On July 23, 2023, Brother Lemma Koyra, a member of the Ethiopia Branch Committee, released digital versions of The Bible—The Good News According to Matthew in the Sidama and Wolaita languages. The announcement was made during a special meeting at the Assembly Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nearly 1,800 people attended the event in person, and an additional 12,669 viewed the program via videoconference and a satellite-television channel. Immediately following the release, the digital editions were made available for download. Printed copies of the book of Matthew will be made available to the congregations in the coming months.

The Wolaita and Sidama languages are primarily spoken in southern Ethiopia. A translation team for Wolaita was formed in 2005, and a Sidama translation team was established in 2007. Both teams operate from remote translation offices located in areas with high populations of their respective native-language communities.

While complete translations of the Bible have been produced in both languages, they are not readily available and are very expensive. One translator described the experience of many Sidama-speaking brothers and sisters this way: “Most congregations have only one copy of the Bible. During meetings, only the speaker can use that Bible. So in order to do our personal Bible reading, we have to actually go to the Kingdom Hall and use the only Bible available. Having the book of Matthew in Sidama finally gives us the ability to read and study God’s Word in our homes.”

A translator on the Wolaita-language translation team expressed his appreciation for the clear language of the New World Translation. He noted: “One Bible translation describes the holy spirit as a person at Matthew 28:19. In the ministry, this made explaining the difference between the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit very challenging. The New World Translation, on the other hand, has accurately identified the holy spirit as a force. I am confident that this translation of the book of Matthew in Wolaita will make a difference in the preaching work.”

The release of The Bible—The Good News According to Matthew in Sidama and Wolaita is a powerful demonstration that the good news is being made available to ‘every nation, tribe, and tongue.’—Revelation 14:6.