Why this page exists — and does not yet do anything
The Hymnal is currently published in English only. Every hymn — cover, lyric, and title — is in the language of the household that authored it. This page holds open the door for a future season in which the same hymns can be sung with brothers and sisters in Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and the other tongues named below.
That season has not begun. There are two disciplines that must arrive first:
- Lyrical licensing. The original devotional lyrics — not KJV verbatim — must be released, hymn by hymn, under a licence that permits translation. That is a slow, careful conversation with the household author.
- A human-translator pipeline. No machine-only translation of a hymn will ever appear here. When a language opens, it opens because a Christian translator has walked a hymn through their own tongue.
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Revelation 5:9
The nineteen languages considered
The list below is the household's early consideration, in no particular order. It is neither a promise nor a schedule — it is a memory of the tongues the household has been asked about, or would like to open the door toward.
Status
future-phase
Reason requires lyrical licensing + translation pipeline
What will not be done
- No machine-translated hymn will appear here. A hymn is a prayer; a prayer must be spoken in a real voice.
- No KJV verse will be re-translated on this site. Scripture citations remain in KJV English on every language surface — the household does not attempt to replace another tongue's Bible with our own.
- No auto-detected user language will trigger a redirect. When a translated hymn exists, the reader will choose it deliberately.
What is in the data seam today
The seam is a single JSON file at _data/hymnal/i18n.json. It carries the nineteen language codes, the status future-phase, and the reason above. Nothing else. When a language is ready, the same file will gain a per-hymn per-language mapping — and the runtime will pick it up without any change to templates or navigation.
Whom to write to
If you translate hymns for a Christian household, or you know a translator who does — Coptic, Konkani, Aramaic, Māori, any tongue that God has given voice to — write kindly to the Connect page. The household reads every letter.
“There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.” 1 Corinthians 14:10
Twenty preview cards — the tongues we would like to open the door toward.
Each card below is a small memory of a tradition — a sentence about how Christ has already been sung in that language, and one King James Psalm we might anchor the first hymn to. No translation is produced here. When a language opens, it will open because a Christian translator has walked a hymn through their own tongue, one line at a time.
English
en
The King James English of the mother house — plainspoken, rhythmic, made for congregational singing.
KJV anchor Psalm 119:105
Español
es
Warmth of Iberian and Latin American worship — long melismas, strong congregational refrain, guitar and voice.
KJV anchor Salmo 27:1 · Psalm 27:1
Français
fr
The French Reformed and Catholic traditions — restrained, luminous, close to the psalm text.
KJV anchor Psaume 23 · Psalm 23
العربية
ar
Byzantine and Coptic modal chant — antiphonal, ancient, sung across the Christian East.
KJV anchor مزمور ٩٠ · Psalm 90
Deutsch
de
The Lutheran chorale — four-part harmony, stern beauty, catechetical depth.
KJV anchor Psalm 46
中文
zh
Chinese Christian worship — simple, memorable, often sung in intergenerational homes.
KJV anchor 詩篇 121 · Psalm 121
हिन्दी
hi
North Indian bhajan-shape sung to Christ — call and response, harmonium, tabla.
KJV anchor भजन 34 · Psalm 34
Português
pt
Brazilian and Lusophone worship — samba-adjacent rhythm, joyful percussion, KJV-parallel lyrics.
KJV anchor Salmo 100 · Psalm 100
Русский
ru
Slavonic and Russian Orthodox chant — deep voices, slow arcs, the octoechos tradition.
KJV anchor Псалом 50 · Psalm 51
Kiswahili
sw
East African congregational worship — dancing, drums, close harmony, KJV citation preserved.
KJV anchor Zaburi 63 · Psalm 63
한국어
ko
Korean Presbyterian worship — early-morning prayer meetings, sturdy melody, ardent congregational singing.
KJV anchor 시편 116 · Psalm 116
Italiano
it
Italian sacred song — plainchant heritage, tender melody, Franciscan simplicity.
KJV anchor Salmo 8 · Psalm 8
Nederlands
nl
Dutch Reformed psalmody — the Genevan Psalter tradition, unaccompanied congregational singing.
KJV anchor Psalm 42
日本語
ja
Japanese Christian hymnody — restrained melody, careful diction, small-congregation intimacy.
KJV anchor 詩篇 62 · Psalm 62
Türkçe
tr
Turkish Protestant worship — modest, honest, sung in small gathered houses across Anatolia.
KJV anchor Mezmur 4 · Psalm 4
Polski
pl
Polish Catholic and Lutheran singing — strong marian tradition, robust congregational voice, deep Christmas cycle.
KJV anchor Psalm 91
Bahasa Indonesia
id
Indonesian church music — Batak choral tradition, close harmony, tropical liturgical warmth.
KJV anchor Mazmur 133 · Psalm 133
Tiếng Việt
vi
Vietnamese Catholic and Protestant worship — folk-inflected melody, small-band accompaniment, plain diction.
KJV anchor Thánh Vịnh 121 · Psalm 121
עברית
he
Messianic Hebrew worship — the psalter in its original tongue, sung as prayer for Christ's return.
KJV anchor תהלים 130 · Psalm 130
Ελληνικά
el
Greek Orthodox chanted hymnody — the byzantine tones, sung in the language of the New Testament.
KJV anchor Ψαλμός 51 · Psalm 51
These are not translations. They are preview cards, held open until a translator is ready. The data seam _data/hymnal/i18n.json carries the same nineteen language codes.
Until then, we sing in English, and we save a chair.