Open Nova Bíblia Viva

The Open Nova Bíblia Viva 2007 (ONBV) is the freely distributable edition of Biblica's Nova Bíblia Viva, a complete Bible in clear, contemporary Brazilian Portuguese. It is the Lusophone counterpart of the family of translations associated with the New Living Translation, sharing the same dynamic equivalence (thought-for-thought) philosophy that has made these versions popular among first-time readers, devotional readers, and younger audiences.

Origin and publisher

The text is © 2007, 2010 Biblica, Inc., the international Bible society best known for the New International Version in English. Biblica developed the Nova Bíblia Viva as part of its global commitment to producing modern-language Scripture in languages with large numbers of speakers, working with Brazilian translators and consultants familiar with both the original biblical languages and the rhythms of everyday Portuguese.

This particular edition - the Open edition - is released under the Biblica Open License, which authorizes free non-commercial distribution of the full text. It is important to distinguish it from the commercial 2010 edition published in Brazil by Mundo Cristão, which is sold through bookstores and is not part of the open licensing program. The ONBV uses the same translation work but is the version Biblica makes available without charge for ministry, app, and online use.

Editorial approach

Translation choices in the Nova Bíblia Viva consistently favor meaning over form. Where a literal rendering of a Hebrew or Greek idiom would be opaque to a modern Brazilian reader, the translators reach for natural Portuguese equivalents that preserve the original sense. Sentence structures are simplified, ancient weights, measures, and customs are often paraphrased or footnoted, and theological vocabulary tends to be expressed in plain language rather than ecclesiastical jargon. The result is a Bible that reads smoothly aloud and that newcomers to Scripture can follow without an interpreter at hand.

Canon and structure

The ONBV contains the full sixty-six book Protestant canon - thirty-nine Old Testament books and twenty-seven New Testament books - with no apocryphal or deuterocanonical sections. Chapter and verse divisions follow the standard system used across Brazilian Protestant editions, so it can be cross-referenced with concordances, study Bibles, and lectionaries already in circulation.

Use on Midvash

On Midvash, the Open Nova Bíblia Viva 2007 is offered as a complement to the historic Almeida tradition and to other modern Brazilian versions. Its dynamic equivalence makes it especially valuable for devotional reading, narrative passages, the Psalms, the prophets, and the New Testament epistles, where clarity of meaning is often more pastorally important than reproducing every Hebrew or Greek construction. Comparative reading between the ONBV and a more formal-equivalent version such as the Almeida Revista e Atualizada gives readers a useful pair of windows onto the same biblical text - one optimized for accessibility, the other for closeness to the underlying form.

Because the open license permits free non-commercial use, the ONBV is also a natural choice for outreach materials, small-group studies, mobile applications, and any ministry context where cost-free Scripture distribution is a priority.