The Douay–Rheims Bible (/ˌduːeɪ ˈriːmz, ˌdaʊeɪ -/, US also /duːˌeɪ -/), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into Early Modern English by members of the English College, Douai as a Counter-Reformation effort. The New Testament portion was published in Rheims, France, in 1582, in one volume with extensive commentary and notes. The Old Testament portion was published in two volumes in 1609 and 1610 by the University of Douai. The first volume, covering Genesis to Job, was published in 1609; the second, covering the Book of Psalms to 2 Maccabees (spelled "Maccabees") and the three apocryphal books of the Vulgate appendix following the Old Testament (Prayer of Manasseh, 3 Esther, and 4 Esther), was published in 1610. Marginal notes on translation and the Hebrew and Greek source texts of the Vulgate compose majority portions of the edition. In 1589, William Fulke collated the complete Rheims text and notes in parallel columns with those of the Bishops' Bible. This work sold widely in England, prompting re-issue in three further editions by 1633. Fulke's editions of the Rheims New Testament were of crucial significance to 17th-century English exegesis.

Much of the first edition employed Latin vocabulary, rendering it particularly difficult to read. Consequently, a revision of the translation was undertaken by Bishop Richard Challoner: the New Testament in three editions of 1749, 1750, and 1752; and the Old Testament (minus the Vulgate apocrypha) in 1750.^{[citation needed]}

Subsequent editions of the Challoner revision contain minor changes to the text.^{[citation needed]} Challoner's New Testament was extensively revised by Bernard MacMahon in a series of Dublin editions from 1783 to 1810. These Dublin versions were the source for some Challoner Bibles printed in the United States in the 19th-century.

Subsequent editions of the Challoner Bible printed in England most often follow Challoner's earlier New Testament texts of 1749 and 1750, as do most 20th-century printings and online versions of the Douay–Rheims Bible circulating on the internet. ^{[citation needed]}

Although the Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible Revised Edition, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, and English Standard Version Catholic Edition are the most commonly used Bibles in English-speaking Catholic churches, the Challoner revision of the Douay–Rheims often remains the Bible of choice for more traditional English-speaking Catholics.

The French city of Douai (then belonging to the Spanish Netherlands) was a prominent center of English Catholics fleeing the English Reformation. In 1568, inspired by the recently founded University of Douai, Cardinal William Allen (1532–1594), formerly a canon at York Minster, established the English College, a Catholic seminary. It was during this period that scholars at the College published the Catholic Bible's first complete English translation that was authorized by the Catholic Church.

A run of a few hundred or more of the New Testament, in quarto form (not large folio), was published in the last months of 1582 (Herbert #177), during a temporary migration of the college to Rheims. Consequently, it has been commonly known as the Rheims New Testament. Though he died in the same year as its publication, this translation was principally the work of Gregory Martin, formerly Fellow of St John's College, Oxford, and close friend of Edmund Campion. He was assisted by others at Douai, notably Allen, Richard Bristow, William Reynolds and Thomas Worthington, who proofread and provided notes and annotations. The Old Testament is stated to have been ready at the same time but, for want of funds, it could not be printed until later, after the college had returned to Douai. It is commonly known as the Douay Old Testament. It was issued as two quarto volumes dated 1609 and 1610 (Herbert #300). These first New Testament and Old Testament editions followed the Geneva Bible not only in their quarto format but also in the use of Roman type.

As a recent translation, the Rheims New Testament had an influence on the translators of the King James Version. Afterwards, it ceased to be of interest to the Anglican Church. Although the cities are now commonly spelled as Douai and as Reims, the Bible continues to be published as the Douay–Rheims Bible and has formed the basis of some later Catholic Bibles in English.^{[citation needed]}