620 - Geneva Bible is on the Mayflower on it's way to the new Colonies, future America!

At this point, the majority of the translations are all based on all translations above.

1764 - The Quaker Bible printed based on a translation by Anthony Purver (Quaker).

1789 - Charles Thomson (former secretary of the Continental Congress), begins work on a direct translation of the Bible from the Greek Septuagint.

1808 - Thomson's Translation (Presbyterian) is printed.

1833 - Webster's Bible (Calvinist), a revision of the King James done by Noah Webster, you know, the dictionary guy.

1862 - Young's Literal Translation (Methodist)

1871 - Phillip Schaff (Presbyterian) gathers a collection of theology scholars to revise the Standard King James Version of the Bible. This group consisted of 30 people represent by multiple different denominations and churches at the time.

1881 - Brooke Westcott (Anglican) and Fenton Hort (Anglican) print The New Testament in the Original Greek translated from the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus, later called the Westcott and Hort Version.

1890 - The Darby Bible (Anglican)

1896 - Julia Evelina Smith Parker Translation (Calvinist) first ever translation worked on by only women.

1901 - American Standard Revised Version (Episcopal) printed from the work of Philip Schaff, Brooke Westcott, Fenton Hort and the other scholars on their team.

1903 - Ferrar Fenton Bible (Anglican)

1933 - Leeser Bible (Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Protestant Episcopal)

1952 - Revised Standard Version (Protestant)

1955 - Knox Bible (Roman Catholic)

1959 - The Berkeley Version (Presbyterian)

1965 - The Amplified Bible (Presbyterian)

1966 - Jerusalem Bible (Roman Catholic, Protestant Episcopal, Anglican, and Protestant)

1970 - New American Bible (Roman Catholic)

1971 - The Living Bible (Evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic)

1971 - New American Standard Bible (Evangelical Protestant)

1976 - Beck's American Translation (Lutheran)

1976 - Good News Bible (Non-denominational)

1978 - New International Version (Protestant)

1982 - New King James Version (Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox

1984 - New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Jehovah's Witnesses)

1986 - New American Bible revised (Roman Catholic)

1988 - Christian Community Bible (Catholic)

1989 - New Revised Standard Version (Protestant)

1991 - New American Bible revised again (Roman Catholic)

1994 - Clear Word Bible (Adventist)

1995 - Contemporary English Version (Protestant)

1996 - New Living Translation (Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic)

1998 - Complete Jewish Bible (Messianic Judaism)

2001 - English Standard Version (Reformed, Calvinist, Presbyterian, and Evangelical)

2004 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (Southern Baptist)

2004 - New Living Translation revised (Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic)

2005 - Today's New International Version (Protestant)

2007 - Catholic Truth Societies New Catholic Bible (Roman Catholic and Anglican)

2007 - New Living Translation revised again (Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic)

2008 - The Orthodox Study Bible (Eastern Orthodox)

2009 - The Inclusive Bible (Catholic)

2011 - International Standard Version (Non-denominational)

2011 - New American Bible Revised Edition (Roman Catholic) 

2013 - New Living Translation revised once more (Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic)

2014 - Modern English Version (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant)

2014 - Tree of Life Bible (Messianic Judaism)

2015 - New Living Translation revised again because apparently it's still not right after 4 tries (Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic)

2017 - Christian Standard Bible (Protestant)

2018 - English Standard Version - Catholic Edition (Roman Catholic)

2019 - Evangelical Heritage Version (Lutheran and Evangelical Protestant)

2020 - The 365 Day Bible (Non-denominational)

2021 - Legacy Standard Bible (Evangelical Protestant)

Complete versions of the Bible have been translated and printed in more than 250 languages, portions of the Bible have been translated and printed in more than 1,300 languages.

Personally though, for as much time as we spend focusing on the words, I believe GOD wants more of your time in action. (James 1:22-24)

I will end with this, GOD promised to preserve His scriptures (Psalms 12:6-7) especially in the minds and hearts of His people (Psalms 119:11, Deuteronomy 11:18, Proverbs 4:21-23).

I know, this topic was exhausting! And this is only, maybe 5% of all the potential information I could have added to the timeline. I tried hitting the major years of importance, I tried keeping track of denominations involved with key translations, and I kept my commentary minimal, factual and focused on major points. I encourage you all to study this topic out for yourself, and when you do, open your heart and mind to the idea of giving up traditions if you find the truth is different to what you've been taught all this time.

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A list of currently known books of the Bible, as more scrolls are being discovered more proof is being found of the books listed below, some of them called the lost books or even the forbidden books of the Bible, are being proven to be legitimately accurate along side those books we already have scrolls to compare with.

** = Books commonly used in most versions.

* = Books occasionally used in some versions.

- = part of this book that was removed.

* 1 Book of Adam and Eve

* 2 Book of Adam and Eve

   3 Book of Adam and Eve (a.k.a. The conflict of Adam and Eve with the Devil)

** Genesis 

    - * Assumption of Moses

    - * Apocalypse of Moses

    - * Testament of Abraham

    - * Apocalypse of Abraham

    - * Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

** Job

* 1 Enoch 

   2 Enoch

   The Secrets of Enoch

   3 Enoch

   Book of Giants

** Exodus 

* Jubilees

** Leviticus 

** Numbers 

** Deuteronomy 

* Jasher

** Joshua 

** Judges 

** Ruth 

** 1 Samuel 

** 2 Samuel 

** 1 Chronicles 

** Psalms 

     - * Psalm 151

** Song of Songs 

* Wisdom of Solomon 

* Psalms of Solomon

* Odes of Solomon 

** Proverbs 

** Ecclesiastes 

** 1 Kings 

** 2 Kings 

** 2 Chronicles 

    Story of Ahikar

* Prayer of King Manasseh

** Isaiah 

** 1 Jeremiah 

* 2 Jeremiah (a.k.a. The Epistle of Jeremiah)

* 1 Baruch

   2 Baruch 

   3 Baruch

** Lamentations 

** Hosea 

** Joel 

** Amos 

** Obadiah 

** Jonah 

** Micah 

** Nahum 

** Habakkuk 

** Zephaniah 

** Ezekiel

** Daniel 

     - *The Prayer of Azariah and Hymn of the Three Holy Children

     - * Suzanna

     - * Bel and the Dragon

** Ezra 

** Nehemiah

** 1 Esther 

     - * 2 Esther

* Tobit

* Judith 

** Haggai 

** Zechariah 

** Malachi 

* The Shepherd of Hermas

* Wisdom of Sirach

* 1 Maccabees 

* 2 Maccabees 

* 3 Maccabees 

* 4 Maccabees 

* 5 Maccabees

* Gospel of Mary

    Gospel of the Infancy of the Christ

    History of Joseph the Carpenter

** Gospel of Matthew 

** Gospel of Mark 

** Gospel of Luke 

** Gospel of John 

     Gospel of James

     Gospel of Peter

     Gospel of Thomas

* Gospel of Nicodemus 

    Gospel of Judas

** Acts of the Apostles by Luke

* Acts of Paul

* The Acts of Paul and Thecla

    The Acts of Philip 

* The Apostles Creed

** 1 Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians

** 2 Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians

** 1 Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians

** 2 Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians

** Epistle of Paulto the Galatians

** Epistle of Paul to the Romans

** Epistle of James 

** Epistle to the Colossians 

** Epistle of Paul to Philemon

** Epistle to the Ephesians 

** Epistle of Paul to the Philippians

    Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans

** 1 Epistle of Peter 

** 2 Epistle of Peter 

** Epistle to the Hebrews 

** 1 Epistle of Paul to Timothy

** Epistle of Paul to Titus

** 2 Epistle of Paul to Timothy

    Epistle of Paul to Seneca

** Epistle of Jude 

** 1 Epistle of John 

** 2 Epistle of John 

** 3 Epistle of John 

    Epistle of Christ to Abgarus, King of Edess 

    1 Epistle of Clement

    2 Epistle of Clement

    Epistle of Barnabas

    Epistle of Aristeas 

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians

    Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrneans

    Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp

    Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

    Epistle of Herod to Pilate the Governor

    Epistle of Pilate to Herod

    Epistle of Aristeas

** Book of the Apocalypse (a.k.a. the Book of the Revelations of John)

    The Apocalypse of Peter

There are other books referenced to in scriptures but have not yet been found.