Bhaibheri Dzvene MuChiShona Chanhasi

Bhaibheri Dzvene MuChiShona Chanhasi is the open edition of Biblica’s contemporary Bible in Shona, the language as it is spoken in Zimbabwe. Its English name is Open Shona Contemporary Bible, and it covers the whole of Scripture, Old and New Testaments. The copyright dates (2005 and 2018) tell you the text did not arrive finished: there was an earlier edition, then revision, and only then the form you read here.

Biblica is the organization behind the NIV, and its "Contemporary" editions bet on clarity. The translation works from the original texts, but the priority is a sentence that sounds natural in Shona and makes sense on first reading, rather than one that mirrors Hebrew or Greek word order.

It shines in daily reading, in reading aloud at church, and for anyone who grew up speaking Shona and wants to understand without strain. The honest limit is the flip side of that clarity: when a translation commits to one meaning, some ambiguities and wordplay in the original arrive already decided. For word-by-word study, keep a more literal version open alongside it.

It is here because Biblica released the text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0) through its open.bible project. Anyone may copy and share it, as long as Biblica is credited and derivative works keep the same license. The Biblica® trademark stays protected on its own terms, but the text itself has become common ground for Shona readers.