The Bible is one of the most translated pieces of writing in human history, with no less than 531 different language translations as of November 2014.
An anonymous translator in tune with the times added another one to the list, translating the King James version of the Bible using Unicode-approved emoji and Internet abbreviations. The author, who chooses to remain mysterious, simply uses the "Smiling Face With Sunglasses" emoji to refer to himself.
The idea is that millennials might find the 21st-century emoji Bible more palatable than the classic version, as it is written in a "language" that they are more familiar and comfortable with. This is apparent from the title of the e-book, which is Bible Emoji: Scripture 4 Millenials (note the misspelling).
The user notes that he coded the translation software himself, and it took it six months to complete the work.
The Guardian contacted the translator and found out more about his reasons for making the translation.
"I thought if we fast forwarded 100 years in the future, an emoji bible would exist," he affirms.
Having the emoji Bible sooner than in the next century was a strong enough motivation to actually put it into practice.
"Shrinking the total character count" was one of the main concepts behind Bible Emoji. The book takes a leaf from the younger generations' use of social media and aims to communicate more, with less.
"A great and fun way to share the gospel. Explore all 66 books chronicling the stories of Abraham, Noah and Jesus like never before," the iTunes description reads.
Should you be curious on how the holy text is revamped, go to the Twitter account @BibleEmoji and read the excerpts for yourself.
As with any contemporary reinterpretation of holy texts, negative reactions were bound to happen. However, more open-minded individuals applauded the attempt to make the Bible palatable to a younger audience. A large number of Twitter followers provided insight and corrections to what could have been a misinterpretation of holy words.
Fun fact: a recent discovery shows that the original Bible texts were put on paper way earlier than previously believed. Read all about it in our coverage.
At the moment, Bible Emoji: Scripture 4 Millenials can only be enjoyed on iOS. The fact that each platform handles emoji in a different way caused the book to be limited to Apple users.
So, if the quirky Bible version spiked your interest, download Scripture 4 Millenials from the Apple App Store. It costs only $2.99.
