The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible was first published in 1989 and it has received the widest acclaim and broadest support from church leaders and academics of any modern translation of the Bible. It was quickly adopted by churches, theological colleges and university department as their standard text. The team of translators was led by the legendary Dr Bruce Metzger, who died very recently, and included men and women from all the main Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Jewish faith. The guiding principles of the translation were accuracy and clarity - it set out to be 'as literal as possible' to the ancient texts, and 'as free as necessary' to make the meaning clear in graceful, understandable English. In this, it stands firmly in the tradition of the King James Version. This anglicized edition was first published in 1995. Adapted by a team of editors in Britain, it does not alter the translation in any way but smooths out the considerable number of variances between British and American usage. Bound in hardback for durability and with bespoke calligraphy for the title lettering, this is an attractive pew edition.