, 1876-06-18

ing, "Surcly this man was the Son Of God >
there Is the answer to the question: ttGod is ths
Truth, and &C. God is IN Christ, reconciling tht
THE BIBLE.
HOW IT Is DISTRIBUTED BT THE MILLION u
ALL SORTS OF LANGUAGES.
Ne,o York Torid.
The last annual report Of the American
Bible Society, showing that since its organiza
tion upwards Of 80, 100000 copies OF the Bibls
have been circulated, and the report of the Brit
ish and Foreign Bible Society for the year end
Inc May l, showing that since the organization
Of that society it has circulated upwards of e.,
000, 600 copies, have attracted some attention te
the subject. During the present century about
81, 1000 copies have been issued by other Bible
societies, and very low estimate OF the nun
Der issued by private publishers would raise the
total number Of copies circulated to 200, ,oo0 0oo
This number is SO great as to be almost incom-
prehensible. To count up such number at the
rate OF one per second would take nearly seven
years. Or, If double file of men could be
formed, extending all around the earth, stand.
ing In close order, this number Of Bibles would
be sufficient to supply each individual with a
copy.
The whole number Of languages aud dialects
into which the Bible, or parts of 1t, has been
translated, chiefly through the efforts of the
two great Bible Societies, is 252. OF these 2o5
are versions prepared since the origin OF Bible
Societies. Few persons appreciate the difficulty
Of rendering book like the Bible from the
original Hebrew aud Greek into languages that
havs m not been h2 previously Rervaded AID modsd
Bible into Arabic BY Dr.. ELI Smith md DR.. Van
Dyck required the labor of sixteen years. DR..
Schauf1ler, Of Constantinople, completed two
years ago the translation Of the Osmanli version
Of the Scriptures, which work he began in 1860.
Fifteen years Of continuous labor were spent by
Dr.. SchercschewslSy in rendering the Old Testa-
mcnt into the Mandarin colloQutal, and Dr..
Williamson and DR.. Riggs have not yet com
pletcd their Dakota version, although they be-
gan their work Of study and missionary labor
among that nation forty years ago. One OF
them estimates that he has spent an average Of
thirty minutes on each word translated by him.
Although the British Society had twelve years
the start Of the American, the missionaries and
tiieir English brothers now. Through their un-
firing efforts the Bible has been translated into
Turkish, Azerbijan, or Tartar-Turlkish Arabic,
Japanese, three versions Of Chinese, Slamese,
Burmese, Ebon (sfarshall Islands), Kusaien
strongS lsland) Gilbert Islands, Ponape az
Zulu (South Africa), Bcnca (Wcst Africal Crcbo
West Africa), &pongwe Ntest Africa), and the
various languages of the North American In
dfans, including Mohawk, Choctaw, Seneca, Da-
kota, ojibwa, aluskokcc, Cherokee, Delaware,
and Nez Perces.
SPECIMEN WORK.
In the Japanese version OF the New Testa-
ment, in Roman characters, now finishing by the
trans}ators, the 10th verse Of the third chapter
Of John, viz: "For God SO loved the world
ever bclicycth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life" is rendered thus:
Sore, Kami no sekcn wo itsukushimi- tamau koto
wa subcte kare wo shindzuru mono wa horobidzu
shite. kasiri naki inich wo unken tame ni' sono
hitori umarcshi ko wo tamaycrn hodo nnrl.
As a matter Of curiosity the same passage
may be given in few other languages the
translation into which has either been complct-
cd or is now going on by American missionaries:
EBoN (MARsHALL 1sLANDs)
Bwe an Anijyokwe l0l. einwot bWe or letok in.
on wot Nejin i ar keutak, b,c jebrewot tomak Kin
E jGmin joke, naj mour in drio.
HAWAIIAN (sASDW1cu 1sLANDsc
nei, H. noaiia, M nj haawi mai ola kama Keiki hiwa-
hwa, ole e make ka nlea m2naolo ID u, aka, {
loaa il il Ike ola H,au !oa-
ZULU (souTu AFR1cA).
Ngokuba uTixo wn II tanda kaukaga 1--WE. II nlka
inDodana, yke ezelwcyo yod~a ba be nobomi
'''"e MroSawE WEST ATR1cA).
oijwanli We ONO, inle; omedu Q jiyiri gore ye.
ayera, ndo be dcnga emcnia zegonbe zodu.,
MOHAWK {NoRTH AMERICAN IND1AN.)
1ken ne Yehoyah cgh ne shakonoronshWkh
rodewedon rohhawak, bene onghkn kiok tcyaka-
wcghkah kon Eaonhase yashtcn onghtonde. OK
de1ghnon aontehodyeudanc ne etcrna adonheta.
CnocTAw {NoRTu AMERICAN .lNDIAN).
Chihowa yrt yakni d hullo fehna krr, krna hosh
y7mma yi1nmikmEt tx lilo hosh, nmba al okchayrt
bilia 70 pisa hi Ushi achofa illa hoitopa "a auet
ina tok.
In japan Dr.. Hepburn is still engaged with
his nssnciutes of the Editorial Committee on
the work of translation and revision, which he
began many years ago. The American Method
ist missionaries at Lucknow have the New les
lament in the Pharasec. dialect ready Tor the
BUSHNELL Of the Gaboon mission, Is fastening
forward the translation Of the remainder Of the
Bible into the Mpongwe language, the tfrst part
Of which was printed twenty-five years ago. In
Persia the Azerbijah version has been delayed
dqrg fa1 eountry besides the
work on the Dakota Scriptures, Alr. Robertson
promises q version of the Epistles in the Ian
e1ase of the Creeks. During the last year the
Examining Board Of the Society approved new
the revised text Of the Reyal- -Esthonian Bible.
In Scoin the books Of Ezra, Nehemiah, Hosea.
and Joel were put in print for the first time.
GROWTH or TIE SOCIETY,".
At the beginning Of its history the Society
business to the governors Of the New York Hos
pita the Mayof Of the city, and to the alst9r s3cd
ii 1S30-31, aud covers three-quarters Of an acre.
The whole number Of persons engaged in the
service Of the Society in thu Bible-house is 40o
There are twenty-six printing presses, dE1ren ~
two large stcam-engincs, and the, apparatus is
sufficient for printing 2,0oo, 600 volumes annual
y, or about 5000 for every working day IN the
he year. Laid away in tire-proof vaults under
the Bible-house arc leo sets Of stereotype plates
Il the Bible, or portions o{ it, comprising eSo
q and imperial quarto Bibles, the Bible in raised
etters for the blind, the Arabic Bible.
Bulgarian and syriac Tcstiments, ETC., were
PREPARED ut great EXPENSE The Society pub
shcs in different styles OF binding, over one
varieties q hs sag5nd Engd4 sns g a92 Ta se
.;st;cs If the English New Testament, over
;o1ty | varieties Of portions OF the Bible in En-
,lisR, and more go varieties OF the Scriptures
he Bible for the blind, in raised letters, cost
s13 0o0, and 10000 copies have been printed