A friend asked me about a Bible site and said it seemed like one was a duplication of effort. Maybe it is, but if it is, it is a good kind of duplication of effort.
Have you ever walked along Waikiki and noticed the ABC stores? Are they duplication of effort or smart marketing? They sell the same stuff and all are part of the same corporation. So why do they have a store every block or two in tourist-dense areas? What about Starbucks? Surely there must be some duplication of effort going on, there? Or at grocery stores, why do they put candy in the checkout lanes instead of just in the candy isles? Is it just smart marketing again? Obviously, the point is to be seen, to be found, to be convenient, and to serve as many of their customers as practical. It is the same with all of the Bible web sites I’m involved with. It isn’t a human corporation, but God whom we serve. It isn’t stuff for sale, but the life-giving Word of God that we provide. There are Bible sites featuring individual Bible translations, customized for that particular language and culture. (Baibala.org is one example, featuring the Hawaiian Bible, but there are many.) There are national Bible sites and regional Bible sites. (TokPlesBaibel.org and VanuatuBibles.org are a couple of examples of these.) There are global sites that try to feature every Bible translation in every language that they can. (eBible.org, ScriptureEarth.org, Bible.is, Bibles.org, and Free.Bible are a few of these.) There are also many Bible study apps and Bibles in various eBook formats. Each of these has their own advantages for different people. There is not any single Bible site, app, or format that best meets everyone’s needs.
The needs and expectations of someone who speaks English, lives in a place where freedom of religion is a protected right, and has constant free or cheap Internet access differ greatly from the needs of someone who speaks a minority language, who might be persecuted severely for reading the Holy Bible, or who has costly and intermittent Internet access. Likewise, there are some who might never go to a big Bible site looking for the Scriptures in their own language, but would visit a site featuring their own language and culture, or perhaps a more regional site. Others might start first at a larger Bible site to see if their language is represented. Some might just enter a phrase in their own language into a search engine to see what comes up. Others would prefer to read the Holy Bible in an app or Bible study program on their phone, tablet, or computer. Still others might prefer to read the Bible like they read other books on a dedicated device like the Amazon Kindle.
So which do we support? All of them that we can practically do. This isn’t a problem with wasted effort when we share Scriptures in a common format. Sure, it gets complicated with copyrights and copyright owner policies at times, but there are hundreds of Bible translations for minority languages that are freely shared under a Creative Commons license. There are also Bible translations that are in the Public Domain. These are the ones that get the most exposure, and which ultimately do the most good for the people who speak those languages. This is because they are the most available, because they get shared with many sites and apps. They can also be shared directly between people reading the Bible, which is important in creative access countries.
Now you know why I share Scriptures with others who run web sites and create Bible study apps (when copyright restrictions allow), even though I already have the same Scriptures posted on web sites I operate, and at least one app format, and in two ebook formats (epub3 and mobi). You also know why I sometimes post Scriptures that someone else has already posted. It is because I firmly believe that God’s Word is good for people. When mixed with faith, it can change a person’s eternal destiny and transform whole societies for the better.
Finding and tracking all available Bibles is a huge task. Check out find.Bible for a great resource in this area. If that doesn’t work, try one of the usual generic web search engines.