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Announcing YouVersion.com and the Bible App—Completely in Korean

Now you can experience both YouVersion.com and the Bible App™ entirely in Korean! While we’ve offered Korean as a language option at YouVersion.com for months, today’s announcement covers more territory. When the YouVersion community formally launches an additional language, what that means is that every single interaction you can have with YouVersion’s tools and community is now available completely in that language. Korean is our sixth total language launch. (English was first, followed by Norwegian, Spanish, Chinese, and most recently, Russian.)

Specifically, here are all the ways that the YouVersion community (that’s you!) can now engage with God’s Word in Korean:

  • Great Korean Bibles. YouVersion’s partners have graciously provided our community with high quality, widely read Korean versions of the Bible, versions like 현대인의 성경, 개역한글, and 새번역. (To pick one, check 한국어 near the bottom of the Versions page or, in the Bible App, click to change your current version and scroll to see the available Korean versions.)
  • Entire User Interface. Thanks once again to our world-changing community of YouVersion volunteers, when you select Korean as the default language on your device—whether on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry—the Bible App displays all of your controls and menu options in that language.
  • Communication in Korean. Volunteers now make relevant YouVersion blog posts available in Korean. And when you initiate communication with YouVersion in Korean, your email and other responses will be in Korean as well.
  • Support in Korean. Now, you can even get help with the Bible App and YouVersion.com in Korean! When you have questions, YouVersion volunteers who speak Korean will be happy to assist you.

YouVersion’s vision has always been simple: To help people connect freely with God’s Word, as easily as possible, no matter where they live or what language they speak. If you have friends whose heart language is Korean, please share this great news about YouVersion.com and the Bible App with them. And be sure to come connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. We love hearing from you!

Keep checking back… To all our new Korean speakers: Welcome to our YouVersion family! We’re thrilled to have you join us. Over the next couple of weeks here on our blog, we’ll be providing more details about each individual piece of the complete Korean launch. We’re excited to share with you all that your community has to offer!

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Publishers—And Partners Like You—Help Grow the YouVersion Russian Community

Bible App™ Icon on Russia MapPublishers. The passion of the YouVersion community is to make it easy for people to engage with the Bible and connect with each other, no matter where they live or what language they prefer. Through partnerships with key Bible publishers, YouVersion is privileged to offer Russian versions of the Bible in easy-to-understand translations. Two we have available right now are:

  • Slovo Zhizny (RSZ) Provided by Biblica, this full Bible version was translated in an informal Russian language style. Beginning from a base of biblical languages and employing a meaning-based translation philosophy, Slovo Zhizny was completed in 2000.
  • Синодальный перевод (RURSV) Begun in 1813 by the Russian Bible Society and completed in 1876, the Russian Synodal Translation based its Old Testament on the Jewish Masortic text and its New Testament on Greek editions popular at the time. This particular version, which includes revisions incorporated in 1956, is perhaps most commonly associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, although it has also been widely enjoyed by Russian Baptists, other Russian Protestants, and even Roman Catholics. In fact, its reach during the last two centuries even influenced certain developments in the Russian language.

Volunteers. The incredible impact that the YouVersion community is making around the world is only possible because of dedicated volunteers—people just like you. Volunteers are simply ordinary, everyday people who choose to use their gifts and talents in other languages to help share the story of God’s love with others worldwide. If you can help us translate new features and services in any language—but especially into Russian—we’d love to hear from you. (We’ll also be launching Korean soon…more details in the weeks to come.) Just use our volunteer sign-up form to let us know what you can do.

If you’re still not sure volunteering is for you, please read and prayerfully consider this message from one of our awesome Russian language volunteers. Read in her own words what working with YouVersion and the Bible App™ has meant to her:

“I became enthusiastic about YouVersion when I first noticed my husband and a few of our friends using it on their phones. In a busy world where so many things occupy our minds, the Bible App helps us engage with God’s Word and maintain a biblical perspective. I realized that if simply using the Bible App could draw my husband and friends (who know English) closer to God, then there were probably many other people who don’t know English who could also be inspired and motivated by YouVersion, if it was just in their language. That’s why I volunteered: To help other Russian-speaking people connect with God and His Word.”
—Kateryna in Warsaw, Poland

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Available Now: Access Your YouVersion Account from Your Monvee Dashboard

Working together with YouVersion, Monvee has integrated YouVersion’s tools into their customizable online spiritual assessment and growth tool. This means that for the first time, if you have a Monvee account, you can directly reach your YouVersion notes, bookmarks, and Bible reading plans—right from your Monvee User Dashboard!

monvee Dashboard

Every month, millions of us in the YouVersion community add bookmarks and save notes in YouVersion. Whether you’re recording private reflections, sharing your insights on certain passages, or just thinking aloud, notes are a great way to capture what God’s Word is speaking to you wherever you are. Of course, a quick bookmark is a great way you can “mark your place” to return to a key verse later. Now, you can easily look up Scriptures and write notes relevant to your journey—all from the convenience of your Monvee spiritual plan.

monvee Featuring YouVersion

We’re excited about working with Monvee and appreciate the value they place on daily Scripture engagement. You can find out more about Monvee’s features, tools, and services at their website.

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New in the Bible App and at YouVersion.com: Segond 21

We’re happy to announce that the Segond 21 version of the Bible, published for the first time by the Geneva Society in 2007, is now available at YouVersion.com and in the Bible App­™.  We hope you’ll be as excited as we are—Segond 21 is one of the versions most requested by the YouVersion community!

The Segond 21 version took 12 years of dedicated translation work based on original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, but it also incorporates more recently available information. According to Wikipedia, this Bible’s sponsors describe it as “L’original, avec les mots d’aujourd’hui”. Segond 21 has been a top-selling Bible among French speakers, making an appearance in the top 200 books sold at Amazon France. In fact, in their category for spirituality/Christian books, it’s even number one!

At YouVersion, we’re passionate about making God’s Word freely available to as many people as possible, wherever they live. And engaging with the Bible in the language of your heart provides a deep, rich connection with God’s great story of love, and with your faith. If you have friends and loved ones who you think might enjoy reading the Segond 21, please let them know!

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Thanks to YouVersion Partners, Several Chinese Bible Translations Available Now, More on the Way

If you have friends or loved ones who might enjoy engaging with God’s Word in Chinese—whether Traditional or Simplified—please let them know that YouVersion has something just for them. YouVersion would like to take this opportunity to formally thank the publishers of the Chinese New Version for making their Bible versions available to our community, both in Simplified Chinese (CNVS) and Traditional Chinese (CNV). We’d also like to express our gratitude to Biblica for making available the Chinese Contemporary Bible (CCB), and to Holman for their Chinese Standard Bible (CSB). And we’re very happy to announce today a new partnership with Hong Kong Bible Society that allows us to soon offer you updated punctuated versions of the Chinese Union Version (CUV) and the Chinese Union Simplified Version (CUVS) as well as their Revised Chinese Union Version Simplified Bible (RCUV and RCUVS). Be on the lookout for these great additions, coming soon for offline access as well!

YouVersion’s simple mission has always been to make the Bible freely available to as many people as possible. Each of these generous partners understands the tremendous opportunity God is giving us to together reach this generation of Chinese speakers and readers: with the story of His love. We are honored and deeply grateful for them to join us.