The Bible Society in Taiwan has launched a full chapter-by-chapter translation of the Bible into Taiwan Sign Language, following the completion of 70 biblical story videos.
The society announced that its translation team, established in 2024, completed 70 Old and New Testament story videos. The content has been distributed on USB flash drives for offline access and uploaded to YouTube to help churches, families, and deaf individuals engage with Scripture.
"Enabling every deaf person to read and understand the Bible in their own native language," has long been a guiding vision for the society's mother-tongue translation ministry, the organization said.
The initiative aligns with the society's core mission: "To place an affordable, understandable, and trustworthy Bible into the hands of every person."
For many deaf individuals in Taiwan, written Chinese is not their primary medium of communication; Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) is their true mother tongue. Translating Scripture into sign language requires more than converting written Chinese into gestures word-for-word. Translators must re-interpret biblical texts according to TSL grammar, syntax, and cultural idioms through extensive rounds of theological review, recording, and editing.
Sign language translation efforts in Taiwan span several years. A team previously completed a verse-by-verse TSL translation of the Gospel of Mark between 2015 and 2020, but staffing, equipment, and publishing limitations prevented its formal distribution at the time.
Building on the momentum of the story Bible project, the society officially began a verse-by-verse translation of the complete Old and New Testaments this year. Over the decades, the society has also produced mother-tongue translations in Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and various Indigenous languages.
Globally, sign language translation has become a major priority for Bible agencies. The Deaf Bible Society estimates there are approximately 70 million sign language users worldwide using more than 350 distinct sign languages, though only a small fraction have access to a complete Bible in their native sign language.
Taiwanese government data shows nearly 140,000 hearing-impaired individuals live in Taiwan. As public sectors expand digital accessibility, the Bible Society in Taiwan urged local churches to support deaf ministry through prayer, financial giving, and ministry resources to help more people encounter the Gospel.
