On April 10, 2022, Brother John Hunguka, a member of the Zimbabwe Branch Committee, released the digital edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in the Chitonga (Zimbabwe) language. The prerecorded program was streamed to an estimated audience of 500 people. Printed copies will be available in July 2022.

The Chitonga language is mainly spoken by the Tonga people, who live in the southern and western provinces of Zambia and in northern Zimbabwe. In 2014, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released in the Chitonga language spoken in Zambia, which is related to the Chitonga (Zimbabwe) language. This is the first time a Bible has been translated and published in the Chitonga (Zimbabwe) language. Prior to this, the Chitonga (Zimbabwe)-speaking people had to rely on translations in the Chitonga that is spoken in Zambia.

While Zambian Chitonga and Chitonga (Zimbabwe) are similar, there are dramatic differences in the meanings of some words and phrases. For example, in the Zambian Chitonga edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1 John 3:17 states that a Christian should show compassion to a brother who is “in need.” However, in the Chitonga (Zimbabwe) language, this same phrase would be understood as a brother who is “insane.” The translation team adjusted the language to convey the proper meaning to its respective audience.

One of the translators noted: “In the past, I would spend a lot of time in the ministry trying to explain the words in the verses to the householders. Now I can just read the verse and let God’s Word speak to them.”

We rejoice with our Chitonga (Zimbabwe)-speaking brothers and sisters as they use this new translation to make known the “path of life” to many more rightly disposed people.—Psalm 16:11.