Timeless message.
Present-day language.
Bible21 translates the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Scriptures into the 21st-century Czech language.
Avoiding literalism on the one hand and a free paraphrase on the other, it strives to communicate clearly, yet faithfully, both the meaning and the literary style of the biblical writings. A team of evangelical translators and linguists, led by Alexandr Flek, dedicated 15 years to this translation. Since 2009, when it was first published, Bible21 has become widely popular among Czech churches and the general public.
Bible21 translators
Alexandr Flek
Chief translator of the Old and New Testament
Alexandr Flek, BA, MTh, was born in 1968 into an atheistic family. At the age of 18 he became a Christian, and since the Velvet Revolution he served as a pastor of a young congregation in Prague. After several years of a teaching and church-planting ministry, he responded to the challenge of creating a new Bible translation. Since 1994 he has been the Bible21 chief translator.
Alexandr obtained his first degree in theology in Uppsala, Sweden, and later completed the postgraduate Biblical Studies program at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague. He was particularly influenced by studying under two of the NIV translators, Dr. Roy Hayden and Dr. Martin Selman.
Jiří Hedánek
Translator of the Old Testament
Mgr. Jiří Hedánek, Ph.D., was born in 1956. After coming to faith in the 1970’s, he studied at an underground Roman Catholic seminary. Later, he graduated from Charles University in Prague, majoring in linguistics-phonetics and in translation theory. He also studied Hebrew and Aramaic at the Hussite Theological Seminary in Prague.
At the time of Communist oppression, Jiří Hedánek wrote an apologetic book called The Resurrection, which was published underground and became widely popular. After years of academic and professional experience, he joined the Bible21 project in 1999, first as an editor, then as a fellow translator of the Old Testament. His competence and his deep spirituality have been of great benefit to the Bible21 work.
Jiří Pavlík
Translator of the Deuterocanonical books
Doc. PhDr. Jiří Pavlík, Ph.D. was born in 1970. He studied theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty and Greek-Latin at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. He completed his doctoral studies in Classical Philology at the same institution in 2007. His areas of expertise include Ancient Greek literature, spirituality of Christian monasticism and the history of rhetoric and stylistics. Since 2007, he has been the Vice-Dean for Development at the Hussite Theological Faculty of Charles University where he teaches at the Department of Biblical and Judaic Studies. Among his various translated works are his published books Apophthegmata I, II, and III – Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers, and Theodoretos of Kyrros: Historia religiosa – The God-pleasing History of Syrian Monks.
From the beginning, we have supported the work on the Bible21 translation. Today we are dedicated to spreading the biblical message in Czech society.
In 2009, after fifteen years of work, we published the complete Bible21 for the first time. But our mission to bring the timeless message of the Bible to today's generation continues. In cooperation with the Biblion publishing house, we are preparing various editions of Bible21, as well as other quality spiritual literature. We organize lectures, presentations, and other cultural events. But most importantly, we continue to fund the work of Study Bible21.
Our work has always been based on small donations from regular contributors. We are not funded by any church or other organization; our partners are congregations and individuals who share the vision of spreading the Bible in a form that is understandable today. We would love to have you join us.
Luboš Kendra
Director of Administration
Testimonials
I rejoice that this long-awaited translation of the Bible is finally completed. It offers us a new opportunity to read the Scriptures in a fresh and surprisingly vivid language. This translation counts among the reasons why I see the Bible reading as a never ending adventure.
Pavel Hošek, ThD
Associate Professor of Religion,
Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University
While this translation strives for accuracy, it is at the same time readable, smooth, and fresh. It is written in a good Czech – which is still rather exceptional among our Bible versions. Simply and shortly, I would dare to say that Bible21 is currently the best Czech translation available.
PhDr. Josef Bartoň, ThD
Department of Biblical Studies,
Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University
I congratulate you on completion of your work. It is truly respectable.
Leo Pavlát, PhD
Director, Jewish Museum, Prague
This translation is a useful tool for a serious Bible study. At the same time, it is suitable for personal meditation, prayer, and sharing with other people, because its language is easy to understand. I believe that Bible21 will encourage both religious and secular readers to get acquainted with the Word of God.
ThDr. Pavel Černý, ThD
General Secretary,
Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic
The text is written in a smooth, perhaps even too contemporary, Czech. It is a very bold translation – especially in comparison to the older one. Without a doubt, it is going to be very beneficial.
Josef Vintr, PhD
Professor Emeritus,
Institute of Slavic Studies, University of Vienna
Bible21 has a potential to reach people who would otherwise not choose to read the Good Book. It is easy to understand for people of all age categories.
Daniel Raus
Journalist, Czech National Radio
The 21st Century Translation makes daily Bible reading a refreshing experience for a wide range of Christians, including myself. It is also a convenient missional translation, accessible in its form, yet uncompromising in its content.
Jiri Unger
president of the European Evangelical Alliance
All those who desire to bring the message of Christ to the Czech secular society need the 21st Century Translation. I love to read it myself, and proudly recommend it to everyone interested in the Bible. This is a contemporary translation for the upcoming generations.
Stanislav Bubik, No Boundaries Church
leader of a national network of churches
International media about Bible21
Contact us
Bible21 Foundation
Director of Administration