THE Maltese Bible Society will shortly issue a new edition of the Bible in Maltese, with the help of the international United Bible Society.

Grace Cilia, general secretary of the Maltese Bible Society, said this was the third edition of the Bible in Maltese since the first edition, a thick book with a brown cover, was published in 1984.

The second edition, which came in a blue hardback version and a plastic flexible cover, was issued in 1996.

"Publishing a Bible involves a lot of work. It will not be printed in Malta because it involves a special process of printing on very thin paper," Ms Cilia explained.

Compared to Bibles published in other languages, the Maltese Bible's market was small, so the assistance of the international organisation was essential, both when it came to free professional consultancy and even to assistance in covering operational costs.

For logistical purposes, the United Bible Society is divided into four main regions in the world and Malta forms part of the Europe and Middle East region.

Brian Lawson, a consultant from the European Production Services within the organisation, told The Sunday Times that translation was one of the toughest and most important tasks of the society, since translation into 375 languages always started from the original Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek. The Scriptures, he said, were never translated from existing translations.

Mr Lawson said the international society, which is celebrating its bicentenary, is financed through charity and legacies. Besides publishing Bibles in different languages, it collaborates with charity organisations which teach people how to read and write in underdeveloped countries, for example.

The Maltese Bible published by the society would serve all Christian denominations, not just the predominantly Catholic population, he said.

The Maltese Bible Society was founded in 1958 and following the Second Vatican Council, the society pursued its work to "spread the word of God" in different ways, publishing the gospels and teaching.

The society now uses interactive media such as CDs and the Internet, besides books, to make the Bible available to people.

A translation board made up of people well versed in theology and linguistics, led by Fr Anthony Abela, researches the original text of the scriptures compared to the Maltese translation.

Fr Abela, an expert in the field, assists Bible societies in other countries too.

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