The New Testament has been translated into over 1500 languages, but if someone from Bangladesh or Somalia moves in next door to you, good luck trying to get a copy for them. In fact, many of these translations are not even available on the internet. It turns out that cooperation between various Bible societies is limited, and there is no place in North America (not even the internet) where one can order Bibles in most of these 1500 languages.

From Christianity Today:

“I didn’t know it would be such an ordeal,” Richardson said. Her staff spent weeks chasing dead-end leads before finally sleuthing out an online catalog specializing in non-English Scripture. Richardson ordered 10 Somali Bibles, only to find just one Somali New Testament in stock.

“Many of our refugees come from closed countries where they’ve never heard the gospel,” Richardson said. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

According to a 2006 United Bible Societies report, 1,541 languages now have a printed New Testament. Fewer than 200 of these translations are available for sale in North America, however, and many common languages are difficult to keep in stock.

Biblegateway.com has 81 translations available on the internet in 36 languages (25 of these translations are in English), so that won’t help much with more obscure languages. The International Bible Society has online Bibles in 39 languages. Christianbook.com has a few Spanish and bilingual Bibles, but certainly would not be a resource if you need to find a Bible in Urdu. In this age where one can order from millions of titles on amazon.com, it is unfortunate that for some, it is difficult to find God’s word.

Grace and Peace