Douay – Rhiems Catholic Bible

This is a Douay-Rheims Bible app — the older English Catholic translation that comes from the Latin Vulgate by way of English exiles in the late 1500s. It includes the seven Deuterocanonical books and reads in the Challoner revision from 1749 that most Catholics have actually used.

You get the full Old and New Testaments offline, a search bar, adjustable font size, and the ability to keep multiple tabs open, so you can flip between Isaiah 53 and Matthew 27 without losing your place. The original Rheims-Douay readings are in there alongside the Challoner revision, which is useful if you ever want to compare phrasings or quote the earlier version.

The Douay-Rheims has a particular sound to it — closer to the King James in cadence than to a modern Bible — and for many older Catholics it is the version they grew up hearing. If you have read St. Alphonsus or Cardinal Newman in English, the Douay is the Bible they were quoting. There is a quiet faithfulness in coming back to it.

It fits anyone who prefers traditional language for prayer, or who wants to read along with older spiritual writing that uses Douay phrasing. It is also a good study companion if you are working through the Vulgate or comparing Catholic translations.

It is the bare Bible, not a study Bible. There are no footnotes from the original Challoner edition, no maps, no concordance beyond search. The interface is functional rather than elegant, and the developer is a one-person operation. None of that limits the text itself.

Free. By Dzianis Kaniushyk. On the App Store: Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible. A solid free copy of a Catholic translation that deserves to stay in use.