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Bible Translation

It’s All About God

Bible translation is all about God. We only have the Bible in the first place because God inspired a record of the things that He had done and said through history. It is God who makes it clear throughout the Bible that He wants people all round the world, from every tongue and nation, to be able to understand the things He is saying. Not only that, but it is God who calls, equips and protects the people are involved in Bible translation all round the world. Bible translation is inspired by God, done for God and requires God’s presence and strength.

As I say, it is all about God. That isn’t to say that there aren’t some people involved too. God could translate the Bible into every language in the world instantly, if He chose to; or He could get some angels to type the new translation directly into their celestial PCs; all without typos, spelling mistakes and translation errors. But this isn’t what God does; He chooses fallible people to make His Word available around the world. And what a group of people they are!

After twenty-five years in Wycliffe, I know that my colleagues are not perfect: far from it, to be honest. But when I look around at the Wycliffe staff and see the dedication that they bring to their work, the level of training that they go through in order to be able to do it, the financial sacrifices they make and the hardship and illness they face, I am humbled and amazed. This bunch of ordinary people has done some very extraordinary things.

This is part of my article in the latest Wycliffe Bible Translators magazine, Words for Life. You can download a pdf copy here if you want to read the whole magazine (and you should!)