The Lord’s Prayer was translated into Nyulnyul (and back-translated into English) by the German missionary Hermann Nekes in 1939.
It reads:
Our Father on top sky.
Thy name be feared.
Thou art our boss.
Men-women will listen to Thee this place earth
as the good souls of men-women listen to Thee on top sky.
Give us tucker till this sun goes down.
We did wrong; make us good.
We have good hearts to them who did us wrong.
Watch us against bad place.
Thy hands be stretched out to guard us from bad.
Our Father, high in your Holy Place,
your name is holy.
Let the day come
when you reign as King in our land.
We want you to become Boss of our land,
the same way you are Boss of your Holy Land.
Give us the food we eat every day.
Forgive our wrong-doing
the same way we forgive the wrong-doing people do to us.
And do not take us to the hard place of testing.
But hold us so the Devil cannot get us.
You hold the land.
You hold the power.
You hold the light.
For ever and for ever.
Amen.
Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020
The following is a back-translation from Ma’anyan:
So pray [and say]: Our father who [is] in heaven:
You are the only God.
May you be worshiped and respected.
You are our King, you rule on earth, and your will be obeyed as in heaven.
Give to us today the food that we need.
Forgive us from wrong as we forgive people’s wrongs against us.
Do not let us lose faith when we are tempted
but set us free from the power of that evil one.
You [are the] king of power and glory until forever.
Amen.
Following is a translation of Psalm 150 into dance and song in Kabiyè by Groupe Mɛwɛ Tam Sɔɔlɩm. The video is followed by an English back-translation as well as the original Kabiyè text and a French back-translations. The leader (call) part is in standard type, the ensemble (response) is italicized.
Yuuuuiii, uuuii, uuuii [shouts of joy]
Let us praise God, the Eternal, God, Eternal.
Eee let us praise God, the Eternal yee, God, Eternal. (2 times)
Eee let us praise God, the Eternal yoo, God, Eternal.
Let us praise God, the Eternal, God, the Eternal!
Yee let us praise God, the Eternal yee, God, the Eternal!
Eee let us praise him in his house yee, God, Eternal. (2 times)
Eee where he shows his power, God, Eternal. (2 times)
In his royal house yeee, the Eternal, God, Eternal!
In his royal house, the Eternal yooo, God, Eternal!
In his royal house, the Eternal yeee, God, Eternal!
God, the Eternal yee, God, the Eternal.
Eee let us praise God, the Eternal yeee, God, Eternal.
His works are many, God, Eternal.
His works are numerous yeee, God, Eternal.
Hmmmm, My God is great, God, Eternal.
He is so big yee, God, Eternal. (2 times)
With what should we praise him? God, Eternal.
Let us say, “With what should we praise him yeee?” God, Eternal.
Hummm Eternal God yee, Eternal God.
Eternal God, Eternal God. (3 times)
Let us praise him with horns yeee, let us praise the Eternal. (3 times)
Ooo let us praise him with horns yeee, let us praise the Eternal.
Let us praise him with flutes yeee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Let us praise him with drums yeee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Aaa let us praise him with drums yeee, let’s praise the Eternal.
Let us praise him with drums and dances yeee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Let us praise him with flutes yeee, let us praise the Eternal.
Aaa let us praise him with flutes yeee, Let us praise the Eternal.
Let us praise God, he is eternal yee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Who must praise God? Everything that God has made and created and that lives must come and praise God.
Let everything that breathes, praise God.
Eee let everything that breathes, praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Let all humans praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
Let boys and girls praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
Let women and men praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Ooo let us praise the Eternal yee, Let us praise the Eternal.
Let the animals praise him, let us praise the Eternal.
Let the trees and the wind praise him, let us praise the Eternal.
Let the trees and the flowers praise him, let us praise the Eternal.
Hummm, praise the Eternal yee, praise the Eternal.
Let the trees and the flowers praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
May all humans praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
Let us praise the Eternal yee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Let the idolaters praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Let the Christians praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Dance with glory to praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
Dance with glory to praise him yee, let us praise the Eternal.
Dance with glory to praise him, let us praise the Eternal.
Hɩmmm praise the Eternal, let us praise the Eternal yeee, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Everything that breathes, praise the Eternal, let us praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Praise the Eternal, praise the Eternal, praise the Eternal. (2 times)
Click or tap here to see the the text in French back-translation
Yuuuuiii, uuuii, uuuii [cris d’allégresse]
Louons Dieu, l’Eternel, Dieu, Eternel.
Eee louons Dieu, l’Eternel yee, Dieu, Eternal. (2 fois)
Eee louons Dieu, l’Eternel yoo, Dieu, Eternel.
Louons Dieu, l’Eternel, Dieu, Eternel!
Eee louons Dieu, l’Eternel yee, Dieu, Eternel!
Eee louons-le dans sa maison yee, Dieu, Eternal! (2 fois)
Eee là où il montre sa puissance, Dieu, Eternel. (2 fois)
Dans sa maison royale yeee, l’Eternel, Dieu, Eternel!
Dans sa maison royale, l’Eternel yooo, Dieu, Eternel!
Dans sa maison royale, l’Eternel yeee, Dieu, Eternel.
Dieu, l’Eternel yee, Dieu, Eternel.
Eee louons Dieu, l’Eternel yeee, Dieu, Eternel.
Ses œuvres sont nombreuses, Dieu, Eternel.
Ses œuvres sont nombreuses yeee, Dieu, Eternel.
Hmmmm, Mon Dieu est grand, Dieu, Eternel.
Il est tellement grand yee, Dieu, Eternel.(2 fois)
Avec quoi devons-nous le louer? Dieu, Eternel.
Disons avec quoi devons-nous le louer yeee? Dieu, Eternel.
Hummm Dieu Eternel yee, Dieu Eternel.
Dieu Eternel, Dieu Eternel. (3 fois)
Louons-le avec des cornes yeee, louons l’Eternel. (3 fois)
Ooo louons-le avec des cornes yeee, louons l’Eternel.
Louons-le avec des flutes yeee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Louons-le avec les tambours yeee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Aaa louons-le avec les tambours yeee, louons l’Eternel.
Louons-le avec des tambours et des danses yeee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Louons-le avec de flutes yeee, louons l’Eternel.
Aaa louons-le avec de flutes yeee, louons l’Eternel.
Louons Dieu, il est éternel yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Qu’est-ce qui doit louer Dieu ? Tout ce que Dieu a fait et créé et qui vit doit venir et louer Dieu.
Que tout ce qui respire, loue Dieu.
Eee que tout ce qui respire, loue l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Que tous les humains le louent yee, louons l’Eternel.
Que les garçons et les filles le louent yee, louons l’Eternel.
Que les femmes et les hommes le louent yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Ooo louons l’Eternel yee, louons l’Eternel.
Que les animaux le louent, louons l’Eternel.
Que les arbres et le vent le louent, louons l’Eternel.
Que les arbres et les fleurs le louent, louons l’Eternel.
Hummm, louent l’Eternel yee, louons l’Eternel.
Que les arbres et les fleurs le louent yee, louons l’Eternel.
Que tous les humains le louent yee, louons l’Eternel.
Louons l’Eternel yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Que les idolâtres le louent yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Que les chrétiens le louent yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Dansez avec gloire pour le louer yee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Dansez avec gloire pour le louer yee, louons l’Eternel.
Dansez avec gloire pour le louer, louons l’Eternel.
Hɩmmm louez l’Eternel, louons l’Eternel yeee, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Tout ce qui respire, loue l’Eternel, louons l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Louez l’Eternel, louez l’Eternel, louez l’Eternel. (2 fois)
Kabiye transcription and translation to French was completed by Mawèdong Amana, checking of Kabiye orthography and French translation was done by Kpatcha Hemou and Essokilina Tchamie, English translation by Sarah Jane Capper. Groupe Mɛwɛ Tam Sɔɔlɩm members: Piwèlong Tamassi, Kézié Daniel Bataba, Toï Mèhèza Meba, Essokamhaou Pagana, Mamalinèwè Pekpissi.
The artists in these videos composed these songs by studying Psalms 6, 150 and 118 as well as Kabiye music and dance styles. They participated in a two-week workshop organized by SIL Togo-Benin in Kara, Togo in partnership with the master’s thesis research of Sarah Jane Capper for Dallas International University; the Association pour la Promotion des Saintes-Écritures en Kabiye (APSEK); and Scriptura.
Following is a back-translations of Wisdom 11:22 from a translation into Gbaya:
“Indeed, the earth — all of it — sits before you, like only little ɗik-ɗik dust that makes the kilo (scale) to shift, and like the morning-dew that drips onto the ground.”
Ɗik-ɗik is an ideophone that expresses something tiny. Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss):
Following is a back-translation from Gbaya of Wisdom 1:11:
“And quit complaining, restrain your lips lest you say a bad word so that a thoughtless word wouldnʼt fall to the ground and just be lying about mbulɛɛ [that is, and be picked up and used against you]. The lips of a liar kill the owner/the speaker.” (Source: Philip Noss)
In Nicholas King’s English translation of the New Testament (2004), the translator decided to use bullet point lists in some case in the Ephesians, Colossians, and Titus. “There are elaborate groups of nouns strung together, and the sentences are rather long. I have tried, not entirely successfully, to make these long sentences more manageable by the use of bullet points.” One such list is Ephesians 1:3-14:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly regions in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love,
the one who predestined us for adoption-as-sons through Jesus Christ to him, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace with which he graced us in the Beloved,
the one in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions according to the wealth of his grace, which overflowed to us, in all wisdom and understanding,
the one who revealed to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he proposed in him, for the plan for the fullness of times, recapitulating everything in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on earth,
in him in whom we have our lot cast, in accordance with the design of the one who carries out everything, according to the plan of his will, so that we should be for the praise of his glory, we who have been the first to hope in Christ,
in whom you also have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom you believe, and have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the [God’s] property, to the praise of his glory.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Malachi 4:6:
Kupsabiny: “He shall reconcile parents and their children so that I do not destroy your land when I come.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “And he will turn the hearts of the parents toward their children and the hearts of their children to their parents. And if this is not the case I will curse and destroy their land."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “He will-bring-back the good relationship of the parents and the children, so-that when I come I will- not -curse your (plur.) land.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And he will cause-to-be-at-peace the fathers with the children so-that I will not come to destroy your country.’” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “Because of what he preaches, parents and their children will love each other again. If that does not happen, I will come and curse your country and destroy it.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Malachi 3:14:
Kupsabiny: “You are saying, ‘It is of no use when we serve God. What do we get if we follow his laws and try to show the God of authority that we are sad and it pains us because of our sins?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “You say, ‘It has become meaningless to serve God. What benefit do we get by observing his rules and by acting like people in mourning before the LORD Almighty? ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) said, ‘(It is) useless to serve God. What do we (excl.) gain/[lit. get] if we (excl.) follow his what-are-to-be-obeyed by us (excl.)? And what do we (incl.) gain/[lit. get] if we (incl.) roam-around/[lit. walk-walk] mourning to show the LORD Almighty that we (incl.) are-repenting of our (incl.) sins?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “What you said was: ‘There-is-no use of our serving God. What then will be our reward in obeying the commands of God the Highest Ruler and repenting of our sins?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “I reply, ‘You have said, ‘It is useless for us to serve God. We have gained nothing by obeying the commands that he gave to us and by trying to show the Commander of the armies of angels that we are sorry for the sins that we have committed.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Malachi 3:15:
Kupsabiny: “But the rude people are in a good position, sinners are wealthy, and when they test God God does not do anything to them. ’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “From now on we will call the proud blessed. The evil doers get elevated. And on top of it, though they provoke God to anger, they will escape punishment.’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “We (incl.) can-say that the proud people/men (are) blessed. For in truth, they who do evil/bad prosper. And even-though they test the patience of God they are- not even -punished.’ ’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The truth of it is, now/today the life of those who are arrogant and are-doing evil is happy and nice/good. They are-testing God, but emphatically nothing bad happens to them.’ ’” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “From now on, we will say/consider that those who are proud are the ones whom God has blessed. We will say that because it seems that it is those who do evil who become rich, and that it is those who try to find out how many evil things they can do without God punishing them who are not punished.’’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
