American Bible Society HQ

In 1816, American Bible Society was founded in New York City as a Christian organization committed to distributing Scripture and engaging people with God’s Word—both in the United States and across the globe. That mission has remained unchanged throughout more than 200 years of ministry. Serving alongside the whole of the Christian Church, American Bible Society remains dedicated to its founding purpose, with a mission to "make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so all people may experience its life-changing message".

To achieve our mission, American Bible Society translates the Bible, distributes the Bible, engages people with the Bible, restores lives through the Bible, and advocates for the Bible’s message of hope here in America and everywhere in the world. We serve alongside expressions of the local church on a global scale, partnering with Bible Societies in more than 240 countries and territories. Since our founding, we have distributed nearly 7 billion Scriptures to people worldwide.

American Bible Society has more than a 200-year track record of service to the Church—innovating and convening Christian leaders to achieve its mission of seeing all people engaging with the life-changing message of God’s Word. Today, American Bible Society remains a leader in digital innovation, having helped launch the Digital Bible Library, an online digital asset and licensing management platform for Scripture in all languages. Additionally, American Bible Society has relaunched an historic convening body called the National Church Advisory Council which is comprised of key, interconfessional church leaders to develop resources and tools to advance Scripture Engagement in the U.S. Church and beyond.

For more than 200 years, we’ve been committed to our mission of making the Bible available to everyone so they can discover the love of Christ through its life-changing message. Since our founding, we have distributed nearly 7 billion Scriptures to people worldwide.

Before people can experience the Bible, it needs to be available in their heart language. We are committed to translating God’s Word into every living language by 2033. To accomplish this goal, we work with translation partners in 62 countries, currently supporting 182 language projects. We provide technical resources like translation software, translator training, and program design expertise, ensuring that field teams have everything they need to complete their work.

Once the Bible is available, people need to be able to access it. Through distribution, we make Bible ownership and daily Scripture engagement a reality for people separated from God’s Word by barriers like poverty or persecution. We bring God’s hope to entire nations through massive initiatives like Bibles for China or 1 Million Bibles for Latin America. In addition to traditional printing and digital formats, we promote visual and audio versions of Scripture like the JESUS film and initiate Bible listening groups meeting in more than 40 countries.