Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 4:2:
- Uma: “If for example Abraham became straight in God’s sight because of his good behavior, he could be high of heart [proud] about that. But there is no basis at all for Abraham to make his heart high before God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “If for example Ibrahim were considered straight by God because of his doing good, there would be a reason for Ibrahim to boast. But he could not boast in God’s sight.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “we know that the reason that God regarded him as righteous was not because he did not transgress what God wanted. For if he had no transgressions it would be true that he would have something to boast about. However, we know that Abraham transgressed just the same, and because of this, he really had nothing to boast about before God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “If for-example God counted him as righteous because of what he did, there would be something for him to boast-about, but the truth of it is that there is nothing that he could boast-about to God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “If it is that he has something good that he did and therefore God cleared his sins, then he can brag. But God knows that he is not able to brag.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Hopi : “For if Abraham was made right by works he was able to be puffed up. But he was not made right that way so he cannot say anything to God.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:35:
- Uma: “Who will separate us from the love of Kristus? Whether there’s difficulty or suffering, whether persecution or hunger or lack, whether there’s disaster, or if we should actually be killed, the love of Kristus for us does not let go.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Therefore we (dual) are assured that no matter what befalls/happens (connotation bad) to us (dual), Isa Almasi really loves us (dual). If we (dual) are in trouble/sorrows or in suffering/difficulties or in persecution, it does not mean that he no longer loves us (dual). Even if we (dual) lack food and clothing, even if we (dual) are in danger or even if we (dual) are killed, Almasi’s love for us (incl.) really does not move.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if that’s the case then there is nothing that can separate us from Christ; even though we are in great difficulty because of hardships and trouble and people harming us; even if we are in great difficulty because of hunger and we have no clothing; even if we are harmed and we are killed, that cannot remove our value in the breath of Christ.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “So what then is able to separate us from Cristo’s love? Can perhaps difficulty or worry or people’s hardshipping us? Can also hunger or lack of clothes or fearful happenings or even our being killed?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Now nothing can stop Christ from loving us. Even though we suffer, he loves us. Or if we live in sad circumstances. he loves us. Or if people persecute us, he loves us. Or if there isn’t anything to eat, he still loves us. Or if there are no clothes to wear, he loves us. Or if we live in danger, hated by the people, he loves us. Or if it is we must die, still he loves us.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “Therefore people can’t cause that Christ should not love us. It is certainly true that trouble can come to us, and we can be in agony of heart, and various things can bother us. And famine can come upon us, and clothing for us to wear be lacking. And we may have to go where it is dangerous to go, and they may kill some of us. That’s how we will suffer, but Christ will not loose his grip of us, but Christ will keep on loving us.”
- Hopi: “Christ loves us, and who can separate us from him? No one. We may suffer. We may be afraid of something. We may be persecuted. We may be hungry. We may lack clothing. We may be in danger. We may be killed by the sword. But in going through these things, we will not be separated from Christ.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:32:
- Uma: “Even his own Child he was not stingy with, he ordered him here to die in place of us all. So if-even his own Child he was not stingy with, certainly he will also give us every sort of thing.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “God did not hold back his Child/Son but he surrendered/yielded (him) to be killed for the good of us (incl.) all. If he could do that we (incl.) are assured that he will really give us (incl.) all we (incl.) need.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because even his son Jesus, He did not set his heart on (this word means He did not hold him back so as not to allow him to be used fo anything) but rather He sent him in order that he might let himself be killed as a substitute for us (incl.). If His kindness to us is like that, it’s not possible that He will not also give us everything that He promised us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Because even his own (lit. exact) Child, he didn’t protect him but rather he turned-him -over to be punished for us all. If God did that to his Child for us, is it perhaps possible that he won’t also give us all we need?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “God did not hold back from sending his Son to die for us. Thus we realize that all the words God said he would give us he will surely give.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Hopi: “For God was not stingy with his Son but he turned him over to death for all of us. And having done that, clearly he will give to us all things freely.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 3:24:
- Uma: “But God releases us from the punishment of our sins and he says we are straight [just] because of the redeeming of Kristus Yesus. All this is a gift [lit., a giving dry] of God to us because of his grace [white insides].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “But because of God’s love and pity/mercy to us (incl.), that is his love-gift to us (incl.), therefore our (incl.) sins are forgiven by him and we (incl.) are considered straight by him because we (incl.) trust Isa Almasi who redeems/frees us (incl.) from our (incl.) sin.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, only because of God’s favor to us (incl.), He will consider us righteous just the same as if we (incl.) had never done any wrong, because Jesus Christ has set us free.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But because of his grace/mercy to us that has no payment, he counts us as righteous by-means-of what Cristo Jesus has done to redeem us.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “It was pure grace that God cleared our sins. Because Jesus Christ paid for our sins.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Central Mazahua: “God is a good person. He just gives us that which we didn’t earn. God says we don’t any longer owe sin because Jesus Christ paid.”
- Hopi: “We through Jesus Christ have been set in the clear, and haven’t paid anything but have been made right through his mercy.”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “But God did men a favor and he sees as if they were straight all who have put their confidence in Jesus. And men are not asked anything for the price of this favor. They are seen as if they were straight just because of Jesus Christ since he is the one who redeemed them.” (Source for this and two above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 3:13:
- Uma: “‘Their words are dirty and shameful, Deceiving words appear on their lips.’ ‘Their words hurt the hearts of others, like the bite of a dalimoo’ [small poisonous snake].'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Their words are not good, like figuratively a grave not covered having a rotten odor. They always lie. Their words when they slander their companions are very venomous like a snake’s venom when it strikes, because their words really destroy.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “What they talk about is very ugly and filthy. It’s like the stink from a grave that has not been covered up. They are liars, and what they say is like the sting of a snake, because it causes their companion’s breath to be very painful (it hurts the feelings of their companions).” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Their mouths are like stinking graves, because the words they utter (lit. cause-to-come-out) are filthy. They use their words to deceive their fellows and what they say is destructive like the poison of a snake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “When people speak, it is like there has been opened up where a corpse is placed. Like this is the badness of the word they speak. All is lies they speak. Death accompanies their words, like a poisonous snake when it bites a person has poison where it bites.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Hopi: “Their throat is like an open grave. Dirty words come therefrom. By their tongue they deceive people. Their words are like the poison of rattlesnakes.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:15:
- Uma: “From that behavior of theirs we clearly know that there are commands from the Lord’s Law written in their heart. From their thinking also we know that there are laws in their heart, for they say in their hearts: ‘That action is wrong,’ or they say: ‘That action is good.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “It is seen by their deeds that they know in their livers as to what is said in the law of Musa. They know in their minds whether their deeds are good or bad. Sometimes they think that their deeds are bad and sometimes also they think that their deeds are good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “By means of their good works, we can tell that their breath teaches them what is commanded by the Law. They know in their minds what is good and what is bad to do. For there are times when they say that their behavior is good, and times when they say that it’s bad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Thus they show by what they do that the commands of the law are stored/put-away in their minds. Their minds also confirm that that is true, because their minds are the very-thing that tells them whether what they are doing is good or bad.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “By how they live it is apparent that they know in their thoughts the good which the law says to do. They know whether it is good or not good what they do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Central Mazahua: “Those who aren’t Jews, when they do good, it is seen that they know in their hearts what the law says. They know in their hearts when they do good, when they do bad. Their thoughts, sometimes they think, Why did I do bad? Sometimes they know that they did good.”
- Hopi: “For he who walks that way shows that he has a law in his heart. And he knows quickly when he has sinned. And he knows when he has done right.”
- Isthmus Zapotec: “In this way they show they already have the law in their hearts. All by themselves they realize what is right and their minds make them understand if they are erring or if they are doing right.”
- Central Tarahumara: “And they thus show that they obey well a commandment which is written like there in their hearts. And they know well in their own hearts that they are thus ordered, because they are accused by their own thoughts when they do evil. And they are not thus accused when they do good.” (Source for this and two above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:20:
- Uma: “For even though we cannot see the appearance of God, from the beginning of the making of the world it has been knowable/evident to men what God is like. For from all that he made, we see the bigness of his life [i.e., glory] and we also see his power that has no end. So there is no one who can say: ‘I didn’t know!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Since (the time) the world was created by God, it is clear to the people that God has power that doesn’t leave even if they cannot/didn’t happen-to-see his power and it is also clear to them that he is the true God even though they cannot see him. The people can understand about God and about his power by the various-things he has created. That’s why they cannot give excuses/excuse themselves for/because-of their deeds.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For as for God, even though He cannot be seen, beginning from His creation of the world, He is apparent just the same by means of all the things that he created by means of His very great power which has no end, and by means of what is called His being God. That’s why nobody can say they do not know whether there is a God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Because since-the-time when God created the world, it has been easy for people to understand concerning his godhood and his power which has no limit, even though he cannot be seen, because what he created can be seen. So they have absolutely no excuse for not knowing the truth.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “And now, no one sees God, but that which he made is what we see. From this it is apparent that God lives. When the world began to exist, then it was apparent that God lives and that he has his power forever. It isn’t possible then that people say that they do not know that God lives.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Isthmus Zapotec: “Even though we cannot see the power of God which shall never end, nor can we see what he is like, yet from the day the world was created it has been clearly seen who he is (or what he is like) because of all he has done. Therefore they cannot say they do not know.”
- Hopi: “For people understand clearly the things about God that are unseen. He alone is God and continually has power. And the people understand who he is and that he has power through the things here that are made. Since the time that the world was made they understood these things and therefore they have no way of escape.”
- Central Mazahua: “What God is and his power no one can see with their eyes. But they can know [in their thoughts] because it is seen in the things that God made since the world was made. Therefore when God will judge them they can’t say they didn’t know how he is.” (Source for this and two above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:9:
- Uma: “I work with a whole heart, doing the work that God has given me, announcing the Good News that speaks of his Child. And God knows the contents of my heart, he knows how I always mention you in my prayers.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “I am always asking God for/on behalf of you (pl.). God knows that this saying of mine (what I am saying) is true. I work for him wholeheartedly (lit. my liver entirely), I proclaim the good news about his Son/Child.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because of God I will do as much as I can so that I might spread the Good News about His son. And He is the one who knows that I am always praying to Him for you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “This God whom I am serving with all my ability in preaching the good news concerning his Child, he knows that in all my prayer-times I am praying for you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “And I put my heart into doing the work of God. I speak the good news about the Son of God. But God knows that when I pray to him I always mention you as I pray.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “I work for God with all my heart when I tell people about Christ. And he knows very well that I never don’t remember [I do remember] you when I talk to God.”
- Hopi: “I continually ask God for you. God himself knows that I am telling the truth. He is the one for whom I work from my heart. For him I should tell the people the good word about his Son.”
- Sayula Popoluca: “God knows that I always pray for you and I work with God with all my heart to go about telling God’s Son’s good news.” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
