This digitised version will be one of the many tools used to help produce a brand new translation, in more contemporary language for today's Te Reo Maori speakers.

"Translation of any significance takes time, and anecdotal evidence suggests that contemporary Maori usage is already considerably different from the language of the current Maori Bible," commented Dr Stephen Pattemore, the Bible Society's Translations Director.

"So we need to be pro-active."

A new mobile Paipera Tapu app is also currently in development and will feature the current Paipera Tapu text (2012) as well as English Bible translations.

It will be useful for people who want to read Te Reo Maori alongside an English text such as the Good News Bible.

The new app will be launched in early 2019.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Te Paipera Tapu.

While the first-ever Scriptures in Te Reo Maori were published in Sydney in 1827 by the New South Wales Bible Society, this was the first ever full Paipera Tapu.

But the journey of the Bible in Te Reo Maori didn't stop there.

This edition was followed by three further versions in 1889, 1925 and 1952, as well as a reformatted edition of the 1952 text which was published in 2012.

Then there was Taku Paipera, the only Maori Children's Bible storybook available, launched at the end of 2016.

Today Bible Society New Zealand has a number of Te Reo Maori resources available.

Their journey with Te Reo Maori continues in their mission of making the Bible accessible to everyone and encouraging interaction with it.

Source

Supplied: New Zealand Bible Society Nga Ringa Hapai i te Paipera Tapu ki Aotearoa

It is hoped the new translation will serve the next generation and be more accessible to young Maori second language speakers.

To date, the Gospel of Luke, two Epistles, Jonah, Genesis and Ruth have been completed in modern Te Reo Maori. It could take up to 12 years to complete the task.

Te Paipera Tapu was first published in 1868 with three further versions in 1889, 1925 and 1952.

The 1952 edition is the version most Maori communities and speakers have used for more than half a century.

In 2012 Bible Society published a reformatted edition of the 1952 text featuring paragraphs, macrons and punctuation to help readers understand the text.

However the current translation is very close to the King James Version," which in Bible-speak means it's quite formal language," said Brenda Crooks the Maori Bible Kaituitui Co-ordinator (Kaituitui means 'stitch together').

"The purpose of translating Scripture in the first place into mother tongues is to make it more accessible and to open up the treasure of scripture to all who want to seek it," she said.

"For Maori readers, we want to give them an informal translation that speaks to them in their own natural heart language,"

The project allows Crooks to combine the two passions of her life, Te Reo and the Bible.

She is one of only 5,000 people in New Zealand able to speak in the three official languages of New Zealand; Maori, English and Sign Language.

Maori is "the language of our country, it's beautiful, it's poetic and it's a window into this culture," said Crooks.

"There are things that can be expressed in Maori that can't be expressed in any other language."

Crooks said that even as a child she a desire to learn about Maori culture.

"I grew up on the West Coast of the South Island which is very European, so I believe my longing to learn about Maori culture was a God-given desire."

After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Maori Studies, Crooks joined Bible Society almost directly. She has been working on the Maori Bible ever since.

She spent 11 years modernising Te Paipera Tapu text with the addition of macrons, paragraphs and punctuation.

"When the current Maori translation was first printed in 1952, it didn't need macrons because there were native speakers. So marking the vowel length for today's readers is very helpful," she said.

More recently Crooks has worked on Taku Paipera, the first Maori Bible story book for children and Bible Society's first dedicated Maori Bible app.

The new translation of Te Paipera Tapu is now her main work.

Source

Supplied: New Zealand Bible Society