The Bible has been translated into many languages around the world, but for the first time, it has been translated into emojis.
According to ChristianToday.com, the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has been translated using emoticons. The new translation is being marketed as “Scripture for millennials,” and will be available for download on iTunes starting May 29.
The authors of the new translation, known only as the sunglasses smiley emoji, said they hope this new version of the Bible will draw new readers to Scripture.
“What's amazing about emojis, and what's made them so successful, is that they're language-agnostic – they allow you to convey an idea to anyone, regardless of what language they speak," they said.
"A major goal of this whole process was to take a book that I think is very non-approachable to lay readers and try to make it more approachable by removing a lot of its density."
The authors of the emoji translation have translated the entire Bible. About 10 to 15 percent of the translation is in emoticons, while the rest is in normal characters.
"The Bible has a lot of old language, there's a lot of nuance involved in translating it – a lot of the time, you need to think beyond 1-to-1 fit," the authors said.
"There's a lot of trial and error, and a lot of rereading. But it's all worth the goal of making the Bible a little more approachable, to inject some levity, and to get people to look at it, with no particular agenda beyond that."
To see your favorite passage of Scripture translated into emojis, click here.
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: May 25, 2016
