English

More than 4,8 million South Africans speak English at home.

The first translation of the complete Bible into English is associated with the name of John Wycliffe. Wycliffe organised a group of 'poor priests' to live simply and give the message of Christ to the people in a way that they could understand. He soon came to realise that they must have a Bible in English. How much of the translation he did personally is uncertain, but with the help of Nicholas de Hereford and some others an English Bible was completed in 1383.

In 1535 the first printed English Bible appeared. The first edition of the Authorised/King James Version appeared in 1611. Other more recent English translations that the Bible Society of South Africa sells, include the Good News Bible (GNT), the Contemporary English Version (CEV); New International Version (NIV) and the English Standard Version (ESV).

The Bible Society of South Africa published a special translation for deaf people using English, the English Bible for the Deaf, in 2019. This very easy-to-read Bible was translated for deaf readers who use Sign Language and struggle to understand the words of other Bible translations that were formulated for hearing people.