World Bible Translation Center

World Bible Translation Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1973 in Arlington, Texas. A handful of people began the Center's work with the common desire to see God's Word accurately translated in a simple and clear way into the world's languages.

With the need for translation established, the first major consideration was to set up a system for coordinating the steps involved in the translation process. Priority was given to:

Clear Communication
It was decided that actual translation would be done only by those who speak the target language as their mother tongue. No one else can clearly and consistently communicate the message like mother-tongue speakers to their own people. And each translation is produced on a reading level suitable for the common person.

Accuracy
Qualified Greek and Hebrew scholars make sure every word and phrase is true to the original meaning. With the aid of a third-party back-translation, they check every verse to ensure that the text is complete and that nothing inaccurate or misleading finds its way into the published text.

Urgency
Translation has historically been known (and avoided) as a work that takes a great deal of time. Some translations have taken up to fifteen or twenty years. Thanks to better tools, especially computers, software and digital resources, the time required to produce a translation has decreased dramatically. That allows the Center to produce more texts for less money. It must be noted that no computer exists that can do accurate translation work on its own. What computers can do is the mammoth job of storing and organizing data, as well as dramatically streamlining the drafting, editing, and checking of the text during the translation process. Typically, a New Testament translation can be completed in as little as three years.

The three factors described above--clear communication, accuracy and urgency--are important in all of the Center's work. Although the means of achieving these may vary in each new project, they are always the goals that are constantly emphasized as translators and scholars carefully select the words and phrases that will communicate the Good News in each target language.