Indonesian

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  • English
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Indonesian (language code: id; autonym: Bahasa Indonesia) is spoken by around 200 million people mainly in Indonesia. It is the official language of Indonesia since its Independence in 1945. It is actually a part of the Malay language family and the grammatical differences to the Malay spoken in Malaysia and other countries todays are minor, but the Malay language of Malaysia and Indonesia differ in certain aspects especially vocabulary since being split in different nation states. Therefore Indonesian needs to be considered as an independent language nowadays. For more information see Wikipedia:Indonesian language

Indonesian Bible translations

There are several Bible translations available in Indonesian that are recommandable.

Alkitab Versi Mudah Dibaca

The "Alkitab Versi Mudah Dibaca" (transl.: "The Easy-to-Read Bible") is a Translation that was based on the English Easy-to-Read-Version Bible translation. It uses very easy and shorts words and sentences.

It is freely available in the following ways:

Terjemahan Sederhana Indonesia

The "Terjemahan Sederhana Indonesia" (transl.: "Translation into Simple Indonesian") is a very recent bible translation that was published in 2017. It uses a very easy to read and simplified Indonesian. It is probably the closest to spoken Indonesian today.

It is freely available in the following ways:

  • Reading online:
  • Smartphone apps and software:
    • YouVersion smartphone app: Text of the whole Bible, no recordings. Can be downloaded and is then available for offline use. Select "Bahasa Indonesia" in the language selection and then select "Terjemajan Serhana Indonesia".
    • bible.is smartphone app: Text of the whole Bible, recordings of the New Testament. Select "Bahasa Indonesia" in the language selection and then select "Perjanjian Baru dalam Terjemahan Sederhana Indonesia ( Plain Indonesian Translation )".There are two versions available: One non-drama version and one drama version (with background music)
  • Audio Bible:

Kitab Suci Injil

The "Kitab Suci Injil" (transl.: "The Book of the Holy Gosples") is a translation published in 2000 of the new testament into religious Indonesian. The printed version has the old Greek version of the New Testament included on the left side and on the right side the Indonesian translation. It is a rather contextualized bible for Muslim peoples. It has a standalone App and can be accessed through the webpages as well.

It is freely available in the following ways:

  • Reading online:
  • Smartphone apps and software:
    • bible.is smartphone app: Text of the whole Bible, recordings of the New Testament. Select "Bahasa Indonesia" in the language selection and then select "Shellabear".There are two versions available: One non-drama version and one drama version (with background music)
    • Standalone Bible app "Kitab Suci Injil", works also offline: [2]
  • Audio Bible:

Other Bible translations

Alkitab Terjemahan Baru

The "Alkitab Terjemahan Baru" (transl.: "The Bible: New Translation") was the first fully published Protestant bible translation after the Indonesian independence in 1945. It was published in 1974. It uses very formal Indonesian and is therefore hard to understand for most Indonesians nowadays.

Jesus Film


Available training resources in Indonesian