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What is Open Bible Stories?

Open Bible Stories is 50 key stories of the Bible, from Creation to Revelation, for evangelism and discipleship, provided freely for translation and multi-media sharing in any language.

Is Open Bible Stories a Bible translation?

No. The stories are a short survey of the Bible and the gospel, from Genesis to Revelation. Their simple language makes the work easier for new translators, because they do not meet too many hard translation problems at once. All 50 stories together are about the length of the book of Acts.

We train new translators to translate Open Bible Stories first, because that work is less daunting than translating the Bible itself. It is a good way to introduce a new team to the basics of sound translation: it includes drafting and checking as a team, and it uses the key translation helps. Teams finish in a few months, and the stories are ready to use at once.

How many languages is it available in?

214 languages have a published translation today, and more are in progress. Each one has its own page listing the stories, the formats that exist in that language, and the team that published it. See the Discover page for the full list.

How do I read, listen to, or download it in my language?

Open the Discover page, search for your language, and open its page. From there you can read every story, listen where a recording exists, watch where there is video, and download a PDF or the audio files. All digital versions are free online.

Can I copy, print, adapt, or record these stories?

Yes. Give as many copies of this book away as you want, without restriction. All digital versions are free online, and because of the open license we are using, you can even republish unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories commercially anywhere in the world without paying royalties! The stories are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0). You may copy, print, record, broadcast, or adapt them, including commercially, provided you credit the original work and release what you make under the same license. Keep the unfoldingWord® trademark on unmodified copies, and remove it if you change or translate the work; say what you changed, and attribute it as “The original work by unfoldingWord is available from https://openbiblestories.org”.

The illustrations are © Sweet Publishing and shared under CC BY-SA 3.0, so they carry their own attribution. The license page has the full text.

How do I start a translation in my language?

Start with the Translate page: it explains the process, the tools, and how to check a translation with the churches that will use it. Translation is done by teams from the language community, not for them, and unfoldingWord can help you find training and a network of other teams.

Which stories tell the gospel, or the story of Abraham, or Easter?

The stories run in biblical order, so they are easy to find by number. Creation and the fall are stories 1–3, God's covenant with Abraham begins at story 4, the Passover and the Exodus are stories 11–12, and the Old Testament closes with the promise of the Messiah in story 21. The life of Jesus runs from his birth in story 23 through his ministry and parables; the crucifixion is story 40, the resurrection story 41, and his return to heaven story 42. The church begins in story 43, and the last three stories, 48, 49 and 50, explain the gospel and Christ's return.

Who makes Open Bible Stories?

unfoldingWord® develops it together with the Door43 World Missions Community. Every translation is the work of a team from that language community, and each language page names the team that published it. The source files live on Door43, where anyone can see the current state of a translation.