Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible / Apocrypha

The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church to be canonical books of the Old Testament but which are considered non-canonical by Protestant denominations. They are seven books from the Septuagint, the standard translation of the Hebrew Bible in the Hellenistic period, written during the reign of Ptolemy II (283-246 BCE) and referenced extensively in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline Epistles. With the rise of Rabbinic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple Period, the Hebrew Canon was in flux, until the Masoretic Text, compiled between the 7th and 10th centuries, became the authoritative text of the mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text excluded the seven deuterocanonical books and formed the basis for their exclusion in the Protestant Old Testament. The term distinguished these texts both from those that were termed protocanonical books, which were the books of the Hebrew canon; and from the apocryphal books, which were those books of Jewish origin that were known sometimes to have been read in church as scripture but which were considered not to be canonical.

The Books Presented Below Use These Titles

  The First Book of Esdras
  The Second Book of Esdras [sometimes Fourth Book of Ezra]
  The Book of Tobit
  The Book of Judith
  The Rest of the Chapters of the Book of Esther
  The Wisdom of Solomon
  The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus
  The Book of Baruch
  The Epistle of Jeremy [sometimes Chapter Six of Baruch]
  The Song of the Three Holy Children
  The Prayer of Azariah [missing in one table of contents]
  The History of Susanna [in Daniel]
  The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon
  The Prayer of Manasses King of Judah
  The First Book of the Maccabees
  The Second Book of the Maccabees


Here is the table of contents in the order presented below:


  The First Book of Esdras
  The Second Book of Esdras [sometimes Fourth Book of Ezra]
  The Greek Additions to Esther
  The First Book of the Maccabees
  The Second Book of the Maccabees
  The Book of Tobit
  The Book of Judith
  The Wisdom of Solomon
  The Book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus)
  The Book of Baruch
  The Epistle (or letter) of Jeremiah
  The Book of Susanna (in Daniel)
  The Prayer of Azariah
  The Prayer of Manasseh
  Bel and the Dragon (in Daniel)