Translating the Bible Cost Him His Life: 500 Years
In 1526 the first printed New Testament in English came out; ten years later, its translator died at the stake.
Translating the Bible has cost real men their lives. In 1536 they burned William Tyndale for printing the New Testament in English. Five centuries later, that text fits on your phone.
When reading was a crime
In his time, translating Scripture into the language of the people was punished as a crime. It wasn't a debate among scholars: it was the difference between hearing God and depending on someone else to tell you about Him. The scene Nehemiah celebrates is the opposite: "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8, ESV). God wants you to understand what it says.
But the language wasn't the underlying problem; the heart was. We like to keep God at a distance where we can decide what to do with what He said. Translating the Bible takes Scripture off the shelf and puts it on the table, where it forces you to respond.
«The Word that cost blood wasn't made to stay asleep on a screen.»
God didn't lose control
A man writes and translates far from his country, prints in secret, is betrayed and killed. Seen that way, the story looks like a defeat. However, the Word kept running, from house to house and from language to language. That isn't explained by a person's talent; it's explained by God's providence.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8, ESV). Empires rise and fall. Printing presses become screens. Languages change. The Word that God decided to give His people stands firm, and you read it without fear.
None of that did we earn. No generation deserved to have the Bible in its language; it's a gift. And the gift has a center: Scripture doesn't exist to fill you with religious data, but to lead you to Christ. Faith doesn't come from your effort, but from hearing what God said (see Romans 10:17).
Spanish, English and the voice of God
Many young Hispanics live between two languages: Spanish is spoken at home; English at school and work. Some feel that reading the Bible in Spanish is a grandma thing, and that the serious version is the one in English.
Neither idea holds up. Reading in Spanish doesn't make you less faithful; reading in English doesn't make you more spiritual. Language is the vehicle, not the merit. What God asks of you is attention, not an accent.
In Acts 8, an official was reading the prophet Isaiah on the road and understood nothing. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. He answered: "How can I, unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31, ESV). Sometimes you need a clear translation. Other times, someone to explain it to you. Both are mercy.
This week, choose a passage and read it out loud. Slowly, in the language you think in, even if your sister looks at you weird. Start with Mark 1 or Psalm 34. The Word that cost blood wasn't made to stay asleep on a screen.
In what language do you read the Bible, and what changes when you hear it in your own voice?
