Today we rejoice that, despite another year of challenges caused by COVID-19, Bible Societies around the world completed Scripture translations in 90 languages used by 794 million people in 2021! That’s just over 10% of the world’s population.

Bible Societies completed:

• First translations in 48 languages including three first full Bibles
• New or revised Scripture translations in 43 languages used by more than three quarters of a billion people including German, Amharic (Ethiopia), Dutch, Hausa Ajami (Nigeria), Taiwanese, Hungarian, and Serbian
• Braille Scriptures in four languages including two full Braille Bibles—the Braille Bible in Swahili and the Acholi Braille Bible.
• Scripture portions in 10 sign languages including 10 parables from Luke’s Gospel in Sri Lankan Sign Language.
• Study Editions for 331 million people including the publication of the first ever Arabic Van Dyke Study Bible which took nearly 20 years to complete.

Praise God for his grace, provision, and wisdom that enabled Bible Societies around the world to carry out their mission of making sure that everyone who wants to can access and engage with the Bible in their heart language. Now millions of people can encounter Jesus through the pages of Scripture.

How You Can Pray for Bible Translation Work

Thanks to the efforts of Bible Societies and other Bible translation agencies, at the start of 2022, around 5 billion people have access to the Word of God in their heart language. But for more than 2 billion people, God’s Word does not exist in the language they speak every day. That’s why we need your prayers! Your prayers can help Bible translation teams bring God’s Word to those still waiting. Here’s how you can pray.

Pray for:

• New and revised Bibles. Languages change over time and Scripture translations can become outdated and hard to understand. Pray that new and revised translations will be completed so that all, especially younger generations, can engage with God’s Word.
• Braille Bibles. Less than 10% of languages with a full Bible have it available in Braille format. Pray that people with visual disability and other disabilities will have access to the Scriptures in their preferred format.
• Sign Language Bibles. Approximately 60 of the world’s 400 sign languages have some Scripture, and only one has the full Bible. Pray that God’s Word will be translated into every sign language.
• Study Bibles. Pray for these Bibles that help people better understand Bible texts by explaining words and phrases and providing context to biblical narratives.

You can learn more about Bible Societies and their work to translate Scripture into every language at https://unitedbiblesocieties.org/.