IBT has published another translation of Scripture portions in the Avar language, spoken as a mother tongue by over 700,000 people primarily in Dagestan. The new publication contains the books of Ruth, Esther and Jonah from the Old Testament. The Avar New Testament was published in 2008, and previously published OT portions include the book of Proverbs (2005, 2007) and Genesis (2011).

The present translation was prepared by a new translation team consisting  of an independent translator (working directly from the Hebrew original), a philological editor, a field tester, and a translation consultant. Further work is in progress on the historical books of the OT.

Besides working in the IBT project, the translator is also improving her knowledge of biblical and modern Hebrew by taking an intensive semester-long course at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A full translation of the Bible is the goal for the Avar language.

The PDF of this edition is available for reading and downloading on the IBT website.