After the 1987 text was published, inconsistencies were discovered and the public expressed interest in a revision. The board of directors of the Japan Bible Society officially decided in 2009 to undertake the revision of the New Interconfessional Translation Bible, the first revision in 31 years. On 2 March 2010, they held a press conference to announce the start of the translation project. The translation work was completed in 2017, and the result was published in 2018 as the Japan Bible Society Interconfessional Version ( 聖書協会共同訳聖書, seisho kyōkai kyōdōyaku seisho). Taking advantage of the Skopos theory of translation, it sought to serve the "next generation" of Christians while presenting the text in a "dignified Japanese suitable for reading in worship." [27] [28] Other translators [ edit ]

We are pleased to share details of an online event designed specifically for Japanese returnees to get connected and encourage each other to grow in Christ. The Franciscans completed a translation of the whole Bible, based on the Greek and Hebrew text, in 1978. This project was inspired by the Jerusalem Bible. [31] Orthodox versions [ edit ] About US". Japan Bible Society. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021 . Retrieved 26 December 2021. (in English) Our Vision is “ To help….” because we are aware that JCL will be playing just one part in what God wants to do among Japanese people. Quoted in Kazamasa Iha's " Gutslaff and Bettelheim: A Contrastive Study of Translations of St. John: Material I (Chapters I-V)"Norihisa Suzuki, Japanese in the Bible: A History of Translation, (In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-4, Section 4 It is to “ make a significant difference …” because that is what we believe God can bring about. The gospel probably first reached Japan in 1549, but estimates today of the number of true disciples of Jesus Christ in Japan vary between around 0.1% and 0.5% of Japan’s population of 127 million. We long to see a significant increase in the proportion of Japanese who worship God. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. Among all the spiritually needy people of this world, we believe simply that God has called JCL to work “… among the Japanese people …”.

Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanese Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 1 Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.620-621We are praying that the difference will be made “… over the first half of this century”because we believe this is realistic. We can pray this in faith and doing so motivates us to act now. Norihisa Suzuki, Japanese in the Bible: A History of Translation (In Japanese). Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-4, Section 1

Japanese belief systems are very different from American and European ones. Here are some general comments with respect to faith and belief which may apply to many Japanese. Bilingual full Bible with the New Revised Japanese Bible (4th edition, October 2017) and the English ESV.And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Nicholas and Tsugumaro Nakai translated the New Testament as an official text in 1901. [32] Some [ who?] have described the Gospels of the Book and John as "much better than any translation currently in existence". [ citation needed] It can be challenging to explain the gospel to someone from a completely different culture, who also has a different mother tongue! Here are a few approaches to consider. Norihisa Suzuki, Japanese in the Bible: A History of Translation, (In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-4, Section 6