On August 2, 2024, Brother Carlos Hortelão, a member of the Angola Branch Committee, released the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures and the Bible books of Genesis, Ruth, Esther, and Jonah in Ibinda. The announcement was made on the first day of the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention in Cabinda, Angola. A total of 953 attended the program. Those in attendance received a printed copy of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Both the Christian Greek Scriptures and the books of the Hebrew Scriptures were immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

More than 716,000 Ibinda-speaking people live in Angola. This is the first-ever Bible translation in the Ibinda language. Now the 335 brothers and sisters in the country’s 13 Ibinda-language congregations and one group are thrilled to have God’s Word available in their own language.

On August 9, 2024, Brother Energy Matanda, a member of the Zimbabwe Branch Committee, released the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Zimbabwe Sign Language at the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention in Harare, Zimbabwe. In all, 405 attended the program. The release was immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library Sign Language app.

The book of Matthew was released in Zimbabwe Sign Language in 2021. Since then, additional books of the Christian Greek Scriptures have gradually been made available. It is estimated that as many as one million people use Zimbabwe Sign Language, including 377 brothers and sisters in 11 sign-language congregations and 11 groups throughout Zimbabwe.

On August 11, 2024, Brother Mark Sanderson, a member of the Governing Body, announced the revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Bulgarian and released the Bible books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke during the concluding talk of the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Special Convention in Sofia, Bulgaria. In total, 5,418 people were in attendance. All three Bible books were immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was first released in Bulgarian in 2009. Today, nearly 3,000 brothers and sisters serve in 57 congregations throughout Bulgaria.

On August 16, 2024, Brother Bois Sylvain, a member of the West Africa Branch Committee, released the Bible books of Matthew and Mark in the Aja language during the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention in Djakotomey, Benin. The release was announced to the 631 in attendance. An additional audience of 435 tied in to the release talk via videoconference from an Assembly Hall in Abomey-Calavi, Benin. Both books were immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

Over 1.2 million people in Benin and Togo speak Aja. Two other translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Aja are available. However, they are difficult to obtain, and they use language that is not easy for most readers to understand. Moreover, both translations omit God’s personal name, Jehovah. Today, nearly 1,300 brothers and sisters serve in 25 Aja-language congregations and one group in Benin as well as 12 congregations and 2 groups in Togo. All are excited to have a clear translation that restores the divine name to its proper place.

On August 16, 2024, Brother Jeffrey Winder, a member of the Governing Body, released the revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Kinyarwanda. Brother Winder announced the release on the first day of the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention in Kigali, Rwanda. There were 9,908 in attendance. An additional 1,141 tied in to the program from two other convention sites. Attendees at all these locations received printed copies of the Bible. Audio recordings and the digital edition of the revised New World Translation in Kinyarwanda were immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

More than 13 million Kinyarwanda-speaking people live in Rwanda. Kinyarwanda is also spoken in other countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda. The complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was first released in Kinyarwanda in 2010. Currently, more than 35,500 brothers and sisters serve in 634 Kinyarwanda-language congregations throughout Rwanda.

On August 16, 2024, Brother David Splane, a member of the Governing Body, released the revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Sinhala to an audience of 4,273 gathered for the first day of the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Additionally, the 1,045 who were in attendance at the regional convention in the city of Chilaw, Sri Lanka, tied in to the program via videoconference. Attendees at both locations received printed copies of the New World Translation in Sinhala. The release was also immediately made available for download in digital format on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

Jehovah’s Witnesses began translating Bible literature into Sinhala more than 75 years ago. Today, over 15 million Sinhala-speaking people live in Sri Lanka, including our 4,808 brothers and sisters serving in 62 Sinhala-language congregations there.

On August 30, 2024, Brother Martin Décousus, a member of the New Caledonia Branch Committee, released the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Wallisian during the 2024 “Declare the Good News!” Regional Convention. The convention program was held in the city of Nouméa, New Caledonia, and in the village of Mala’e, Wallis and Futuna. The locations were connected to each other via videoconference. All 317 in attendance received a printed copy of the New World Translation. The Bible was also immediately made available for download on jw.org and in the JW Library app.

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released in Wallisian in 2018. The 153 Wallisian-speaking brothers and sisters serving in two congregations in New Caledonia and in Wallis and Futuna look forward to using the complete New World Translation to share the good news with the more than 35,000 Wallisian-speaking people living in these lands.