The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) has published the first-ever translation of the book of the prophet Daniel in the Avar language. The book of Daniel is one of the most widely read books of the Old Testament. It includes the well-known stories of Daniel in the lions’ den, the three young men in the fiery furnace, and the divine handwriting on the wall. It also contains many prophecies about the future.

The book of Daniel begins at the turn of the sixth century B.C. According to the traditional view, this book was compiled by the prophet Daniel himself. It was written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, the language of international communication in the Near East at that time.

The Avar language belongs to the Nakh-Dagestanian language family, with 956,800 speakers according to the 2021 census of the Russian Federation. It is also used as a language of interethnic communication by the Andic and Tsezic language groups. Avars live mainly in the Republic of Dagestan, where they constitute about 30% of the total population.

 Avar literature is rich in poetry, prose and drama. There are also translations of classical literature, including translations of Holy Scripture. IBT has already published the following books in Avar: the Gospel of John (1979);  Mark (1996);  Luke/Acts (2000); Proverbs (2005, 2007); the New Testament (2008); Genesis (2011);  Ruth/ Esther/Jonah (2017); 1-2 Samuel/1-2 Kings (2021).

An electronic version of the book of Daniel and other previously published Avar translations can be found in the "Bible Translations in electronic formats" section of IBT’s website.