Today's Danish Scriptures catch on

Monday, February 19, 2018

It's Nudansk: Today's Danish Scriptures catch on

We’re seeing a surprising new interest in the Scriptures from ordinary Danes—partly as a result of a fresh translation into everyday Danish.

Dozens of volunteer focus groups all over the country (71 in all) are reading through drafts of Old Testament passages in the newly translated Bibelen på nudansk (The Bible in Contemporary Danish). The “Nu” in “Nudansk” means “now.” As portions of the Scriptures are prepared for release, the volunteers are giving honest feedback to the translation team on questions like, “Can we call Noah’s ark a boat?”

“We’re unbelievably happy about the great interest,” says Bible Society General Secretary Birgitte Stoklund Larsen. “It’s gone way beyond our expectations. We’re especially happy that the interest is coming from such diverse groups. So we’re getting response from college students, readers of literature, beginning and more seasoned Bible readers.”

But the readers may not all be who you might expect.

One grandmother, Charlotte Borup, described how she and her 14-year-old granddaughter Malou got involved in the review team.

“One day Malou came home and set a Bible on the kitchen table and said, ‘Grandma, I want to read the Bible, because I don’t know very much about it. That’s not so good, because I was just confirmed (in the Lutheran Church).’”

So the pair volunteered. As Malou explains, “When I was confirmed, I really didn’t know what I was saying yes to. Honestly I didn’t think about it until afterward. So now I want to spend some to read the Bible, understand what it says, and what we believe.”

An updated version of the New Testament has already been published and released, along with the Psalms and several other Old Testament books.

PRAY that God will guide and direct this new translation effort, and that God’s truth will shine through.

PRAY that the lives of focus group volunteers will be changed as they soak up God’s Word, and that revival will result. 

PRAY for the wisdom of the translation team, that they would remain faithful to the original texts as they updated them into the words Danes use today.

PRAY that God’s Word would spread in a new way throughout Denmark, from 14-year-olds and their grandmas, to schools and homes and beyond.