The Institute for Bible Translation is continuing its translation work into the Even language of eastern Siberia in partnership with SIL International. 2018 saw the publication of Stories from the Holy Scripture, and now IBT has published Gospel Parables. The book contains four parables from the Gospel of Luke: the Good Samaritan, the Wedding Feast, the Prodigal Son, and the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

The Even translation was produced by V. S. Elrika and R. P. Kuzmina, professional linguists and faculty members of the Altaic Languages Department of the Institute of the Peoples of the North at Herzen State Pedagogical University.

IBT has published an illustrated book of stories from the Holy Scriptures in the Lamunkhin dialect of the Even language. The Lamunkhin dialect is spoken by 800 people (out of a total of about 5,600 Even speakers), making it the largest of the dialects of Even. It is also the dialect that has maintained the greatest number of vocabulary items having to do with the traditional Even culture.

The book contains 25 stories that cover key Scriptural passages, from the creation of the world to the second coming of Christ as described in Revelation. The 41 color pictures were produced by an Even artist and take an overtly “domesticating” approach to illustrating the text, i.e. they show the world of the Bible as it might be seen through the eyes of an average Even...