The first complete Catalan Bible translation was produced by the Catholic Church, between 1287 and 1290. It was entrusted to Jaume de Montjuich by Alfonso II of Aragon. Remains of this version can be found in Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale). Also, in the same French library, we can find another translation into Catalan, which Jaume II of Aragon received on November 23, 1319.
In the early fifteenth century appeared another whole Bible translation by Bonifaci Ferrer. In 1490 a psalter by Joan Roís de Corella came to light in Venice. The translation by Bonifaci Ferrer, known as Valencian Bible, was printed in 1478 before any Bible was printed in English or Spanish. The prohibition, in Spain and other Catholic countries, of vernacular translations, along with the decline of the Catalan language until its renaissance in the nineteenth century, explains why there were no translations into Catalan from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.
In 1832 a Catalan exiled in London, Josep Melcior Prat i Colom, sponsored by the British and Foreign Bible Society, translated the New Testament (Lo Nou Testament de nostre Senyor Jesu-Christ), which was published afterwards in Barcelona (1836) and Madrid (1888).
Josep Melcior Prat i Colom (1779-1855)
Joan Roís de Corella, 15th century psalter
Bonifaci Ferrer (Valencia 1350-1417), 1478
Jaume de Montjuich, 13th century
Pau and Samuel Sais, 2000
In the twentieth century many new translations flourished, both Catholic and Protestant.
1915-1925 Unfinished translation by Frederic Clascar (Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans): only Genesis (1915), Song of Songs (1918) and Exodus (1925)
1928-1929 El Nou Testament (Barcelona: Foment de Pietat Catalana)
1928-1948 La Sagrada Bíblia, by Fundació Bíblica Catalana (Barcelona: Alpha); started in 1927 (published in 15 individual volumes, also known as "Bíblia de Cambó", as it was funded by Francesc Cambó). There are several translators, among them: Carles Riba, Carles Cardó or Josep Maria Millàs i Vallicrosa.
1926-1987 La Bíblia: versió dels textos originals i notes pels Monjos de Montserrat: by the Monks of Montserrat, in 28 volumes. Other editions based on it have been published, in one volume and with some textual variations
1968 La Sagrada Bíblia, 2nd Edition: a new translation in one volume, reprinted some times by Fundació Bíblica Catalana. It is a different translation from the 1928-1948 version from the same publisher.
1980 Nou Testament (Barcelona: Claret), by Jaume Sidera i Plana
1988 Nou Testament: the New Testament, by the Institució Bíblica Evangèlica de Catalunya, with the help of the International Bible Society
2000 La Bíblia: la Sagrada Escriptura en llengua catalana; also La Bíblia del 2000or Bíblia Evangèlica Catalana (BEC), translated by Pau Sais and Samuel Sais ([Barcelona]: Institució Bíblica Evangèlica de Catalunya), with some editions
2009 La Santa bíblia o les Santes Escriptures (London: Trinitarian Bible Society), from the Massoteric text
For the Ecumenical translation, Catholic and Protestant translators worked together. However, there are two editions: a Catholic edition with the deuterocanonical books and a Protestant edition without.
1993 Bíblia Catalana Interconfessional (BCI), by Associació Bíblica de Catalunya, Editorial Claret, and Societats Bíbliques Unides, with some reprints.
2004 Evangelis: de Marc, Mateu, Lluc i Joan, amb els fets dels Apòstols, la Carta de Pau als romans i el LLibre de L'Apocalipsi (Barcelona: Proa), translated by Joan F. Mira in a literary and philological way, religiously neutral.
