Tech Forum

itinerant wrote:I was hoping to start a new thread to discuss and gain support for adding the Bible in other languages to the Gospel Library mobile app. To date, the Old and New Testament are only available in English and Spanish.

What version are you looking at? I've heard that complaint for Windows, but I don't know as it's true for iOS and Android.

itinerant wrote:If you are just as interested as I am in getting a particular language added please participate and comment below. The more activity this thread gets the higher visibility and priority it will likely get.

A couple of faulty assumptions: First, that things on this forum get any higher than the developers and that the church responds to public pressure. Both are highly questionable. The developers respond to the priorities set by the brethren. The number of developers are also set by the brethren.

I'd think your best chance for success is for those people in the affected areas of the world to ask their stake president to talk to the area authority about the problem. Work though the priesthood channels.

itinerant wrote:Millions of non-english members have mobile devices and would benefit having electronic access to the scriptures in their language. Not sure why this would NOT be a priority for the Church. Perhaps it is and work is underway. Perhaps their are challenges to make it available. Thus, the point of the thread, to better understand where things stand and where things are going. There is nothing wrong with asking questions and having a discussion about it.

Is the Bible available in any of those languages on lds.org? I wouldn't expect the Bible to be available on a mobile platform if it isn't available on-line. Whatever issues prevent the church from putting it on lds.org would probably apply to mobile platforms as well. Unfortunately, I don't know what those issues might be. Copyright on specific editions would be my guess but that's just a guess.

eblood66 wrote:Is the Bible available in any of those languages on lds.org? I wouldn't expect the Bible to be available on a mobile platform if it isn't available on-line. Whatever issues prevent the church from putting it on lds.org would probably apply to mobile platforms as well. Unfortunately, I don't know what those issues might be. Copyright on specific editions would be my guess but that's just a guess.

A quick check shows that at least German isn't on-line. Copyright could be one issue. If there isn't a suitable version, then the church would have to translate. But that's a long involved process as a great deal of effort is made to preserve doctrinal purity.

I write only for Android because I don't use iOS.
About Italian version there are a lot on-line.
I use laparola.net wich supply many versions (Luzzi, Diodati, Riveduta, eccetera).
In this case I prefere it because I can have Bible and (BoM or D&C or PoGP) open together.
If The Bible will be included into LDSLibrary I will no more able to have it open at the same time.

The only LDS versions of the Bible are in Spanish and English. There are approved or conditionally approved versions for many other languages that have been translated by other organizations. You can find these listed here: http://ldsmediatalk.com/2014/11/25/reco ... ia+Talk%29

I heard the Louis Segond (French) translation recently entered the public domain. If this is something we can get going, I am totally on board.

i really would like to have the bible in portuguese,

the Church could have conversations with the brazilian goverment to allow it.

It's not a matter of conversation--the text must be fully in the public domain and, after that happens, the Church must have the time to make any necessary corrections and introduce the dedicated LDS study tools, like the Guide to the Scriptures.

The question/problem we face is not whether or not we have it on the digital platform, it is when will the church translate it's own bible from another translation on the public domain as stated previously. There wasn't an lds version of the bible available in Spanish until 2009 after many years of translation based on the 1909 version of the reina valera translation. It took a long time because the Catholic church had copyright on the bible(I don't know the details, just that it was a factor in why it took so long). This was most likely a pilot for other languages to come.

Since the next largest group that speak a foreign language in the church is Portuguese speaking I'd assume that they have already discussed logistics or could very well be underway on the project. The announcement of the Spanish bible came within a year of the actual release. After working for the church I learned that if the church is going to put its name on anything it has to be approved at many levels and reviewed by the brethren. This is a timely process and deadlines are usually pretty soft. There isn't any urgency for a new version of the bible, even though it would be very helpful. As long as there is a possible work around (other translations of the bible in print and on a mobile platform) then these desired translations will come when they come. There are most likely other needs for the church that don't have work arounds adj they are a higher priority.

The version will have to have everything that the current scriptures have(footnotes, cross references, chapter summaries Joseph Smith translation etc.) It is a huge task on a huge book. Since scripture is doctrine the church is very careful not to release something as doctrine that hasn't been reviewed multiple times.

This has also been a wish of mine. I may be wrong, but I would be surprised if Portuguese translation for an lds version of the bible had not already began since the Spanish version was finished 6 years ago. The other languages where there are fewer members might have to wait awhile though. Once it is available in print, it should be available on all platforms almost at the same time.

Most of these are just my assumptions based on the timing and release of the Spanish lds version of the bible and my time working for the church. I think the church might just surprise us in the next couple years, especially since they have already done it once with Spanish. I highly doubt this topic hasn't been discussed by the brethren so we might just need to be patient.

It's possible that the Church will do their own translation of a Portuguese bible, but it's also possible that they'll decide that a given translation is already correct enough. Spanish did get their own translation – but it's not a rule yet because, after all, English is still using the King James Version.