ENGLAND — Thanks to a remarkable acceleration of translation work despite the worldwide pandemic, Wycliffe Bible Translators reports the Bible is now available in more than 700 languages across the globe. This breakthrough comes at a significant time as people have been reading the scriptures more than ever before during this time of lockdown.

A new milestone has been surpassed as the Bible has been translated into more than 700 languages. Wycliffe Bible Translators says this breakthrough is indicative of the acceleration that is happening in the work of Bible translation – to the extent that it is impossible to state which translation was actually the 700th.

James Poole, is Wycliffe’s executive director.

Lives are changed when people get the Bible in their language for the first time. And so 700 it’s a round number. It’s a cause to sit back and celebrate. But really we just praise God that there is so much going on, so many things happening simultaneously that all around the world every month. In fact actually I can tell you now hot off the press that there are now 701 Bibles now. There’s always new things happening, new things going on. It’s really wonderful to see what God is doing.

Poole explains why giving access to the scriptures across the world is so vital during this global pandemic.

If globally people have been reading their Bibles more this year then that is a wonderful thing that is doing through all this Covid mess that we’re experiencing. And who knows what God’s greater purpose is that he would cause so many people to access his word this year all over the world. And how the church may grow through this hard process. And I think it’s very exciting.

Now they’ve surpassed this latest milestone Poole concluded by sharing their long-term plans.

We think in the next 10-15 years we’ll get from 80% of the world’s population of the Bible in their language up to 95%, which is a tremendous milestone. 95% of the world’s population. And also not only that. We think we’ll get from today 90% of the world’s population with a New Testament in their language. That could rise as high as 99.95% in the next 10-15 years. So we’re seeing around the world. We call it the Bible translation movement, more and more people getting involved, alongside Wycliffe Bible Translators and other partners in this vital work that is essential for life transformation for church growth and so on worldwide

About Wycliffe Bible Translators

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Bible Translators was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Bible Translators is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support. Wycliffe staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 108 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.wycliffe.org/ in the US, or https://www.wycliffe.org.uk/ in the UK.

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