Category: Bible Translation

A recent popular trend is ancestry kits. People want to know their heritage—where they came from and who they are. Throughout the Bible we see the importance of lineage. Slugging through those difficult names can seem like a burden, but the point is that each of those names has a story. It is a lineage of choices, mistakes, triumphs, joys, and sorrows.

Through Christ we are part of God’s lineage of grace. We can pass on more than just DNA to the next generation. We can leave a legacy of faith. That’s what our friend Hank is doing.

Each year he chooses a different family member and reads through a One Year Bible, making specific notes and sharing personal insights that he felt God calling him to share with that loved one. Is there a more beautiful gift than a legacy of faith and love?

“For 19 years I read a One Year Bible, and each year I dedicated it to a family member to be given to them when I die. The notes in the margin were personal, such as ‘This is my prayer for you.’ I’ve underlined,circled, and highlighted many passages, letting them know what inspires me. It is my legacy to them.” – Hank Snyder

What notes, reflections, inspirations, and prayers would you share with your loved one? What has helped guide you through God’s Word?

Look inside the OneYear Reflections Bible

Article from the Swindoll Study Bible

Read John 1:1-18

THE SON OF GOD, as “very God” (to quote the Nicene Creed), arrived on this earth as a man. He came to the mountains He created. He faced the rivers with their rushing currents. He crossed the valleys. He gazed upon the sea. He walked beneath the skies and the stars and the moon and the sun. But the tragedy of all tragedies is this: “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him” (John 1:10). The world didn’t recognize the One who had created it. In other words, “He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:11).

In our world, people look at the beauty of creation but refuse to acknowledge the Creator. Imagine Walt Disney coming to Disneyland on its opening day in 1955—but nobody even acknowledging him or acknowledging the fact that everything in the park had come from his imagination and creativity. Imagine them all saying, “Oh, it just happened.” Such an illustration can’t really do justice to this magnificent passage of Scripture, but you get the picture.

We all know the Christmas story: The Creator came to our planet as a baby, but there was no room at the inn for the One who had created the rocks from which that inn was made. There was no welcome mat for Christ. Isn’t it remarkable that the One who is coequal, coeternal, and coexistent with the Father and the Spirit—the One who divinely decreed the events that would run their course on this earth in perfect timing with His profound plan—could come to the earth and be beaten and spit upon, have spikes driven through His hands and feet, be hung on a cross, and be cursed until He died? Even after being raised from the dead, He is still denied, rejected, and refused some twenty centuries later. There is still no room for the Savior.

What about you? Do you know what it means that God, who made everything, reduced Himself to take on skin, subject Himself to the very gravity that He put into effect, and limit Himself to a tiny space of property—for you?

From the vanishing point of the past to the vanishing point of the future, Jesus Christ remains in His nature and His attributes very God. But Christ, in order that human beings might be able to see what God is like in tangible form, became a human for all eternity future. This introduction to the Gospel of John concludes, “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us” (John 1:18).

Do you wonder what the Father is like? Make a study of Christ. Do you wonder how God could be a God of grace, at the same time both gentle and full of justice and purity? Look at Christ. He shares the Father’s divine nature, and He explains it and models it in perfect terms so that we can grasp the person of the Father.

The world didn’t recognize the One who created it. Do we?

Take a look inside the Swindoll Study Bible

by Laura Livingston, Resource Development Officer at Oasis International

Have you ever been out to dinner in an exotic restaurant and the menu was incomprehensible?  I recently experienced that in an Ethiopian restaurant. If the hovering waiter hadn’t been there to explain to what the unpronounceable dish names referred, I would never have been able to order. Once he helped me understand, I enjoyed an incredible culinary experience. There was Injera and Doro Wat and Fir-fir available, but with no one to explain it in my language, I had no way to satisfy my hunger.

That experience is not unlike the challenge of pastors and leaders in French-speaking Africa trying to prepare to preach with little or no resources in their language of education. They are hungry to feed on the Word of God, to go deeper in their understanding, but often the resources are only available in English, and even more often they are not adapted to life in Africa. The Africa Study Bible: French Edition, a theological library in one volume, will open a whole new world of understanding to Francophone pastors in Africa. It will put the food on the table!

There are 600 million believers in Africa that are tragically under-resourced for discipleship, according to the International Review of Mission. Yet, the Church is growing faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world. According to the Pew foundation 25 percent of the world’s Christians are located in Africa and that will rise to 40% by 2050. In partnership with Tyndale House Foundation, and using their New Living Translation, Oasis International published the landmark Africa Study Bible (ASB) in English last year. The ASB is the first study Bible that applies God’s Word to the contexts of Africa. With over 2,600 features written by 350 contributors from 50 countries, looking at God’s Word through African eyes, the English edition of the Africa Study Bible was launched to enthusiastic acclaim in seven countries and is already in use in 16.

With its commitment to empowering discipleship, Tyndale House has been a key partner for Oasis International in developing this unparalleled biblical resource. A Kenyan pastor, participating in an ASB training seminar, described the potential impact of the ASB this way,

The Africa Study Bible makes it very easy for us to connect directly to our context. It is going to encourage (young pastors) back to study the African cultures, the way of life, and the storytelling that will be very important in their preaching because they are serving people who are living in this context.

Oasis has launched the Africa Study Bible in seven countries already and is working hard to reach all 24 countries that have English as a language of education. However, 23 more African countries have French as an official language. And while contextualized discipleship resources are certainly not abundant in English-speaking Africa, they are significantly more scarce in Francophone Africa. Dr. Daniel Bourdanné, General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) describes it this way,

French-speaking Africa is known for its material poverty. One element of this poverty is the lack of Christian literature resources in the French language. The need for French-language Bible study materials is and remains to be, an even more profound source of poverty for the region.

An Oasis partner visiting the library at one of the most prominent seminaries in Francophone Africa, FATEB (Central African Republic), reported that only 20 percent of the books were in French, while the remaining volumes were primarily in English, a language many of the students can’t understand. The library of the Yamoussoukro Bible Institute (Côte d’Ivoire), where I lived and taught for 34 years, typifies the problem with its shelves full of old, tattered, English commentaries and theological books donated by retiring missionaries. Almost none of the students can read and understand them. It was not uncommon for me to visit former students only to discover that the pastor and his wife’s main resources were well-worn photocopies received years ago in our classes.

One key reason for this lack of resources is the religious makeup of France. Christian resources in English are available in Africa from sources in the United States and England, among others. But few comparable resources come from France in which only five percent of the population attends a church of any sort and 24 percent are avowed atheists (2014 demographic survey).  The impact of the Africa Study Bible: French Edition will be even greater than the English edition because the need for resources is exponentially greater in French.

Believers in Francophone Africa are hungry for biblical resources in French adapted to the contexts in which they live. The Africa Study Bible puts the food on the table for those who are hungry to feed on the Word of God. Every one of its features was written to look at God’s Word through African eyes. Finishing the Africa Study Bible: French Edition is an obtainable goal. To date, almost all the ASB notes and features are translated into French, but funds designated for the French edition are exhausted and work has slowed on this crucial project. At this pivotal moment in the project, God, in his grace, has provided a matching grant of $150,000 to bring this study Bible to completion.

Oasis International is boldly asking God to provide the first $50,000 by the end of 2018. And we are asking you to give whatever you are able to help us reach that goal. Together we can make the Africa Study Bible available in the 23 countries of Africa that needs contextualized, biblical resources in French. Together we can put the food on the table and feed half a continent with a deeper, fuller understanding of God’s Word!

Give today

Laura spent 33 years as a missionary with the Christian Missionary Alliance in Cote d’Ivoire (West Africa) before joining Oasis International.

Richard Houmengi is a member of the Africa Study Bible: French Edition review team. As an African theologian whose primary language is French he understands the desperate need for a resource and how it will help deepen people’s understanding of God’s Word. Below is an English translation, but you can also click on the video link to hear him share this in French.

I am so pleased, so delighted to be able to hold this marvelous work in my hands, the Africa Study Bible. I say this because, by God’s grace, I was among the contributors. I was chosen to edit the main articles that were written by French speakers.  And this work was a painstaking and difficult task, but also blessed because, in the end, it was completed by God’s grace. And today I am in Nairobi and I was able to meet with Hannah. I am so happy to make her acquaintance, God is really marvelous because I never expected to have such an encounter.  I am here, therefore, to express all my gratitude to the Lord, all my thanksgiving for this blessed work which will certainly be a source of deliverance for Africa, a source of joy for many people who will encounter it. I am already very happy to hold in my hands this English version, and to know that in the near future the French version will be available. I am equally happy to know that across the world people have a burden to see lives saved, changed, and above all to see that people can hold in their hands a Bible in which they can see themselves, in which they can read these articles which reflect African thought, which reflect—how should I say it—the love God has for Africans. I am so pleased and I hope this is the beginning of a new era, the beginning of a new way for Africans to be able to testify to their love and attachment to the God, to the Lord.

Hear Richard share in French

Here are a few more ways the Africa Study Bible is transforming lives.

“I really love my Bible. My students love their Bibles. While Zimbabwe is trapped for finance, people know and love what is good. Matthew, this work you and your team did is very, very, very honorable. A ministry to the people of God indeed.”
–Elesinah Chauke, More than a Mile Deep

“Did you know that more than 80% of the churches in Africa are led by pastors with little or no training? This means without the help of a tool like the Africa Study Bible, these dedicated pastors struggle so much to understand the Bible let alone preach its message well. I personally have used it a lot and I can tell you it needs to get into the hands of every pastor in the continent.”
–Bramuel Musya, Kids Around the World

“This is an all-in-one theological training resource. We have so many pastors are willing and committed to work in rural areas where it is not easy but most of them lack the necessary tools like study Bibles in Swahili. Most educated pastors with resources in English are unwilling to go and serve in rural pastorates. So, we have the majority of the population being pastored by untrained and underdeveloped pastors with limited access to good resources. But with a resource like the Africa Study Bible, these pastors could have truly Biblical training at the tip of their fingers.”
-Cosmas Kisela Ntalima, Global University

Learn more and donate to be a part of creating the Africa Study Bible in French.

Tyndale and Oasis International recently signed the Africa Speaks Accord. The Accord refuses to accept that status quo of not keeping pace with the needs of the growing African Church and therefore it cannot be “business as usual.”

The far-reaching accord calls for:

1. A culture of writing by African authors
2. Support for African authors and paying appropriate royalties
3. Self-sustaining publishing versus bible donations in Africa
4. Viable booksellers offering affordable prices
5. Use of technology and social media to widely distribute biblical content
6. Resources in English, French, and Portuguese—three languages can disciple a continent

Home to the largest Christian population of any continent, most believers still have very limited access to the resources they need to deepen their faith and continue spreading the Gospel. More than 200 million Christians in Africa do not even own a Bible. Over the years, Tyndale and Oasis have collaborated to meet this challenge and most recently through joint distribution of the Life Application Study Bible and the Africa Study Bible. As the #1 and #2 best-selling study Bibles in Africa, these resources have yet to even scratch the surface.

The gap for materials in French is even greater than English-speaking Africa with over 100 million underserved readers. In recognition of this, a foundation in California recently awarded Oasis International a $150,000 matching grant to make the Africa Study Bible available in French.

By coming alongside Oasis International, you can be a global change-maker by providing this powerful discipleship resource for French-speaking Africa. Give or learn more

The Girls Life Application Study Bible gets right to the issues and questions the next generation of young women face. It takes them into God’s Word in a way they can understand and engage with, allowing them to grow in their faith and grow closer to the God who loves them beyond measure.

The book of 1 John is filled with amazing truth to help Christians understand how to love God and others. Read this passage from 1 John 3 and then the note from the Girls Life Application Study Bible that allows girls to reflect on what the writer is saying and learn how to apply it to their lives.

1 John 3:7-10

“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.”

Note from the Girls Life Application Study Bible

John warned believers against allowing Satan—the enemy of Christians—to tempt them to wrong actions. We all have areas where we feel especially tempted. But these verses are not directed at people who are working to overcome a particular sin even if for the time being they seem to keep on sinning. John is not talking about people whose victories are still incomplete; he is talking about people who make a practice of sinning and look for ways to justify it. That attitude comes from the enemy. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to avoid giving in to temptation. But he won’t force us to use his temptation escape route. We must choose to do so. Will you?

Take a look inside the Girls Life Application Study Bible

by Kim Adetunji, Tyndale Bible Brand Manager

As the Brand Manager of Tyndale’s New Living Translation journaling Bibles, I’ve had the immense joy of hearing firsthand how God has been moving in people’s lives through Bible journaling over the years. It has brought so much hope and peace and healing and conviction and encouragement and truth to so many—it has even drawn those who were far from God close to him. It has been so rewarding to see how Bible journaling has increased people’s engagement with God’s Word and has gotten people through bouts of depression, grief, hopelessness, and trials. It offers a whole new way to approach Bible study and interact with Scripture beyond note-taking, highlighting, or traditional journaling.

Many of us are drawn to Bible journaling because it appeals to our God-given creativity. And yes—we all are creative! Just ask any kid if they are creative. They don’t say, “Well, Suzy is more creative than I am, so I must not be” or “Bobby’s art looks nicer than mine, so I’m not really creative.” They simply say YES! Our social sharing of Bible journaling pages is great on so many levels, and it brings so much encouragement to others. But sometimes we can allow an underlying sense of unworthiness or dissatisfaction of our own creativity to settle in and discourage us from continuing. We can start thinking that our worship is inferior to others’ or that we aren’t worthy to worship God through our creativity. The truth is: God is glorified through your act of worship—no matter the skill or the lack thereof! God doesn’t operate the way we do. If he did, my singing during worship would be absolutely unacceptable to him. I connect with God best when I worship him through song—but that doesn’t mean I’m great at it. Believe me, I’m no Lauren Daigle. But God accepts—and loves—my worship. I know it sounds simple, but it is important to recognize this so negative thoughts don’t trickle in and hinder your ability to connect with God through Bible journaling. The tendency is to criticize ourselves or to stop doing something that brings us immense joy and connection to God because we don’t feel good enough. Let’s make a pact to stop seeking perfection and comparison and to allow our thoughts be focused on seeking God alone!

Bible journaling—and coloring Bibles—have been a popular way to study and interact with God’s Word in recent years, but more and more people are discovering it even today! In fact, Amber Bolton of Tyndale’s nationwide Inspire Bible TOUR just led a workshop in Indiana last weekend where she discovered that only 5 of the 50 workshop participants had tried Bible journaling before!

Here are some of their comments about how they felt inspired after the workshop:

• I am inspired to spend more “worship” time by being creative in my Bible.
• A new and creative way to worship him and be in the Word.
• Excited because the journaling really helps me get the Word in my mind and stay there.
• I am inspired to reflect more deeply on the Word of God.
• I never thought God wanted my artwork like I would want a child’s for my fridge. Never have I thought of mine as worthy. Thank you!
• I was inspired to reach out and build my relationship with God in a totally new and different way!
• The importance of thoughtfulness regarding the Scripture—how to process, to see the Scripture, importance of responding.
• The beauty of God’s Word comes to life as we pray, read, ask, and trust in him.
• I’m creative even though I thought I wasn’t! God made me special!
• This will help me dive deep into the Bible more often. This is a fun way to stay connected with God.
• I was inspired to become more religious through Bible journaling because I am not a religious person.
• I am inspired to see how God’s Word evolves through me as I share this process with my kids, husband, and friends.
• I’m inspired to share this with a friend who is going through breast cancer so she can journal and use it to hear what God is saying through Scripture.
• I am inspired to think through colors, a word, and image around a biblical text.
• I am inspired by everyone’s eagerness to Bible journal!
• It helped me to focus and connect with God better—to see him more clearly and to see how he relates to my life.
• I’m inspired by the way that I was able to lead others to God by hosting this workshop.
• Teach my daughters and friends to sit, slow down, and soak joyfully in the loving peace of God through color.
• I was inspired by learning how to apply Scripture to me personally writing and combining Scriptures to speak to me in a personal way.
• I was inspired by witnessing how God has led my new friend and me into a life of peace.
• I was inspired by God reminding me to be still!
• I was inspired by the 4-step process to help me remember to keep my focus on God when Bible journaling. Inspired to think outside the box.
• Inspired to do the journaling process—get comfortable with it, go in depth, and remember the insights.

It’s incredible to read through those comments, isn’t it? I love getting a glimpse into some of the ways God is moving in lives through Bible journaling. It’s fun to be a part of a community of people inspired to creative engagement with God’s Word. The reality is that when we are reading and engaging with the Bible, God can work in our hearts and prompt us to action, lead us, correct us, and move us toward fuller trust and obedience to him—and so much more! Let’s keep on reading, reflecting on, studying, applying, scribbling on, doodling in, highlighting, painting, washi-taping, tabbing, and expressing our worship creatively in our Bibles. To God be the glory!

This week Tyndale released the latest in the bestselling Inspire line of Bibles, the Inspire Catholic Bible! It is filled with art to color and wide margins for journaling and has all of the beloved features from the original Inspire.

Next month, the long-awaited Inspire PRAISE Bible Large Print edition will release—just in time for Christmas! It is filled with over 450 all-new line-art illustrations to color, large readable text, extra-wide margins for journaling, plus the one-of-a-kind beautiful full-color vellum journaling pages everybody loves from the full-size edition!

We all want to hide Scripture in our hearts, and sometimes interacting creatively with it can help us better remember what God is teaching us. We invite you to try it!

Find the Inspire Bible that is right for you or for a loved one.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are his.

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100, NLT

Through three simple steps, Psalm 100 gives us a model for how to be more thankful. First, “come” (100:2). This is our invitation, the assurance that we are welcome, which needs a response. We have to choose not to stay in our present feelings but fix our thoughts on God. Second, “acknowledge” (100:3). This is a provocation to forget about ourselves and focus on God as we remember all that he has done for us. Third, “give thanks” (100:4). As we recall what he has done for us, it becomes easy to be thankful.

Here are some of the things the psalmists encourage us to thank God for:

• His creation (Psalm 104:1-30)
• His care of us (Psalm 95:6-7)
• His knowledge of us (Psalm 139:13-16)
• His salvation (Psalm 27:1-14)
• His answering of our prayers (Psalm 118:21)
• His provision (Psalm 147:7-9)
• His healing (Psalm 30:1-2)
• His rescue (Psalm 31:21-22)
• His victory (Psalm 118:10-16)

Thanksgiving needs to become a way of life for us. As Paul wrote, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Taken from the Christian Basics Bible. Take a look inside

Men and women were given the task of subduing the earth and ruling over the creation, both to satisfy their own needs and to bring glory to the Creator (Gen 1:28-30). But when humanity fell into sin, they suffered alienation not only from God and their fellow human beings but also from the land on which they lived (3:15-19; see 4:3-16; cp. 5:29).

Then God called Abram to follow him by faith and to receive Canaan as a special homeland, a promised land for his descendants as God’s people (12:1-3, 7; 13:14-18; 15:7-21; 17:7-8). Later, Israel was delivered from Egypt, established as God’s people at Mount Sinai, and given possession of the land promised to their fathers.

Continued possession of the land depended on obedience. If Israel violated the covenant, they would experience the covenant’s curses, the most severe of which is exile from the Promised Land (Lev 26:32-33). Eventually, that is what happened: Israel’s persistent rebellion against the Lord resulted in their exile to Assyria and Babylon, the loss of the land, and the destruction of the Temple (2 Kgs 17:5-23; 25:1-21). But God also promises that when the people repent, “then I will remember my covenant with Jacob . . . and I will remember the land” (Lev 26:42). During the exile, Jeremiah and other prophets looked beyond the exile to a future restoration and return to the land (Jer 32:36-44), which occurred during the reign of Cyrus the Great of Persia (see Ezra; Nehemiah).

The promises for the land await ultimate fulfillment. God’s purpose is to prepare an eternal homeland for his people, where the rule of the divine King is direct and just, where all things are subject to his will, where death and sin are abolished, and where the needs of his people are completely satisfied (Heb 11:13-16; Rev 21).

Taken from the Illustrated Study Bible

Take a look inside the Illustrated Study Bible

Tyndale House Publishers is saddened by the death of Grant R. Osborne—our friend, colleague, and a member of the Bible Translation Committee for the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We rejoice with Grant that he is now in the presence of his Savior.

Grant was a member of Tyndale’s Bible Translation Committee (BTC) from the very outset in 1987. He served as General Translator for the Gospels and Acts. In that role he coordinated the work of five teams of scholars—one for each of the books in his section of the NLT translation. Each member of the BTC carefully reviewed every word in the entire translation. And because of the back-and-forth nature of the translation and review process, Grant read every word of the entire translation multiple times. Like all of his colleagues on the BTC, he made an enormous contribution to the church worldwide through his work as a translator of the NLT.

I remember many times when a small committee would be working on the wording of one of the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles. Our goal was to render the meaning of the Greek text into everyday English. But sometimes we could get stuck on how best to understand the Greek text. We would turn to Grant and ask, “What does this text really mean? Will the average K-Mart shopper understand what this passage means?” Then Grant would give us a brief oral exposition on the meaning of the text, and we would scramble to capture it in everyday English. Grant had a gift for understanding the Greek text and helping to present it in modern English.

Grant was a professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He taught at TEDS from 1972 until his retirement several years ago. He is eulogized very warmly by his former colleague Dr. Scot McKnight on the Patheos website.