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It was specifically translated into English by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine under the liturgical principles and reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

Excerpts are taken from the New American Bible to form the approved Lectionary for Mass by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, specifically the 1970 Old Testament, 1986 New Testament, and 1991 Psalter in which the inclusive language that appears in controversial places is replaced.

First Edition

The text of the first edition of the New American Bible is composed of:

*The New Testament directly translated from Greek, appearing in portions from 1964 and completed in 1970.

*The Old Testament (except Genesis): the Confraternity Bible text translated in stages between 1952 and 1969 from the original languages, with minor revisions to the text and notes in 1970.

*Genesis newly translated from the Hebrew in 1970, replacing the 1948 translation.

The spelling of proper names found in this edition departs from the ones found in older Catholic Bible versions, such as the Douay, and instead adopts those commonly found in Protestant Bibles. The notes in many places present 20th centuries theories still current, e.g. the Q source or different sources for the Pentateuch. Catholic scholars translated this version with collaboration from members of other Christian churches (denominations).

Second Edition

In 1986 some traditionally familiar phraseology was restored to the New Testament. This included inclusive language in several places.

Third Edition

In 1991 it was again amended to create more inclusive language in the Psalms. Some controversy ensued because of its alleged use of vertical inclusive language (God and Christ) and some uses of horizontal inclusive language ("human beings" or "they" instead of men).

Fourth Edition

In 1994, work began on a revision of the Old Testament.

However, since the 1991 Psalms were rejected for liturgy use, the text was modified by a committee of the Holy See and the Bishops for use in the Latin-Rite Catholic liturgy in 2000. This is the current text of the Lectionaries of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The Holy See accepted some use of inclusive language, such as where the speaker is speaking of one of unknown gender (rendering "person" in place of "man"), but rejected any changes relating to God or Christ. On November 2008, the revised Grail Psalter was accepted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and is currently awaiting Vatican approval. This will replace the current modified NAB Psalter for Lectionary use in the United States. In 2002, the Old Testament (excluding the Psalms) was completed and sent to the Ad Hoc Committee to see if it was a suitable Catholic translation.

In June 2003, a re-revision of the Psalms that followed the Liturgiam Authenticam was completed but rejected by the Ad Hoc Committee. It was again revised in 2008 and sent to the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship but rejected in favor of the revised Grail Psalter.

In September 2008, The last book (Jeremiah) of the Old Testament was accepted by the Ad Hoc Committee. In November of that year, the complete Old Testament (including footnotes and introductions) was approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. However, they would not allow it to be published with the 1991 Psalms. A final revision of the NAB Psalter is currently underway using suggestions vetted by the Ad Hoc Committee and stricter conformity to the Liturgiam Authenticam.