Of those who can read, many have to read God’s Word in a foreign language and not their mother tongue. With the help of our supporters, and working in collaboration with other Bible Societies, we aim to address this need and make the Word of God accessible to more people everywhere.
As a member of the United Bible Societies (UBS) Bible Society New Zealand supports and contributes to UBS translation work worldwide. Through sponsorship of translation projects and assistance to translators, the UBS makes the Scriptures more accessible to people of different nations and cultures. Currently UBS is involved in 560 translation projects worldwide – covering some 955 languages which are receiving technical help and advice from the UBS’s highly-qualified team of translation consultants. Many of these projects also receive direct financial support from the UBS, which spends around US$11m a year on translation. In 320 languages some part of the Bible is being translated for the first time. In many of the rest, where older Bible versions already exist, new translations are being prepared in clear, modern language that is easily understandable to today’s readers.
Over the last two hundred years, there has been an incredible growth in the number of languages in which Scriptures are available.
New Zealand translation projects
Bible Society New Zealand is currently involved in three translation projects in New Zealand.
New Maori Translation
After receiving a mandate from key Maori denominational leaders in March of 2009, Bible Society New Zealand has begun work on establishing a brand new translation of the Bible in Maori.
This hugely significant project will be the largest translation task Bible Society has undertaken in New Zealand since the last revision of the Maori Bible was published in 1952. Although that particular edition is and always will be considered a taonga (a treasure), the language is now somewhat dated, especially in an environment where most Maori speakers are second language speakers.
The initial phase of the project is set to run through to the middle of 2012, when it is hoped a translation team will begin the long task of translating the Bible into contemporary Maori. Between now and that time, there is much work to be done including establishing the translation specifications (the type of translation needed) and how the work will be done. The whole project is expected to last 13 years.
Reformatted Maori Bible
For some years Bible Society has been involved in a project to reformat and enhance the Maori Bible, Te Paipera Tapu. The current translation, first published in 1952, is now being enhanced to make it more readable (the actual Bible text remains unchanged). This includes the addition of macrons to indicate long vowels, modern punctuation including speech marks and paragraphing, book introductions, section headings and maps. The New Testament with the enhanced text (alongside the Good News Bible text in English) is available now and the complete enhanced Maori Bible will be ready for publication early in 2011.
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Tokelau Bible
The Tokelau Society for the Translation of the Bible initiated a project to translate the Bible into the Tokelauan language. The Gospel of Mark was published in Tokelauan in 2000, and the four Gospels in one volume in 2003. Then, at a spectacular launch at the Tokelauan church in Porirua, the New Testament was launched in June of 2009. This is the first New Testament ever produced in the Tokelauan language. The translation team, headed by Ioane Teao, is based in Porirua.
Work is continuing on the Old Testament, with the complete Tokelauan Bible likely to be ready in another 8 years.
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