Ukrainian Bible Society- religious non-profit organization, established by representatives of different Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 denominations in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, who recognize the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 as the Word of God

Revelation

In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...

. It is a member of the international association of United Bible Societies

United Bible Societies

The United Bible Societies is a worldwide association of Bible societies. In 1946 delegates from 13 countries formed the UBS, as an effort to coordinate the activities of the bible societies. The first headquarters were London and in Geneva...

, which currently involves 145 national institutions of similar kind.

The main task of the Ukrainian Bible Society is to translate, publish and distribute the Bible and its portions.

The Bible Society in Ukraine began its work in 1815 as a network of several affiliates to the Russian Bible Society. After a long period of Soviet regime restrictions, the Ukrainian Bible Society was created in 1991. Among its founders were the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church

Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine

Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine aka All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists '; ; is a union of Baptists in Ukraine. It is the largest protestant union in Ukraine.-History:...

, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...

, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate

Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate is one of the three major Orthodox churches in Ukraine, alongside the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church...

, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

. Later they were joined by the Lutheran Church, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is one of the three major Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. Close to ten percent of the Christian population claim to be members of the UAOC. The other Churches are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Russophile Orthodox...

, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...

, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine.

Yakov Dukhonchenko was the first President of the Ukrainian Bible Society since 1991. Hrihoriy Comendant is carrying out the President responsibilities at present time (since 2007).

The Organization has four branches in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 (Central branch), Kherson

Kherson

Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...

 (Southern branch), Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...

 (Eastern branch) and Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

 (Western branch). There is also a special department for Bible translation into modern Ukrainian language led by Father Rafail Turkoniak.

Activities

The Ukrainian Bible Society is the initiator and active supporter of the official celebration of the Bible Day since 2004, when the Bible Day was celebrated for the first time in Ukraine. In all countries of the world, the Bible Day is celebrated on the last week-end of October.

In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of the Bible and 159,626 copies of the New Testament.

The new edition of the Ukrainian Bible translation by Ivan Khomenko with corrections introduced by a special work group was presented at the Ukrainian Catholic University

Ukrainian Catholic University

The Ukrainian Catholic University is a Catholic university in Lviv, Ukraine, affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The ceremonial inauguration honoring its founding took place on June 29, 2002...

 in October, 2007. This new edition had, by some estimations, an ecumenical

Ecumenism

Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...

 character and included particular contributions of Catholics and Protestants.

In 2008 the Ukrainian Bible Society launched a new project for the Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, one of the most numerous national communities in Ukraine. The assistance in obtaining Bibles in Bulgarian language for the project was provided by the United Bible Societies. According to project plans, the Bibles will be presented to national cultural centers, libraries, educational institutions, religious institutions and many individual Bulgarians wishing to read the Bible in their native language.

The cornerstone of a new building of UBS named "Bible House" was laid on Baumana Street in Kiev in March, 2008.

Bible translation into Ukrainian

The known history of the Bible translation into Ukrainian began in 16th century with Peresopnytsia Gospels, which included only four Gospels of the New Testament. Later in 17-19th centuries, when the Ukrainian territory was a part of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

, several other translations were made secretly because of the Russian Government restrictions on Ukrainian language.

At present there are several translations of Holy Scripture into Ukrainian:

• 1903 Panteleimon Kulish translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад Куліша).
• 1957 Ivan Khomenko translation; (Переклад Хоменка) Rome. Translation by Catholic priest, including deuterocanonicals.
• 1942, 1962 Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko)
  Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko)
  Metropolitan Ilarion was a Ukrainian Orthodox cleric, linguist, church historian, and historian of Ukrainian culture. In 1940 he was Archimandrite of the St...
  
   translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад І. Огієнка) Commissioned by the UBS. Used by most Protestant churches in Ukraine today.
• Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)
  Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)
  Patriarch Filaret is the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate , former Metropolitan bishop of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret (secular name in Ukrainian Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko, in Russian Mikhail Antonovich Denisenko, officially His Holiness, the Patriarch of...
  
  translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад Філарета)
• 1997 Rafail Turkoniak translation (Ukrainian: переклад Турконяка). United Bible Societies. New Testament 1997, Old Testament in process.

New Testament only:

• 1906 Pylyp Morachevskyi (1806–1879) (Євангеліє в перекладах Пилипа Морачевського) translation of the New Testament;
• 1971 G. Derkach New Testament (Ukrainian: Переклад Г. Деркача)
• 1989 Ukrainian Catholic University New Testament
• 2005 New World Translation (Ukrainian: Переклад нового світу). Jehovah's Witnesses, Watchtower.