“I pray and thank you for the work produced by faith and the labour prompted by love.”
[Apr.08.2023] Despite COVID-19 continuing for the last 3 years, the Bible was translated last year into 81 languages used by 723 million people around the world, the Korean Bible Society (hereinafter referred to as the Society) said on the 4th.
According to the report, 100 million people, 57 language speakers from Brazil to Bangladesh, received the Bible translated into their language for the first time. In addition, a new or revised version of the existing translation has been completed in 25 languages of over 623 million people.
Pastor Dirk Gevers, general secretary of the World Bible Society, said, “The Bible translation is at the heart of the unique and powerful ministries of the World Bible Societies. The translation teams are at the forefront of their mission and are trying to reveal the power of the word of God to the communities they serve,” he said.
“This is indeed a ‘labour of love’, a difficult task that requires continuous commitment,” he said. “I hope that each translation team dedicated to biblical translation will stand ‘strong and firm’ like Paul’s encouragement to Corinthians.”
According to the Society, as of early 2023, out of a total of 7,386 languages in the world, Bible were translated into 733 languages and distributed. The New Testament was translated into 1,622 languages and the short Bible into 1,255 languages, 3,610 languages in total. In the remaining 3,776 languages, even the short Bible has not been translated or is being translated.
5.9 billion people around the world have Bibles, 786 million have New Testament translated into their own language, and 457 million have partially translated Bibles. However, the Bible has not yet been translated into the languages spoken by 210 million people.
The World Bible Society said it has been leading unprecedented trends in the history of Bible translation in recent years through increasing cooperation among translation agencies, technological advancement, and the participation of sponsors with the goal of spreading the Bible in all languages.
And to support this trend, the Society has focused on the big vision of completing 1,200 Bible translations from 2018 to 2038. Among them, 880 are the first translation projects, and the other 320 are said to be new translations or projects for revision. (Source: Christian Daily).
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)
God, thank You for leading the work produced by faith and the labour of love in the translation of the Bible for the spread of the gospel, and for allowing the translated Bible to be delivered to the community of the translated language. May You pour out the grace and wisdom over the workers of the gospel who work in the Bible translation in various shapes and help them to run the race to the end of the remaining tasks with hope and patience for Christ. In the Holy Spirit, let churches around the world cooperate in this matter with prayers, and let a revival in which all nations value and obey the Bible as life with love for the Lord come.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
