It is the mission of the Russian Bible Project team to make the life-changing Word of God accessible to the Russian speaking people around the world. We collaborate with our partners in Russia to support the work of the Bible Translation Institute at Zaoksky which has prepared a clear and accurate inter-denominational translation of God’s Word from the original languages. 

We are responding to a great challenge:

- 58% of the Russian people have never read the Bible, 

- to the majority of the Russian people many key phrases of the Synodal 1876 Russian Bible are incomprehensible, 

- 22% have read some passages in the Gospels and 

- only 2% read the Bible regularly. 

There is a great demand for this modern translation of the entire Bible, and as of May 2015 by God's grace we have been able to launch together with our partners several printings of the new Russian Bible. 

After 23 years of diligent scholarly work and prayer, the translation of the new Russian Bible is completed and the newly printed Bible is being distributed across Euro-Asia! This event is truly a reason to praise God and rejoice, yet it also inspires and challenges us to seize the window of opportunity and to set new goals and objectives. A certain sense of accomplishment should not mislead us. Actually, it is only a beginning of a great work of sharing the Bread of Life with every Russian home, because just as the Word of God is indispensable for us, it is equally indispensable for all our contemporaries – and it is for them that this labor has been undertaken to begin with. 

Now that we have the Word of God we must share it. The political and economic situation in Russia is becoming more and more challenging. In view of the above, it is especially important that we distribute as many of the new Bibles as we possible. Along with more printings of our new translation, we are currently working on several new projects.

- Publication of the entire New BTI Bible on the United Bible Societies Digital Bible Library (DBL)

- Publication of the electronic Edition the entire New BTI Bible on the leading Russian electronic Bible Portal www.bible-center.ru

- Publication of the electronic Edition the entire New BTI Bible in the YouVersion app for mobile devices

- Publication of the electronic Edition the entire New BTI Bible in the Olive Tree app

- We are also eager to bring the Word of God to the children of Russia. We can clearly see that special editions of separate books and portions of the Bible specifically for children, with culturally sensitive color illustrations are in great demand. Our goal is to prepare and print a special Children's Edition of the Gospel of Mark with color illustrations. At this crucial stage of the project in these new conditions we acutely sense our need for your prayerful support and the special guidance of God’s Spirit. 

With this in mind, we move forward on all our projects with reverence and prayer.

Respectfully,

Mikhail M. Kulakov 

New Complete Russian Translation of the Bible is now at Press!!

Dear friends and supporters of the Russian Bible project, we would like to announce with much elation that our Institute has officially completed the new translation of the Russian Bible!! The 23-year endeavor that began with Dr. Mikhail P. Kulakov Sr. is right now, as we speak, being printed and bound for distribution all across the globe!

Dr. Mikhail M. Kulakov Jr., director and editor-in-chief of the Bible Translation Institute at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland (with affiliated site at Zaoksky Seminary in Russia), said he looked forward to distributing the Bible and giving its readers a new sense of God’s closeness in the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, and Isaiah. “Growing up in Russia I loved the translation which we had access to,” he said, referring to the 1876 Synodal translation. “But I did not realize then that there is greater richness and depth of meaning in those passages… that have became much clearer to me with a mastery of the biblical languages and through the work on this more accurate translation,” he adds.

We are so greatly looking forward to seeing ordinary Russian people gain new strength, hope, joy and a sense of God’s closeness in the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms and Isaiah in their mother tongue. We are so incredibly grateful to all of the amazing individuals who sacrificed their time and energy to pour their talents into this project. We have had the honor of working with leading scholars from various denominations and different countries in refining the text. In addition to this fact we are so excited that portions of the new Bible have already been posted on Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, and other websites as they became available over the years. We are grateful to the United Bible Societies team for their assistance in preparing the electronic Paratext version of our New Testament. 

And more than anything we would like to take this opportunity to thank YOU – our loyal supporters and donors for being there with us every step of the way!! Without you this would have all remained a dream but due to your steadfast support we were able to finally bring this monumental task to completion. Thank you for your time, donations, prayers and love! With your support we are now able to put this Bible into the hands of millions of Russian readers and share these blessings with you!

Please enjoy a short video that we have put together of the printing process that is taking place in Minsk, Belarus right now!

The new complete translation will be available for purchase in the latter part of May 2015 through the Biblical-Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew in Moscow, the Source of Life publishing house in Zaoksky and at Pacific Press.  A version of the translation of the New Testament and Psalms was published several years ago and can be purchased on Amazon, at Adventist Book Centers across the United States, and here on our website.

The BTI team and Michele Bernard of Columbia Union News