The Lord is no longer my shepherd. He is instead a stockman, and he carries a spear and a long stick rather than a rod and staff.

It has been almost 30 years in the making, but 100 Australian linguists and translators have finally finished translating the Bible into an Aboriginal language. They have also agreed upon modifications to Biblical scenarios so that they can be better understood by an ancient, nomadic people raised in barren deserts.

The Anglican Church unveiled the Aboriginal Bible in the Northern Territory town of Katherine this week. It intends an initial distribution of 30,000 copies to remote communities.

Peter Carroll, a linguist who worked on the translation, said the phrase “to love God with all one’s heart” was a special challenge. He said: “The Aboriginal people use a different part of the body to express emotions. They have a word that is, broadly translated, ‘insides’. So to love God with all your heart was to want God with all your insides.”

Margaret Mickan, another linguist who has been working on the translation since 1984, said: “If you want to get to the deep things of life and talk about meaningful things, about your beliefs and those sorts of things, then you need it in your own language. What has meaning is something that really touches and speaks to you in your own language.”

With 210 Aboriginal languages to chose from, organisers of the project settled on Kriol, a pidgin language spread across northern Australia by stockmen in the cattle industry and now used widely.

Those working on the project needed to check constantly with far-flung communities that their interpretations of language and Biblical concepts were correct – and they were often surprised to find that their offerings had vastly different meanings from what they had intended.

In the book of John, for example, an early draft had translated into Kriol the words “Whoever believes in me will not perish.” But when asked the meaning of perish, Aboriginal people said that to them the word meant thirsty.

Ms Mickan said: “Out in the desert, they’d think ‘oh, I am perishing for water’, or ‘I am really thirsty’. That was their understanding.” So the phrase was replaced with “Whoever believes in me will not die”.

Ms Mickan added: “It sometimes sounds as if Kriol words are English words, but often they have a different meaning and so we’ve had to be careful.”

In Kriol Christians are known as Christianmob, while the Bible is known as Biabul-buk. Religion is simply referred to as lo, as in law.

Saam 23 (with English translation below)

Yawei, yu jis laik det brabli gudwan stakman. Yu oldei maindimbat mi, an ai garram ebrijing bron yu. Ai kaan wandim mowa.

Yu lukafumbat mi jis laik det stakmen weya im deigim im ship olabat blanga abum spel langa kwaitwan pleis garram bigmob gras en springwoda.

Ebridei yu miegim mi jidan strongbala. Yu shoum mi det raitwei blanga bulurrum dumaji ai trastim yu neim blanga dum wanim yubin pramis.

Nomeda if ai go thru langa brabli dakbala pleis weya enijing gin meigim mi dai bat stil ai kaan bradin dumaji yu iya garram mi olataim. Yu garram yu spiya en yu longwan stik blanga lukafta mi.

Yaweh, you are the best stockman. You care for me continually, and everything I have comes from you. I can’t want more.

You care for me just like the stockman who takes his sheep to rest in a quiet place with lots of grass and spring water.

Every day you make me strong. You show me the way to go because I trust your name to do what you have promised.

Even if I go through a very dark place where anything could kill me, but I am not frightened because you are always with me. You have your spear and long stick to always protect me.

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