-
Reading view
- Text size:
Bible text
Atlas
-
- Core Bible
-
Core Bible
Who would have thought that project that started 2004 as a one-man-translation now have 200+ volunteers in Sweden, became the first Expanded Bible translation into a non-English language and now on its way to more languages!
Here is my testimony and I hope this story can encourage you in your walk with the Lord.
Jonas and Lisa Bergsten.
I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, in a christian home. My mother read from the children’s Bible for me and my two brothers and I was fascinated by the Bible stories. I remember how, as a teenager, I often noted the structure of the Bible text, looked for patterns, and made notes in the margins where I numbered lists.
A book that greatly impacted my faith during high school years was Josh McDowell’s The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. I was amazed to read about the thousands of Greek manuscripts and the credibility of the Bible.
In elementary school, Swedish was my worst subject; my spelling was terrible. My essays came back more red than black. I stuttered, lisped and had a hard time speaking. And since my name Jonas ended with an “s”, I was exposed as a lisping person just by saying my name … This made me very quiet and working with language was out of the question! I earned a degree in civil engineering and worked as a Software Developer for 15 years.
The year 2000 was an eventful year. I married my beloved Lisa (in Sweden it is "Liselotte") and we moved to the U.S. We lived there for just over five years. I continued to work in the IT Industry at Texas Instruments in Dallas.
We were part of wonderful churches wherever we lived. At Gate City Church in Nashua, NH, there was prayer every morning and evening, 365 days a year—something that had a profound impact on us. In Oklahoma City the worship was amazing. In San Diego, we attended a church where the Bible was preached in a particularly vibrant way, drawing on the depth of the Greek and Hebrew.
During this time I read several English Bibles: One of them was the Amplified Bible. The Bible came alive, and I felt I understood so much more. Also, as a dyslectic, the layout with the parentheses in the text made the text easier to read.
I remember thinking that we need something like this in Swedish. However, God had to work on me, that I was supposed to do this enormous task. After all, I was not a language person and didn’t have the qualifications.
One day when I read the foreword to the Amplified Bible about the story of Frances who was the woman behind the project, God changed my heart. Her dedication and work on the translation—at a time when women didn’t have the same opportunities as men—moved me. For example, in order to earn her bachelor’s degree in 1913, she had to transfer her credits to a seminary that allowed women to graduate.
If a woman born in the 1800s dared to follow God’s calling, surely an IT guy in the 2000s should be able to do the same! I recalled the story with Moses when did't felt that he was qualified (Ex 4:10-12). And God answers "Now go, I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say."
Frances Siewert (1881–1967)
Finally, in 2004, I started translating Proverbs. The Hebrew is short and concise, and it is a good way to learn Hebrew. Then I continued more and more in my spare time. Lisa came up with the English name "Core Bible" that translates into "Kärnbibeln" in Swedish.
Lisa and I moved back to Sweden in 2006. I continued working as a Software Developer for our living and poured in all of my free time into the Swedish Core Bible Project.
Every year we took a step in faith and I took one more day for the translation. Eventually 2009, I was working two days a week in IT and spent all other time on the translation. I felt the calling to go in full-time, but I didn’t know how that would work!
2011 was a James 1:2 kind of year—“Rejoice when you face trials!” We where now living on bare minimum with a mortgage on the house. Not many people belived in the project. Three times I suffered a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) and was hospitalized and underwent surgeries, one of which went wrong and I almost died.
This made us realize the importance to follow God’s calling while you are alive!
We sold our house, downsized and moved to the countryside where we could rent a house owned by my wife’s brothers. Liselotte worked (and still works) in healthcare and supports us and the Bible project.
This year new doors opened. A Swedish Christian publisher (Sjobergs forlag) believed in the project. Three books with the biblical texts for the Swedish Liturgical year was printed, which helped get the project visibility. Many pastors and scholars liked the new expanded approach to translation and got involved in helping out.
In the spring of 2019 the New Testament was released. It was well received and had to be reprinted in three editions.
In the fall of 2021, we held the first Swedish Core Bible Conference, and as a result, an intercessory prayer team was formed that specifically prays for the ministry.
Shortly thereafter, we also took a step of faith and reinvested the revenue received through royalties for the Core Bible New Testament and hired a woman on a project basis to assist with the draft translation of the Old Testament for a period of one year.
The team continued to grow and today there are over 200 volunteers involved in the project. There are experts in different fields that helps out in their area of expertise.
In 2013, I spent three months in Israel—a time that was incredibly enriching, as I had the opportunity to visit and photograph biblical sites, meet with archaeologists, and study Hebrew. During the years we brought groups to visit the Biblical sites.
The fall of 2022 was spent in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt to finalize the translation on-site and also to gather more photos. By the spring of 2023, every verse had been translated into Swedish. Since Lisa works as a travel nurse, we were able to also spend the fall of 2024 following in Paul’s footsteps to gather more photos and videos for the digital Core Bible Atlas.
After 20 years, the full printed edition of the Swedish Core Bible was released. It's a 3136 page Bible in full color print with 900+ photos. This is actuallty first Expanded Bible translation in a non-English language!
Along the printed version is our own app and website with the first interlinear version, lexicon, bible Atlas and Person Gallery – all free to use!
From the start we had a generous Copyright Policy to make it easy to use the translation. Under the years, and espcially during our travels many started to ask for the translation into more languages.
A group of volunteers started working on a Norwegian version and there have come questions to get the translation into Spanish and Portuguese.
Lisa and I are now at the Lanier Theological Library where we currently are working on the English version of the Core Bible.
