As of 2022, there are approximately 1,892 languages in the world who are without any portion of the Bible in their native language. Have you ever wondered where we got our English Bible? William Tyndale (born ca.1490) translated the first Bible into English in 1525. In his day, it was illegal for common people to read the Bible in their native language. All scripture was in Latin, so that only Catholic priests could reach and teach the Bible. Tyndale believed that the average person should have access to God’s Word. Once he translated the Bible into English, he was exiled from England, yet his work continued as thousands of copies of God’s Word were printed in mainland Europe. From Brussels, Belgium, they would smuggle Bibles in bales of hay and shipments of clothing, crossing the English Channel as untold numbers of God’s Word flooded into the British Isles.
Today, the challenge remains to provide Bibles in people’s native language. This is why we participate in Bible translation work through the Seed Company, a division of Wycliffe Bible Translators. While all scripture is inspired and breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16), our favorite portion of scripture to translate are the 105 verses in the book of 1 John. Imagine what it is to feel the guilt of your sins, but not know what to do about it. What would it be to feel the weight of your sin, but not realize there is forgiveness through Jesus? Now imagine receiving a book written in your native language, where there are not bookstores or thousands of copies of books in your language, but now there is one rare and precious book that you can understand and they call it a Bible. Now imagine reading for the first time 1 John 1:9, “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Now imagine reading “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
There is a finish line to Bible translation work, and the finish line is only 1,892 languages. This is quite remarkable when you consider there are over 6,500 languages in the world. Could this be part of what Christ meant when He said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)? Through ministries like the Seed Co. and the Wycliffe Bible Translators, you and I can accelerate the translation of God’s Word and become Bible investors.
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