georgian

Georgian, or Kartvelian, is spoken by over four million people, mainly in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Georgian is written in its own Georgian alphabet. Georgia became a Christian state in AD 326. The Scriptures were first translated into Georgian in the fifth century. The Georgian Orthodox Old Testament includes the deuterocanonical books in the Georgian Orthodox tradition such as 1-4 Maccabees. Most Georgian Christians belong to the ancient Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church, and there are also Orthodox Old Believers, Catholic and evangelical Protestant minorities.

The Georgian Orthodox Church produced a modern translation called the Patriachy edition in 1989. Georgia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) produced a Protestant Bible in modern Georgian in 2002.

Bible work is overseen by the Georgian Bible Society, who produce a modern Common Language edition. The Georgian Bible comes in Protestant and Orthodox editions.