August 2025 | LISLE, IL—InterVarsity Press (IVP) is excited to announce the signing of a contract with Terry M. Wildman for the First Nations Version of the Old Testament. This historic project will be a continuation of the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament (FNV) and the First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs, the newest translation that released in August 2025.
The FNV is a dynamic equivalence translation of Scripture that captures the simplicity, clarity, and beauty of Native storytellers in English, while remaining faithful to the original language of the Bible. The project was birthed out of a desire to provide an English Bible that connects, in a culturally sensitive way, to the traditional heart languages of the over six million English-speaking First Nations people of North America.
“Ever since we published the FNV New Testament in 2021, readers have been asking us when the FNV Old Testament will be coming along,” said Al Hsu, associate editorial director at IVP and the project editor for the FNV. “We’re thrilled that Psalms and Proverbs is the first installment to be released, and that the rest of the FNV Old Testament has been contracted to be released over the next decade. Terry and the FNV Translation Council are doing monumental work that will be a gift to the church for generations.”
The FNV Old Testament will be released in four phases over the next ten years. Genesis through Joshua will release in 2029, Judges through Esther in 2032, the Major and Minor Prophets in 2034, and the full FNV Bible of both the Old and New Testaments together in 2035.
“The FNV truly is a groundbreaking project, both in the scope of the translation work and in its profound ministry impact,” said IVP president and publisher Terumi Echols.
More than 100,000 copies of the FNV New Testament have been sold, and more than eight million people have looked up a New Testament chapter in the FNV translation at Bible.com.
Echols said, “We are grateful for the ways God called Terry to pursue this Bible translation. And we are especially thankful for the courage and faithfulness of Terry and the First Nations Version Translation Council to that call, one that has impacted countless lives with this fresh reading of the Christian Scriptures, of Creator’s Story.”
Much like the FNV New Testament and Psalms and Proverbs, the FNV Old Testament will be a collaboration with a translation council that consists of multiple Native North American elders, pastors, young adults, and men and women from different tribes and diverse geographic locations.
Casey Church, pastor of Good Medicine Way in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said, “The FNV is written for a particular time, place, and people—the indigenous people of North America. The First Nations Version is a Bible for us. With estimates that a mere 5 percent of indigenous people of North America have a relationship with Creator Sets Free (Jesus), it’s time for us to have a Bible translation of our own that speaks to our culture, our values, and our hearts through Creator’s Word.”
Wildman says that he is blessed to know that so many Native people are resonating with the FNV. Wildman adds that that it’s more than that: “We also consider the FNV a gift to non-native people.”
Matthew Schlimm, professor of Old Testament at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, attests to that. He said, “The First Nations Version is far and away the most creative Bible translation I’ve ever read. It’s an exciting alternative to the boring, stodgy renderings that have dominated the English market for centuries. All readers can open the FNV and experience old passages in new perspectives. Talk about it with your kids. Study it in churches and classrooms. Use it in worship. The Bible becomes alive!”
To learn more about the story behind the FNV, read this interview with Wildman.
Contact: Krista Clayton | kclayton@ivpress.com
