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Cameroon. Photo: Rodney Ballard, Wycliffe Global Alliance Translator Lee Bramlett was confident that God had left His mark on the Hdi culture somewhere, but though he searched, he could not find it. Where was the footprint of God in the history or daily life of these Cameroonian people? What clue had He planted to let the Hdi know who He is and how He wants to relate to them? Then one night in a dream, God prompted Lee to look again at the Hdi word for love. Lee and his wife, Tammi, had learned that verbs in Hdi consistently end in one of three vowels. For almost every verb, they could find forms ending in i, a, and u. But when it came to the word for love, they could only find i and a. Why no u? Lee asked the translation committee, including the most influential leaders in the community, “Could you ‘dvi’ your wife?” “Yes,” they said. That would mean that the wife had been loved but the love was gone. “Could you ‘dva’ your wife?” Lee asked. “Yes,” they said. That kind of love depended on the wife’s actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well. “Could you ‘dvu’ your wife?” Lee asked. Everyone laughed. “Of course not!” they said. “If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water, never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would be compelled to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say ‘dvu.’ It just doesn’t exist.” Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, “Could God ‘dvu’ people?” There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally they responded. "God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, while all that time we rejected His great love." “Do you know what this would mean?” they asked. “This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, while all that time we rejected His great love. He is compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people.” One simple vowel, and the meaning was changed from “I love you based on what you do and who you are,” to “I love you based on who I am. I love you because of Me and not because of you.” God had encoded the story of His unconditional love right into their language. For centuries, the little word was there—unused but available, grammatically correct and quite understandable. When the word was finally spoken, it called into question their entire belief system. If God was like that, and not a mean and scary spirit, did they need the spirits of the ancestors to intercede for them? Did they need sorcery to relate to the spirits? Many decided the answer was no, and the number of Christ‑followers quickly grew from a few hundred to several thousand. The New Testament in Hdi is ready to be printed now, and twenty-nine thousand speakers will soon be able to feel the impact of passages like Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, ‘dvu’ your wives, just as Christ ‘dvu’-d the church.…” I invite you to pray for them as they absorb and seek to model the amazing, unconditional love they have received. As God’s Word is translated around the world, people are gaining access to this great love story about how God ‘dvu’-d us enough to sacrifice his unique Son for us, so that our relationship with Him can be ordered and oriented correctly. The cross changes everything! Someday, the last word of the last bit of Scripture for the last community will be done, and everyone will be able to understand the story of God’s unconditional love. Reproduced with permission from https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/featured/god-so-dvud-the-world

The importation of cultural practices from outside has made Christianity a foreign religion in many lands, and alienated Christians from their own peoples and cultures. It is this foreignness and not the offense of the Gospel that has often kept people from following Christ. We must be careful not to confuse the two. - Paul G. Hiebert Confucius Growing up as a Christian in a largely non-Christian family, my grandfather constantly reminded me that it was okay for me to accept a different religion, but that it was not acceptable to 走火入魔 (Chinese idiom which means to be obsessed and go overboard), and have my mind corrupted by western ideas. He saw, and still sees, Christianity as a foreign religion with a foreign God. This view is not uncommon amongst many Chinese in Singapore, especially those of the older generation. Many view Christian beliefs and practices as antithetical to Chinese cultural practices. “How can I follow a foreign god?” my grandmother once asked me, “What will happen to our ancestors if no one offers incense?” For many, religious and cultural practices are seen as one and the same. With the influence of Confucianism, many Chinese families emphasise filial piety and the importance of respecting and honouring one’s parents and elders as a key virtue. Such respect does not simply mean taking care of one’s parents while they are still living; it extends to practices such as burning incense and joss sticks to the dead so as to provide for them in the afterlife. For some Christians in non-Christian families, the failure to adhere to such practices is seen not only as a rejection of traditional cultural practices, but also disrespect to one’s elders. In the book Seeing Jesus from the East, the authors, Ravi Zacharias and Abdu Murray, look at the person of Jesus through Eastern cultural lenses. They point out that Jesus was a Jewish man who lived in an Eastern world, though the story of His gospel is universal. The universal message of the gospel is a reminder that the good news speaks into all cultures and worldviews. Christianity is not simply a foreign religion that seeks to colonise local cultures and practices; rather, the gospel speaks universally and is contextualised in practice to be culturally relevant, yet without compromising the truths of the message. For local Christians in Singapore, there are many situations in which traditional customs continue to be practised, including but not limited to: Celebratory events, such as Chinese New Year, in which some families do not sweep their homes on the first day of the new year so as not to sweep out the good luck; Funeral rites and practices and related activities, such as burning incense, joss sticks and joss papers; Purchase of new homes and the practice of rolling in a pineapple to welcome good fortune; and Seventh month hungry ghost festival, during which people avoid staying out late for fear of meeting the souls of the dead. Which customs and practices can be carried on by believers? Should such customs be rejected altogether, or modified? Is there any real harm with continuing with some seemingly innocuous practices? How should Christians respond if there is intense family pressure to continue with certain practices that appear antithetical to our faith? There is no simple answer to these questions. In finding answers to these questions, it is important that we consider not only the visible actions of such cultural practices and customs, but also the underlying beliefs and worldviews driving such actions, and examine them in light of Scripture. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Christians can come to honour God within our varied cultures, recognising that God is glorified in the multitude of tongues and languages and peoples and cultures. The author attended a virtual Culture Meets Scripture workshop. It was organised and conducted by Jo Shetler, a Scripture Engagement consultant, and Amy West, a senior Scripture Engagement consultant, both with SIL International. The workshop was spread over seven weekly sessions (total of about 20 hours). Also read: Joanne Shetler’s account of her years translating the New Testament for the Balangao people: And the Word Came with Power, Wycliffe Bible Translators, 1992. Paul G. Hiebert, “Critical Contextualisation”, In Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XII, No. 3, July, 1984. Contextualisation: Culture in the Light of Scripture, https://www.wycliffe.sg/blog/contextualisation-culture-light-scripture Images from Wikimedia Commons

The book of Revelation gives us an incredible picture of what heaven is going to look like: “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9a, NLT). Around the world, people are meeting the God who died to save them through Scripture in a language and format they can understand. Discover how Bible translation changes everything. Watch video. Explore ways you can help people around the world encounter the transforming power of Scripture in their language! Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US.

by Sharon Tan Ps 34:18: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Mary Beth Saurman is an Arts Master Facilitator with the Bible Society’s Trauma Healing Institute with many years’ experience in creative arts therapy. At a Zoom talk organised by Wycliffe Singapore in October 2020, she first explained how God has built into us the ability to heal from the grief of experiencing pain and loss. However, sometimes, the pain and grief may be so great that the person experiences “trauma” – when the pain and grief is so overwhelming that he gets “stuck” and unable to move into the healing process. Sometimes, trauma may get buried, but can be reignited by a trigger, even years later. Trauma and the Brain She then gave a simplified explanation of the functioning of the human brain. When looked at from the side, the lower parts of the brain govern instincts and emotions, while the higher part governs cognitive functions. When a person experiences trauma, the emotional and instinctual areas of the brain ignite, while the cognitive part is quiet. Looked at from the top, the human brain is divided into two sections. The left brain is the analytical side, while the right brain is the creative and expressive side. When a person experiences trauma, the analytical left brain is usually quiet, while the creative and expressive right brain is active. In effect, when a person experiences trauma, the parts of the brain that control cognitive and analytical functions are overwhelmed, so the person struggles to express the experience or his feelings in a meaningful way. He may be unable to tell the story in sequence, or recall key parts, or even make much sense of the events. Without a way to express his story to himself, he cannot begin to process the trauma. Why Arts? This is where the arts come in – by making use of the emotional and creative parts of the brain, the person is enabled to express his traumatic story in a meaningful way, and gradually build connections with the cognitive and analytical parts of the brain so that he can process the events and eventually start the process of healing. Artforms are more than just aesthetic; they are mediums of communication through which people are able to articulate their emotions. This could be through songs or drama, or even embroidery or food! However, the artistic medium has to be relevant and meaningful to the person, using mechanisms from his own culture which are familiar and understood. Laments In the short time available, the speaker was only able to touch on one way of expressing grief and loss – through laments. These could be in the form of drama, painting, music, etc. She gave an example from one area in South Asia, where it was not uncommon for young girls to be sold into prostitution, often by family members. A believer wrote a song (a lament) to express the grief experienced by these girls: Oh sisters, listen to my song This is my story As I think of my pain I feel I am in hell Looking at my troubles Promising luxurious life He took me to Bombay He sold me there for prostitution… I pass my days crying day and night Please spread my story among our people… Do not trust anyone The song brought much emotional healing to the girls, and became very popular in the area. It has also been credited with reducing the incidence of prostitution in this people group. The talk only brushed the surface of these issues, but Wycliffe Singapore hopes to have the speaker conduct a full Arts in Trauma Healing workshop in December 2020. If you are interested in attending, please contact us to indicate your interest. Do note that places are very limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. Images: © Mary Beth Saurman In Singapore: Trauma healing is needed not just in the mission field, but wherever people suffer trauma. Shortly after this talk, I came across these examples of creative arts being used in healing in Singapore: Ong Sor Fern of the Straits Times wrote in “Arts programmes offer hope and healing for underprivileged kids and communities”, Oct 19, 2020: Arts outreach programmes, ranging from drama workshops to storytelling sessions, have been sprouting at the grassroots level as community workers and artists recognise how the arts can help unlock communications with at-risk children and youth, as well as serve therapeutic purposes. And in the Esplanade Tunnel, songs written by girls from the Singapore Girls Home play softly while pedestrians can read the lyrics displayed on the wall. This community engagement programme, Songwriting for Hope, harnesses the power of songwriting to provide a safe and empathetic outlet for vulnerable girls to express their life stories, emotions, hopes and dreams through songs, and thence experience healing.

by Wycliffe Global Alliance 7360 total languages in the world Total world population : 7.8 billion people Languages with Scripture 3415 languages with some Scripture – 7 billion people 704 languages with a complete Bible – 5.7 billion people 1551 languages with a complete New Testament (some also have Old Testament portions) – 815 million people 1160 languages with some translated Bible portions – 458 million people Languages with no Scripture 3945 languages with no Scripture – 255 million people. 738 languages have work in progress – 65.4 million people 1193 languages are not vital enough to plan translation work – 20.8 million people 2014 languages need translation (or preparatory work) to begin – 167 million people Bible translation need 1.5 billion people, speaking 6656 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. 167 million people, speaking 2014 languages, still need translation work to begin Africa – 597 languages, 20 million people Americas – 120 languages, 2.6 million people Asia – 836 languages, 141 million people Europe – 60 languages, 2.9 million people Pacific – 401 languages, 0.44 million people [Regional numbers corrected 13 October 2020. Data as of 1 October 2020.] Bible translation in progress 2731 languages in 167 countries with active translation or preparatory work begun – 6.2 billion people Wycliffe Global Alliance Involvement Snapshot 2020 Alliance Organizations are working in at least 2130 languages. Alliance Organizations are involved in work in at least 132 countries. Alliance Organizations have been involved in the translation of New Testaments or Bibles in at least 1594 languages. Alliance Organizations have been involved in the translation of at least one published Bible book in an additional 824 languages. Working in community partnerships, Alliance personnel not only assist in Scripture-related goals but also help produce resources for literacy, education, health and other community-based objectives alongside Scripture. Statistics are rarely as simple as the numbers imply Scripture access statistics are not as simple as they seem at first glance. We strive to give an accurate snapshot of the main numbers, but the data is actually a bit more complex than that. For example, translation need is not as simple as determining which languages do or do not have Scripture. Most of the languages with only “some Scripture” are in need of more, and even full Bibles undergo revisions from time to time. Also, com­par­isons with pre­vi­ous an­nual re­ports are chal­leng­ing and some­times not pos­si­ble, due to on­go­ing changes and im­prove­ments in data de­f­i­n­i­tions and col­lect­ing meth­ods. A new way of measuring Bible Translation Progress Statistics provide one lens through which to measure progress in worldwide Bible translation. Progress involves not just publishing translations but changed lives as people encounter God through his Word and as the worldwide Bible translation movement moves toward greater unity in Christ. Alliance leaders have begun to explore other important measurements of progress such as: How are language communities experiencing life-changing impact from Scripture? Are churches increasingly taking ownership over the work of Bible translation? Are churches, communities, and organizations partnering more effectively to carry out the work of translation together? These are just a few examples of measurements being talked about. To read more, see: A missiology of progress: Assessing advancement in the Bible translation movement by Dr. Kirk Franklin. Wycliffe Global Alliance presentations of Scripture and Language Statistics are compiled from data provided through progress.Bible by Wycliffe Organisations, SIL International, United Bible Societies and many other partners. Data is current as of 1 October 2020. Population data is based on available information about first language speakers in SIL’s Ethnologue . Further stories about people and projects are available at www.wycliffe.net and from your nearest Wycliffe organisation . PDF Downloads: This document Infographic Shorter Infographic Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe Global Alliance

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13 (NLT) There are over 250,000* Deaf people living in Japan and less than 2% know Christ. Since 1993, 33% of the Bible has been translated into Japanese Sign Language, including portions from both the Old and New Testaments. But there is still a long way to go. Sign language translation follows a similar process to written language translation, but with a few additional challenges. A word can take on an entirely new or unintentional meaning depending on the facial expressions or body language used to accompany a sign, which can make the task of translation difficult. Sign language translations are published in video format, a process that requires translators to memorize and perfectly sign full passages of Scripture. Once a portion is translated and recorded, it’s edited and distributed digitally via apps and through DVDs. The Japanese Sign Language team has been hard at work and published the book of Daniel in early 2020. They’re currently working to translate the book of Ezra. As they await having the complete Word of God in their language, continue to pray for the project, everyone on the translation team and Japan’s Deaf community. Pray that God will bring experienced Deaf translators to the project to form multiple new production teams. Pray that people and churches in Japan’s Deaf community will be encouraged by God’s Word in Japanese Sign Language. Ask God to grant the translation team strong communication, focus and productivity as they work remotely. Pray for continued health for the translation team and lift up the project leaders as they make decisions on what continued safety measures to take regarding COVID-19. *Source: joshuaproject.net Make a Prayer Connection: Did you know that only 5 percent of sign languages even have Bible translation work started? The Deaf are the largest unreached people group in the world. Learn specific ways you can be in prayer for this community. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US

With effect from 1 October 2020, our new address is: Wycliffe Singapore 25 Harper Road, #02-07 Harper Point Singapore 369683 Our other contact details remain the same: (65) 6225 7477 | admin@wycliffe.sg | www.wycliffe.sg For more details, please visit our contact page

by Katharine Norton Katharine Norton teaches Scripture Use in the Linguistics and Bible Translation Department, located in Bukuru, near Jos in Plateau State, at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN). One fruitful part of the course is teaching the students to do Audio Bible Studies, she writes: One challenge that many Bible college graduates have is forgetting their mother tongue. Perhaps they were identified as intelligent and talented from as young as twelve years of age so they were sent to boarding school for the sake of their education. At school and then at Bible college, they were surrounded by people from many language groups and so would speak a language of wider communication with them, such as English or Hausa. They were also listening to teachers talking in English, doing assignments in English, reading books in English and gradually getting more and more adept at reading, learning, and processing information in English, and not in their mother tongue. This makes it difficult for them to suddenly talk about their faith in their mother tongue when they return home. ‘When I was doing the opening prayer they all laughed at me, which almost made me not continue.’ This situation is compounded if the student became a believer away from home. They may never have heard how to express Christian faith in their language. They may have no idea of the key terms needed for words like faith, repentance, Christ etc. All this means it is extremely difficult for them to share their faith in God with their people at home. Their Bible college training, which is meant to help their people, is not easily shared with them because the students have forgotten the language! Another barrier to local people hearing God’s word in their local language is that many church leaders are posted to an area where they do not speak the language. It is therefore difficult for them to disciple their flock in the local language, or to preach from God’s word in the language the listeners understand best. How then can local people hear God’s word in their local language? Scripture Use students in one Bible college in Nigeria have been learning in their Scripture Use class how to lead Audio Bible Studies with their people. An Audio Bible Study is where participants listen to the passage of Scripture being read rather than reading it from the Bible. It can be read in a number of ways: the leader can read the passage aloud from the Bible, or the Bible passage can be recorded before the study using a mobile phone, or the leader can download local language audio Bible readings from the internet using their phone or computer. ‘Within a short time, their nervousness turned to enthusiasm and they were eager to respond.’ An Audio Bible Study differs from other Bible studies in that there are just six questions that the leader asks the participants. These six simple questions can be used for any passage of Scripture. Participants are given the opportunity to answer each question rather than just sitting and listening to the leader teaching. As is evident from this description, the leader of the Audio Bible Study has a smaller speaking role than if a sermon were being preached, they just need to ask the six questions one by one, and then allow the participants to speak. Therefore, the leader of the Bible study does not need to be fluent in the local language, yet the participants hear the word of God speaking directly to them in their language from the recordings and have the chance to engage with it by discussing the six questions with the other participants. This is a testimony from one final year theology student, Rimamsikwe Matthew, who bravely led an Audio Bible Study in his local language, Kuteb, even though he doesn’t speak it fluently: ‘Leading this Audio Bible Study was one of the most interesting things I have ever done. I did it with a group of nine people who are much better at speaking my mother tongue than me (Kuteb). It wasn’t easy at all! When I was doing the opening prayer they all laughed at me, which almost made me not continue the study in my mother tongue. ‘After the opening prayer, I played the audio Bible in Kuteb (John 10:1–3). They liked it so much, they wanted to hear more! I asked the six questions in Kuteb. It was really interesting how everyone wanted to give his or her own perspective on what they heard. ‘The questions that really got everyone thinking were “What is God saying to you personally?” and “What will you do about it?” At this point, everyone was quiet. So I explained to them about the need for each person to hear from God. The oldest woman asked in my language “A fu shan timi kafe pastor re?” meaning “Do you want me to become a pastor or what?” After a little explanation about how God can speak to anyone, not just pastors, two of the women saw the need to give their lives to Jesus Christ. Wow! So the thing that I saw that was difficult and challenging for me actually became one of the biggest tools for the restoration to fellowship of two of my mothers!’ (In Rimamsikwe’s culture, older women are called ‘mother’ as a term of respect.) Praise God for this amazing testimony! Rimamsikwe does not speak his language fluently, but through the Scripture Use course at his Bible college, he grasped the concept that it is better to share God's word in the language that the audience speak best, rather than the language that the speaker is most comfortable with, as is sadly so often the case here. His courage in offering to God his limited ability in Kuteb resulted in two women hearing God speaking directly to them in such a personal and convincing way that they gave their lives to Christ! Another student who does not speak his mother tongue fluently is James Ezekiel Gwom. He is Berom by tribe and can speak a little of the language, but grew up in the city using mostly English. However, through the Scripture Use course he was challenged to develop his language skills so that he could communicate the gospel to his people in their language. James writes: ‘I held two Audio Bible Studies in the Berom language. The Bible studies were on the book of 1 Corinthians 7:17–24. The passage was taken from the Berom Bible. To kick start, I had the passage read by an individual who was fluent in the language while I recorded it on my phone. He also helped me translate the questions from English to Berom. The first study was held in a village named Guravyoh with 12 people in attendance. I asked a friend who could speak Berom better than me to help conduct the class. At first, the people, mostly old, weren’t sure about what was going on but as time went on they got the idea. We opened with prayer and I played the recorded Scripture about three times for them to really understand what it meant. ‘I noticed that at first they were nervous about the mode of study (audio Bible and the language used) because it was strange to them. Within a short time, however, their nervousness turned to enthusiasm and they were eager to respond to the questions. I found them to be more relaxed, because using the Berom language made them more at home than the edgy feeling they would have had if they were speaking English. They acknowledged that a more regular use of their language in Bible studies would enhance their ability to understand the Bible better. They were even challenged to study the Bible using Berom with their children! Regarding the use of the audio Bible, they also said it would encourage greater participation among those who are either challenged physically or can’t read.’ Even though James led this Audio Bible Study, he enlisted the help of a fluent language speaker to help him to translate the six questions, read the passage for the recording, and to help conduct the session. This is a great example of co-operation, of overcoming challenges to ensure that people hear the gospel in their mother tongue so that God can speak directly to them from his word. Many a Bible study leader would just lead the Bible study in the language they were most comfortable with, but James persisted and overcame the challenges because he wanted people to hear God’s word in the language they were most comfortable with! ‘They were even challenged to study the Bible using Berom with their children!’ Just as the boy offered his small lunch of five loaves and two fish to Jesus and saw a great miracle (Matthew 14:13–21) James and Rimamsikwe offered their small amount of language ability to God with amazing results! People understood the Bible better in their mother tongue, and were enthusiastic about Bible study. Many barriers to engaging with Scripture were overcome – those who usually don’t understand Bible studies in other languages could understand in their mother tongue. Children and non-readers were able to engage with Scripture. The elderly heard God speak directly to them in their own language. The audio Scriptures tool is shown to be very useful for local language Bible study and can be easily used by those with limited local language ability or by church leaders posted to areas away from their home. The six discussion questions for an Audio Bible Study Can we repeat what we heard in our own words? What touched your heart from what you heard? What do we learn about God from what you heard? What was God telling the people at that time? What is God saying to you personally and what will you do about it? Who will you tell? Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe UK.

by Evangeline Did you know that the Bible contains many early examples of different things ranging from scientific processes to machines and engineering feats? For example, after discovering the process of fermentation, the earliest known vessels used to store and preserve wine were wineskins, mentioned in Matthew 9:17. Then, there was also mention of machines – ‘In Jerusalem, [King Uzziah] made machines designed by skilful men…to shoot arrows and hurl large stones’ (2 Chronicles 26:15) – and amazing engineering feats like Noah’s ark and, of course, the attempt to defy God through the construction of the Tower of Babel. These are some things mentioned in the Bible that we might never have realised existed even back then, and there are certainly more examples of others. One of these is the concept of translation. Following the events of the Tower of Babel, we know that God caused the people to begin speaking different languages. But how did they come to deal with communication between people of different tongues in the following ages? Even though God was behind the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel, He did too create the human brain in such a marvellous way that enables us to acquire more than one language, even at different stages of life. So, somewhere along the way, the scattered people from the Tower of Babel and their descendants must have picked up another language on top of their mother tongue in order to trade or travel between areas. Or a few of them did, at least. Torah© HOWI, Wikimedia Commons Ezra reading the Book of the Law Hence, while the early Jews spoke Hebrew, by the time we get to the book of Nehemiah, after the Babylonian exile, the Jews of that era would have spoken Aramaic, making it their ‘heart language’ rather than Hebrew. How then, would they be able to read and live according to what was recorded in the Book of the Law, which was in Hebrew? The answer: translation. We know this because of Nehemiah 8:7-8: ‘The Levites…instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear [or, translating it] and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.’ (NIVUK) Here’s what’s so amazing and important about this: if we read Nehemiah 8 (and the whole book) in its entirety, it is revealed that, at this point, the Jews have recently returned from exile in Babylon. When they first hear Ezra the scribe read from the Book of the Law, followed by the translation, they begin to weep (v9) in sorrow for not having lived according to God’s demands. However, Nehemiah then tells them that having been convicted of their sin, they can rejoice ‘because they now understood the words that had been made known to them’ (v12). Then, as today, understanding God’s word brings both sorrow and, thereafter, joy. Feast of tabernacles (booths)©Zachi Evenor, Wikimedia Commons Later, in verse 17, we also learn that for the first time in many years, the Jews finally came to celebrate and understand the Feast of the Tabernacles as it was intended – to commemorate God’s grace (Leviticus 23:43) – ‘and their joy was very great’. This early example of translation reveals the timeless importance and joy of Bible translation. When people hear God’s Word in their heart language, their lives are changed in ways unimaginable. Sorrow is turned into joy, mourning into dancing, darkness into light…. This is why Wycliffe, in communion with God and within the community of His Church, seeks to contribute to the holistic transformation of language communities worldwide – not just through written Bible translation, but through a whole variety of other means.

by Sharon Tan King James Version Bible first edition title page,1611,Wikimedia Commons Bottomless pit; eat, drink and be merry; white as snow; scapegoat — where did these words and phrases come from? Yes, from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible! Even those who have never stepped into a church make use of them; they have become so much part of the language that their religious origins have been forgotten. No other book in the English language has introduced as many idioms into the language, not even Shakespeare’s complete works! In 2010, just before the 400th anniversary of the KJV in 2011, linguistics professor David Crystal published Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language (OUP). He counted 257 idioms from the KJV which are still in contemporary use, although only 18 actually originated in the KJV. Many came from earlier English Bibles, chiefly Tyndale’s, and were retained in the KJV. The KJV was simply the means by which these phrases became part of the English language. References to Bible stories also permeate English literature – apples, serpent, flood, fatted calves, milk and honey, sacrifice, etc. This is not surprising as the Bible was the most widely read book in the English language for centuries. It is arguably impossible to understand the subtler nuances of much of English literature without some familiarity with Bible stories, whatever the religious beliefs of the reader. Notable early English Bibles Up till the 15th century, the Bible mainly used by churches in England was the Latin Vulgate. However, from 1382 to 1395, a few translators under the direction of John Wycliffe translated the Bible from Latin into English. Wycliffe believed that every Christian should be taught the Bible in the language that they understood best, just as Jesus had taught his disciples in the language they knew best. Although this English translation was banned by the Church in 1409, copies continued to circulate. Some words and phrases from Wycliffe’s translation include: female, treasure, born again and keys of the kingdom. These were either adapted from the Latin or created, when there was no suitable word in English. About 100 years later, from 1494 to 1536, William Tyndale and John Coverdale translated the Bible into English from Greek and Hebrew texts. They were able to make use of the new technology of the printing press to produce many copies which were circulated widely. Some words and phrases that first appeared in the Tyndale Bible include: fisherman, sorcerer, blind lead the blind and brother’s keeper. By 1604, there were several English versions of the Bible in circulation besides Tyndale’s. Different versions were favoured by different factions, and so King James I of England (also James VI of Scotland) sought to unite his people and consolidate his influence through one universally accepted version of the Bible. He ordered 50 scholars to work on a new translation, but also insisted that they retain the use of familiar terms and names from earlier English versions. He placed a high value on the resulting text being readable and understandable in the common language of the day. The final product was not just intended for scholars or the clergy, but to be read aloud in churches since many people were illiterate. The result was a book that shaped the language of the English-speaking world. So, while Christians value the Bible as the inspired Word of God, the Bible has also influenced all English-speaking cultures and anyone who has contact with English literature (even if translated into another language), whatever their beliefs. A wonderful book indeed!