Bible translation today

Demand for Bible translations has always been high. Translators still struggle to keep up with the need for new versions and revisions of outdated translations.

For the past 200 years, Bible Societies across the world have worked to make the Bible available in the languages people need most. They have been responsible for more than 300 of the 450 languages that now have a translation of the whole Bible. This has made the Scriptures accessible to more than five billion of the world's population.

As a result, out of the world’s 6,900 languages:

• Parts of the Bible are available in more than 2,400 languages
• The entire Bible is available in at least 426 languages
• The New Testament is available in 1,115 languages

However, over 4,500 languages still wait for even one book of the Bible. This means millions either have no access to the Bible at all or can only encounter it in something other than their ‘heart’ language.

For Bible Society this is a priority. When complete, the more than 500 translation projects currently under way have the potential to impact more than four billion people.

Revised translations are also needed
There is also an urgent need for many existing translations of the Bible to be renewed or replaced.  This is because:

• Language changes over time and some existing translations are now somewhat archaic
• Some early translations were done with enthusiasm and dedication but with a lack of scholarship or academic knowledge

Translation for audio and Braille
For many people, simply having the Bible printed in their own language doesn’t meet their need.  This is true for a billion people who can’t or don’t read. It’s also true for the vast numbers of people who are blind or visually impaired, and deaf – most of whom live in poor communities.

As a result, translators are responding through programmes that make the Bible available in audio formats and in Braille.

However:

• Only 3 per cent of languages have any of the Bible in audio
• Only 30 languages have the whole Bible in Braille
• There is no complete Bible in a Sign Language