The Institute for Bible Translation has just published the second book of Scripture portions in Siberian Tatar. Following the book of Jonah, which came out in the beginning of 2020, the present publication contains a collection of nine parables from the Gospel of Luke: the Parable of the Sower (8:4-15), the Good Samaritan (10:29-35), the Rich Fool (12:16-21), the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14), the Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31), the Wedding Feast (14:15-24) , the Lost Coin (15:8-10), the Lost Sheep (15:3-7) and the Prodigal Son (15:11-32).

Gospel parables are allegorical lessons and examples borrowed from nature and everyday life. Jesus Christ (known as the Prophet Isa in Muslim ethnic groups such as the Siberian Tatars) often used such short, simple stories in his sermons. They may seem to be about ordinary life situations familiar to anyone, but Jesus uses them to communicate profound spiritual truths. The 53 illustrations that accompany the stories make them come to life before the reader’s eyes.

The translation team hopes that this publication will be of interest to its readers and will also help preserve and develop the Siberian Tatar language, which in 2010 was declared by UNESCO to be an endangered language. According to the Ethnologue, some 101,000 people consider Siberian Tatar to be their native language. The language is spoken in the regions of Omsk, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Kurgan and Sverdlovsk.

The Siberian Tatar translation project  is continuing in 2021 with the publication of the books of Ruth and Esther. The PDF version of Gospel Parables in Siberian Tatar can be found in the electronic Bible Publications section of the IBT website. The Google Play Store has an app with the Siberian Tatar Book of Jonah.