Language-specific Insights

Poetic translation of Psalm 3:1-3

The following are two poetic translations of Psalm 3:1-3 produced in a workshop for translating the psalms so that they can be performed musically.

The first translation is in Meetto and the second in Kom.

Meetto:

1. Pwiya, enci thale eenani aka
 Lord, many are those (who are) my enemies

 Enci thale ankilupattha.
 Many are those who rise against me.

2. Ankuluma ari enci ni aneera
 Those who are against me are many and they say

 “Nluku awe khanonkavihera.”
 “His God will not help him.”

3. Nanso we Pwiya, thi we mwakiho aka,
 But you, Lord, it is you (who are) my shield/protection,

 Thi we utthapa waka, thi we ikuru caka.
 It is you (who are) my joy/glory, it is you who lifts my head.

Kom:

1. Mbàynì̶sɨ lali meyn a mɨ ibàm a Bôbo Fì̶yìnì dvî̶  kɨ tèyn.
 Many enemies have stood up behind me Lord.

 Ghelɨ awo abɨ-a jɨŋ meyn kàli mà nô sɨ idvì̶,
 Many bad people have surrounded me,

 Nà cho ’ àvɨ àkema.
 And are persecuting me.

2. Àŋena nɨn bê na, “Fì̶yìnì fì̶ nɨn gâmtì̶ wì ŋweyn.”
 They are saying that “God will not help him.”

3. Mɨtì wa ghɨ àbâ’ a mɨ atu a Bôbo,
 But you are an umbrella over me Lord,

 Ma wà ni meyn ma na ko ’nɨ-à.
 And you have made me to have honour.

 Wà lisi meyn ìwumi sɨ a mɨ atu.
 You have taken away shame from my head.

Source: June Dickie in The Bible Translator 2023, p. 192ff.

Lord's Prayer

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.

Source
 
 
The following is a back-translation from Noongar:

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 version of the Lord’s Prayer set to Tibetan music:

Source: gSungrab website

See also this commentary on the Lord’s Payer in Tibetan and English from the same website .
 
 
The following is a translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Afrikaans, Duruma, Makhuwa-Meetto, German, isiZulu, English, Japanese, Tharaka, isiXhosa, Portuguese, Swahili, xiTsonga, Setswana and Yoruba set to song.

From the Voices of Jubilation album, ℗ 2025 Wycliffe Bible Translators South Africa NPC. Used with permission.

Psalm 146 in Meetto

Following is a translation of Psalm 146 into song in Meetto, by the Meetto Psalms That Sing team. You can find the translation into English below the video.

1 Hallelujah!
 I praise the Lord with all my heart.
2 I praise the Lord with all my life.
 As long as I live, I will sing to the Lord.
3 Do not put your trust in rulers, for they are only human beings, who cannot save anyone.
4 They too die and return to the earth.
 On that very day, all the things they planned come to an end.
5 Blessed is the one who seeks help from the God of Jacob, the one who trusts in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
7 He gives justice to the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, and sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord raises up those who fall, the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners from afar, cares for widows and orphans, but destroys the plans of those who do evil.
10 The Lord rules all the time.
 You, Zion, your God, rule all generations.
 Hallelujah!

℗ 2025 Wycliffe Bible Translators South Africa NPC. Used with permission. Part of the Psalms that Sing project.