IBT has published an illustrated edition of “Parables from the Gospel of Luke” in the Dargi language.

The Dargi people live primarily in the Republic of Dagestan (Caucasus region of southern Russia). With a population of about 590,000, they comprise about 16% of the total population of Dagestan and are the second largest ethnic group there. Most live in the mountainous and foothill areas of central Dagestan.

IBT has published a new illustrated Scripture portion, the Noah story, in the Dungan language. The story of Noah and the Flood from the book of Genesis is the first publication in the “Lives of the Prophets” series that the Dungan translation team is working on following the popular edition of the Proverbs of Solomon (published in 2015). The Noah story is presented in parallel columns in Dungan and Russian and is illustrated by beautiful artwork produced by a Dungan painter. An audio CD with the recording of the story in Dungan is included with the book.

After IBT published the New Testament in the Tabasaran language of Dagestan in 2010,  the translation team decided to continue their work by translating the Old Testament. Their first Old Testament trial publication (Ruth and Jonah) came out in 2013.  The translators then turned their attention to further OT books, including Esther and Daniel, which were printed in late 2016. Tabasaran is spoken by about 125,000 people and is considered by many linguists to be the record holder among the world’s languages for the number of grammatical cases, 48.

One more book of the Bible has been published by IBT in the Sakha (Yakut) language, a translation of the Proverbs of Solomon. The main Sakha translator and exegete for this IBT project, Sargylana Leontieva was constantly astonished by the interest expressed in these biblical proverbs by non-religious Sakha people who are not in any way involved in the work of Bible translation. “Apparently, it’s because biblical proverbs remind Yakuts of our own folklore with its many proverbial sayings,” she reflects. “The Proverbs contain the kind of wisdom and advice that is vital for all people.”

The PDF version of this Yakut translation may be found on the Electronic Books page of the IBT website. 

The book of Psalms in the Tuvan language was first published in 2005, and a revised version was included in the full Tuvan Bible (2011). The audio version of this book was recorded in summer 2015 in Kyzyl, the capital city of Tuva, and has now been made available on CD and as a free download online.