“It Is Finished”

IN THE year 2002, Jehovah’s Witnesses held a district convention in the city of Mbandaka, in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. When the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Lingala was released at the convention, those in the audience literally jumped for joy, and some shed tears. Later, people rushed to the platform to have a closer look at the new Bible, crying: “Basuki, Basambwe,” which means: “It is finished! They are confounded!”

Why were the audience so excited, and what did they mean by those words? In some parts of Mbandaka, Jehovah’s Witnesses had been unable to obtain Lingala Bibles. Why? Because the churches refused to sell them to Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witnesses had to ask a third party to obtain copies. Now they were extremely happy because the churches could no longer prevent them from getting Bibles.

The new translation will benefit not only Jehovah’s Witnesses but also the general public. A man who could hear the program in his home over the loudspeakers from the assembly site wrote to the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses: “I am very happy about the release of this Bible. It will enlighten us about many things. I am not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I am eagerly awaiting this Bible that you have just published.”

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is now available in its entirety in 33 languages, and the Christian Greek Scriptures, in 19 additional languages, including Lingala. Why not ask one of Jehovah’s Witnesses how you can obtain a copy of this excellent translation?