James Poole, Executive Director of Wycliffe, says: ‘This year has been a landmark for the ministry of Bible translation. We’ve seen remarkable progress as more people than ever before have the Scriptures in their own language, with entire communities being transformed as they encounter the word of God for the first time.
‘In the past 12 months, millions have gained access to the Bible or New Testament, and countless others are now on the path to having it. For the first time in history, over half of the world’s languages have at least some Scripture – a milestone that brings us closer to the vision we share at Wycliffe: a world where everyone can know Jesus through the Bible.’
You can access the whole story (including full text, quotes and downloadable images) below:
Download the full State of the Bible 2024 report here.
Download the report text here.
Downloadable images:
Image 1 – A Kwamashi woman holds her Kwamashi New Testament at the launch in Zambia on 10 August 2024. Photo credit: Mubi Mebelo
Image 2 – The Shang Road Bible translation team begin to write down biblical stories in their language for the first time at a workshop in Nigeria. Photo credit: SIL Nigeria
Image 3 – A Koma man joyfully reads his new Koma Bible at the launch event in Ghana
Image 4 – Kaluli women listen to the Kaluli New Testament on an audio player in Papua New Guinea
Image 5 – An Enga woman proudly shows her printed and audio versions of the Enga New Testament at the launch event in Papua New Guinea
Image 6 – Enga people listen to the Enga New Testament on an audio player at the launch event in Papua New Guinea
Image 7 – ‘I feel very peaceful and happy’, says Emilia Issaka as she holds her Rangi New Testament
Image 8 – the Krung people carry copies of the Krung New Testament to the launch event in Indonesia
Image 9 – Roma schoolchildren react to Robert Tompi reading the Standard Romani version of the Gospel of John in Romania
Image 10 – One of the ‘Alive in Kaaps’ team during one of the performances of the Psalms in the Kaaps language for the ‘Psalms that Sing’ project in South Africa
Image 11 – Bible statistics infographic 1
Image 12 – Bible statistics infographic 2
Notes to Editors
- For further information, call the Wycliffe Communications team on 0300 303 1111 or jweightman@wycliffe.org.uk.
- Wycliffe Bible Translators seeks to create a world where everyone can know Jesus through the Bible. It does this through a range of activities, including Bible translation, literacy and Scripture use initiatives. Currently, Wycliffe has 350 people from the UK and Ireland serving over 580 million people who speak over 320 languages in over 60 countries. Of the nearly 7,400 or so languages spoken worldwide today, only 756 have the Bible. Around 1 in every 5 people do not have the Bible in their language. As a result, translation of the Bible into people’s languages is one of the critical needs in world mission, to enable the growth of evangelism and discipleship ministries.
- Wycliffe and its partner organisations are currently involved in about three-quarters of global Bible translation efforts.
