We are still rejoicing and celebrating the fact that last week we finished the final consultant check to complete the entire New Testament in three languages: Arli, Chergash and Gurbet.

Praise God with us for this wonderful milestone and please pray:

1. For the Arli, Chergash and Gurbet translators to find any last errors and correctly do all the formatting over the next few weeks before the mid-February deadline.
2. That these teams can get the New Testaments printed, online, in an app and audio recorded this year.
3. That many Arli, Chergash and Gurbet Roma will listen to and read God’s Word in their languages, and that God would transform lives for His glory.
4. That God will guide and empower Todd & the teams to translate the Old Testament in the Arli, Chergash and Gurbet languages.
5. For Todd and the other teams working to translate the New Testament in three other languages: Bayash (which only has Luke), Aromanian, and N. Macedonian Arli.

Gratefully,
Todd & Pamala (Daniel & Ariela) Price

Yes, praise God, you read that correctly! This morning, the Chergash team and I finished the consultant check of the last verses of the final book, which completes the entire New Testament in their language! Yesterday, we completed the NT in the Gurbet language, and on Tuesday, we completed the NT in the Arli language. That means that this week, we have brought three full New Testaments through the final consultant check!

This was all by design since, over the last seven years, we have been doing a “cluster” project, which means I have been working simultaneously with teams of translators in several languages, going through the NT verse-by-verse at the same pace. Each week, I met with each team, covering roughly the same passage of Scripture, which made the checking process more efficient. These three languages are similar, so what we learned in translating each language helped suggest how we might want to translate in the other two related languages. So now, all three languages (Arli, Gurbet, and Chergash) have had the entire NT consultant checked!

Now, each team will do a final revision by checking details such as punctuation, cross-references, spelling, consistency, etc., so that, Lord willing, by mid-February, the whole NT will be ready to be typeset. In 2025, we plan to print and distribute the NT in these three languages and finish publishing them online and in mobile applications. They will also make audio recordings of the NT in these three languages, which is especially strategic in the oral culture of the Roma.

Praise God for this milestone, and thank you for all your prayers and financial support to make it possible. You have been an essential part of this work.

Pamala has been asking me how I would like to celebrate. Well, someday, it would be nice to tour Israel, though now is probably not the best time to do that. Perhaps that opportunity will present itself sometime in the future. In the meantime, I might take in a concert when a group I like comes to KC–that would be fun and worshipful. Until then, Pam is spoiling me by offering to make special desserts or a salmon dinner, and maybe we will go out to eat.

In the meantime, I am preparing to check Old Testament books in these languages. Another consultant is checking Genesis, and I will probably check Jonah and Ruth in each language when they have those books ready for me to check.

I’ve been working mainly in Greek for the last 15 years of ministry, so now I need to spin up my Hebrew in preparation for checking OT books. I’ve been investing in OT Hebrew commentaries in digital format and any day a big shipment of ancient OT commentaries should arrive on our doorstep. Fun times!

Bless you all for your undying support!

Gratefully, Todd (and Pamala)

Chergash translation team hard at work at a workshop in 2019

Yesterday, we finished checking the final verse of the New Testament in the Arli language, and today, we finished checking the final verse of the New Testament in the Gurbet language! We praise God for this second milestone after about seven years of work. Rejoice with us and thank God for bringing us to this point.

As I mentioned yesterday about the Arli translation, the Gurbet team will now do the final edits for spelling, formatting, punctuation, cross-references, etc., to finish all the details by mid-February. After that, the NT will be produced sometime this year in print format, in an app, and online. They will also be making an audio recording.

The Gurbet team is working on the Old Testament now, with another consultant currently checking Genesis. I will check Jonah and Ruth when they have those books prepared.

Again, thank you for your constant prayers and consistent financial support, which makes all this possible.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Todd & Pamala

This morning’s Zoom session finishing the NT in Gurbet

Rejoice with us that this morning, I finished the consultant check of the last verse of the New Testament in the Arli language! We have been working on this for many years, so this is a remarkable milestone and tribute to the grace of God and the hard work of the team of Bible translators who have been working in the Arli language.

What’s next for Arli? Although I have finished my work on the NT in Arli, the team will review the translation for consistency, punctuation, spelling, formatting, etc., to prepare it for printing. When that process is done, the entire NT will be put online and in an app, printed in hard copies, and an audio recording will be made. Please pray for that process and that, Lord willing, they will be able to complete it all this calendar year.

The Arli team has begun translating Genesis, which another consultant will check. I’ll check other OT books as needed, most likely beginning with Jonah and Ruth. As you may recall, we do not translate the books in the order they appear in the printed Bible but in the order of difficulty. Genesis, Jonah, and Ruth are some of the easiest to translate. After that, we will translate the historical books and take the wisdom and prophetic books later in the process after we have had more experience with more manageable books.

Thank you so much for your prayers for us and your generous financial support, which makes this possible.

Todd

A screenshot of part of the Arli team last year during a consultation to check the Gospel of John