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PREFACE
FoR four generations the British nnd Foreign Bible
Society has been publishing and circulating the vVord
of God throughout the world. When it was founded ,
in 1804, sorne portion of Scripture had been printed in
72 languages ; 123 years later, the number of tongues
in which the Society has promoted the translation,
printing, or distribution of God's Book has grown
to 690.
Specimens of every one of these forros of
speech are given
in
the following pages, which are an
enlargement of a work originnlly preparad by my
predecessor,
the Rev. John Sharp.
Each separata
language and dialect is numbered. At the right·
hand upper corner is usually given a -very general
geographicnl note to enable readers
to locate
the
language. Then fol[ows the text itself-as a rul e
the well·kno n words of St. John 3. 16. Where
these words are quoted, no name of the Gospel is
added. But where that text was not available, the
latter clause of St. Matthew
4.
10, or St. Mark
3.
35.
or St Luke
15.
10 (representad by the contraction
Mt. , Mk., Lk,
respectively) appears instead.
In a few
instances, a text from sorne other part of Scripture had
to be chosen, in which case the full reference
is
given .
The figure at the end of each entry gives the date of
the particular edition in the Bible House Library
from which the quotation
is
made.
In certain
languages versions are no longar in
circu lation. The names of such languages are marked
in the first Index with an asterisk.
Men write in many alphabets. Moreover the Society
h
somelimes to print the versions in the same
language in mo
thnn one script to suit different
readers.
These are representad in the following
pecimens where they occur; nnd an Index t·ecording