“The Governing Body prepared a special gift for you.” So began Brother Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the Governing Body, as he released the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in modern Hebrew. A total of 2,125 attended the special event held on January 11, 2020, at the Romema Arena located in Haifa, Israel.

Brother David Simozrag, who coordinates the efforts of the Public Information Desk in Israel, commented: “It is estimated that there are more than eight million in our region who speak Hebrew. We believe that providing the Tanakh a in modern Hebrew is a valuable contribution to the local community.” This new release is among the very few modern translations available today to Hebrew readers.

The New World Translation is now available in whole or in part in 186 languages. Similar to the Masoretic scribes, our brothers who made up the Hebrew translation team worked diligently to transmit the Bible’s message accurately. The team dedicated more than three years to finish this modern translation. One of the translators observed: “Many Hebrew readers found it necessary to rely on commentaries or translations from other languages in order to understand particular verses and even entire books of the Bible. This Bible allows modern readers to easily grasp the meaning of the Scriptures.”

One brother noted: “After decades in which the average reader could not understand large parts of the Tanakh, he now can understand the message more clearly and accurately.” Undoubtedly, the 603 Hebrew-speaking publishers among the more than 2,000 publishers in the Israel branch territory will use this special gift “to consult the Law of Jehovah and practice it.”—Ezra 7:10.