• Printing and Distributing God’s Own Sacred Word
    Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom

    • Some examples illustrate the impact of this translation. In France the Catholic Church had for centuries prohibited possession of the Bible by the laity. Catholic translations that had become available were relatively expensive, and few homes had these. The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released in French in 1963, followed by the complete Bible in 1974. By 1992 a combined total of 2,437,711 copies of the New World Translation had been shipped out for distribution in France; and the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in France increased 488 percent during that same period, reaching a total of 119,674.

      The situation was similar in Italy. The people had long been forbidden to have a copy of the Bible. After the release of the Italian edition of the New World Translation and down till 1992, there were 3,597,220 copies distributed; the vast majority of these were the complete Bible. People wanted to examine for themselves what God’s Word contains. Interestingly, during that same period, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy rose sharply—from 7,801 to 194,013.

      When the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was made available in Portuguese, there were just 30,118 Witnesses in Brazil and 1,798 in Portugal. During the following years, down till 1992, a total of 213,438 copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures and 4,153,738 copies of the complete Bible in Portuguese were sent out to individuals and congregations in these lands. What were the results? In Brazil, over 11 times as many active praisers of Jehovah; and in Portugal, 22 times as many. Tens of thousands of people who had never had a Bible were grateful to get one, and others appreciated having a Bible that used words they could understand. When the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References was made available in Brazil, the news media pointed out that it was the most complete version (that is, with more cross-references and footnotes) available in the country. It also noted that the initial printing was ten times as great as that for most national editions.

      The Spanish edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was also released in 1963, followed in 1967 by the complete Bible. There were 527,451 copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures published, and thereafter, down to 1992, a total of 17,445,782 copies of the complete Bible in Spanish. This contributed to an outstanding increase in the number of praisers of Jehovah in Spanish-speaking lands. Thus, from 1963 to 1992, in predominantly Spanish-speaking lands where Jehovah’s Witnesses carry on their ministry, their numbers grew from 82,106 to 942,551. And in the United States, in 1992, there were another 130,224 Spanish-speaking Witnesses of Jehovah.

      It was not only in the realm of Christendom that the New World Translation was enthusiastically received. In the first year of publication of the Japanese edition, the branch office in Japan received orders for half a million copies.