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WATER
Will There Be
Enough? 3-13
Nothing is taken for
granted more often than
wateruntil, that is, the
water runs out. Learn why
this is already happening in
some parts of the world and
what can be done about it.
J A T MIDDAY every Thursday for the past At least two prom inent leaders in the region
thousand years, a unique tribunal has have said that w ater is the one issue that
sat in the Spanish city of Valencia. Its could lead them to declare war on a neigh
job is to resolve disputes over water. boring State.
L ocal farm ers in th e fertile V alencian In the semiarid countries o f the world, wa
plain depend on irrigation, and irrigation re ter has always aroused strong feelings. The
quires lots of waterwhich has always been reason is simple: W ater is vital to life. As
in short supply in this part of Spain. The Kofi Annan pointed out, fresh water is pre
farm ers can appeal to the w ater tribunal cious: we cannot live w ithout it. It is irre
whenever they feel th a t they are not get placeable: there are no su b stitu tes for it.
ting their fair share. Disputes over water are And it is sensitive: hum an activity has a pro
nothing new, but they are rarely resolved so found im pact on the quantity and quality of
equitably as in Valencia. fresh water available.
Nearly 4,000 years ago, a violent dispute Today as never before, both the quantity
erupted among shepherds about access to and quality of our planets fresh w ater are
a well n ear B eer-sheba in Israel. (G e n e under threat. We should not be misled by the
sis 21:25) And water problems in the Middle apparently abundant supply in some fortu
East have becom e m uch worse since then. nate parts of the world.
W H E R E W A T E R IS IN S H O R T S U P P L Y
W1 x*
IPi
:
W H E R E T H E F R E S H W A T E R IS
/4 w 3 /r e /( IS S N 0 0 0 5 - 2 3 7 X ) is p u b lis h e d s e m im o n t h ly by W a tc h to w e r B ib le a n d T ra c t S o c ie ty of N e w Y o rk , In c .; M . H . L a r s o n , P r e s id e n t; G. F. S im o n is ,
S e c r e ta r y - T r e a s u r e r ; 2 5 C o lu m b ia H e ig h ts , B r o o k ly n , N Y 1 1 2 0 1 - 2 4 8 3 . P e r io d ic a ls P o s ta g e P a id a t B r o o k ly n , N.Y., a n d a t a d d it i o n a l m a ilin g o ffic e s .
C h a n g e s o f a d d r e s s s h o u ld re a c h u s 3 0 d a y s b e fo re y o u r m o v in g d a te . G iv e u s y o u r o ld a n d n e w a d d r e s s ( if p o s s ib le , y o u r o ld a d d r e s s l a
P O S T M A S T E R : S e n d a d d r e s s c h a n g e s to Awake!, c / o W a tc h to w e r , W a llk ill, N Y 1 2 5 8 9 .
b e l).
V o l. 8 2 , N o . 1 2 P r in te d in U .S .A . 2 0 0 1 W a tc h T o w e r B ib le a n d T ra c t S o c ie ty of P e n n s y lv a n ia . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d . S e m im o n t h ly E N G L IS H
Would you w elcom e m ore inform ation? W rite W atch To w e r at the appropriate address.
Publication of Aw ake! is part of a w orldw ide Bible educational w o rk supported by volu nta ry donations.
S e m im o n th ly Languages A vailable by Mail: Offices o f the W a tch T o w e r S o c ie ty in s e le c te d c o u n trie s
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an ia n , N o rw e g ia n , Polish, P o rtu g u ese, R o m a n ian , R u ss ian , S e rb ia n , Slo
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v a k , S lo v e n ia n , S p a n i s h / S w a h ili, S w e d is h / Tagalog, U k ra in ia n , Z u lu Britain, T h e R id g e w a y , L o n d o n N W 7 1 R N
South Africa, P r iv a te B ag X 2 0 6 7 ,
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# A u d io c a s s e tte s a ls o a v a ila b le . S t. C a th e rin e A v o n d a le
IN C E there is little vegetation left to lying country that bears the b ru n t o f the
S hold the water, it rushes away almost monsoon waters that cascade down the de
as quickly as it falls from the sky. Two nuded hillsides o f India and Nepal. Some
m onths after the m onsoon rains have gone, years, two thirds of Bangladesh gets flood
water becomes scarce. Robin Clarke, in his ed. But once the floodwaters subside, the
book Water: The International Crisis, years Ganges River slows to a trickle, and the land
ago described Cherrapunji as the wettest becomes parched. Over 100 million people
desert on earth.* in Bangladesh face this cruel, yearly cycle o f
N ot far dow nstream from C herrapunji floods and drought. To make m atters worse,
lies Bangladesh, a densely populated, low- well water there has become contam inated
* See the article CherrapunjiOne of the Wettest Places with arsenic, which may have already poi
on Earth, in Awake! of May 8, 2001. soned millions of people.
HE last of the barrels with their valu schooled in that ancient tongue could under
able contents arrived in Slovenia in the stand church services and the Bible. Yet, the Re
late 1500s. For two years they had formers said that church services should be held
been in transport by various routes. To in a language understood by all. Therefore, by the
disguise their contents, the barrels had been la mid-1500s, some Bible passages were read in
beled playing cards" or store supplies." Con the local Slovenian language during church ser
cealed inside were leather-bound volumes of the vices. This was made possible because the Slo
first complete Bible in the Slovenian language. venian equivalent of certain texts was written in
the margins of the Latin missal, or Mass book,
The valuable consignment was the fulfillment
that was used by the clergy.
of the dream of two dedicated menJurij Dalma-
tin and Primoz Trubar, who devoted their lives to However, Trubar wanted to have the entire Bi
translating the Bible into the common language ble in Slovenian. Since there was as yet no Slo
of their people. While these men may not be fea venian alphabet, Trubar invented one, and in
tured in many history books, their names can be 1550 he wrote the first book printed in the Slove
added to the list of those who made a great con nian language. In it he included some Bible vers
tribution to early Bible translation. es from Genesis. Later, he also translated the
Dalmatin, the man responsible for the secret Psalms into Slovenian and eventually the entire
transport of the Bibles, had included one special New Testament, or Christian Greek Scriptures.
richly bound copy for Trubar, his friend and advis Yet, Trubar recognized that he did not possess
er. Let us consider the challenges these two men the language skills needed to carry out his am
faced in making the Bible available in the com bition to translate the entire Bible into Slove
mon tongue of their fellow countrymen. nian. In Jurij Dalmatin, a gifted young student, he
saw someone who could help him accomplish
The Making of a Translator his goal.
In the 16th century, the Holy Roman Em
pire, which was closely associated with the Ro Dalmatins Early Background
man Catholic Church, was still entrenched in Dalmatin, the son of a poor family, was born in
most of Europe. However, the Protestant Refor about 1547 in a village located in what is today
mation was well under way, and southern Slovenia. As a boy, he
the effects of the movement attended the local school run by
had filtered into the towns and an early convert to Protestant
villages of what is present-day ism, and this greatly influenced
Slovenia. Trubar, a local clergy his later religious inclinations.
man there, was among the first With the support of Trubar as
to adopt Protestant convictions. well as a schoolteacher and
Since Latin was the lan
guage of the Catholic Church,
only a privileged few who were
Primoz Trubar
14 All pictures except Tetragrammaton: Narodna in
univerzitetna knjiznica-SlovenijaLjubljana
the local parish, Dalmatin attended a religious Obstacles Along the Way
school and later went to a university in Germa Because the Slovenian alphabet had been in
ny. He thereby perfected his Latin and German, troduced only a few decades before, Dalmatin
learned Hebrew and Greek, and completed his faced a daunting task. Moreover, the vocabulary
studies in philosophy and theology. was small, and Slovenian reference books were
Although Dalmatin studied abroad, he was en nonexistent. Therefore, it required a great deal of
couraged by Trubar to value and cultivate his ingenuity to render the text into understandable
mother tongue, Slovenian. When Dalmatin was Slovenian.
attending university, while still in his 20s, he be The Counter Reformation movement also add
gan the monumental task of translating the Bible ed to the difficulties. Since the printer in Slovenia
into the language of his countrymen. Trubars fer was exiled, Bible printing had to be done on for
vent wish to have the complete Bible in Slovenian eign soil. This was why camouflage was need
now became Dalmatins main goal in life. ed when Bibles were shipped into the country.
Yet, despite the obstacles, Dalmatin achieved his
Translation Begins
goal in only ten years, apparently while he was
Plunging into the project with great enthusi still in his early 30s.
asm, Dalmatin began by translating the Hebrew
Under Dalmatins supervision the first printing
Scriptures. Apparently, he translated from the
of 1,500 copies of the Bible took place in seven
original languages but with close reference to
months. Many called the Bible a literary master
Martin Luthers German translation of the Latin
piece and a work of art, as it was beautifully illus
Vulgate. As for Trubar, by 1577 he had trans
trated with 222 woodcuts. Many of the original
lated the entire Christian Greek Scriptures into
Bibles are still in existence, and the translation
Slovenian, as mentioned previously. Dalmatin
has been used as a basis for modern-day ver
now corrected and improved Trubars text, once
sions of the Bible in Slovenian. The work of these
again relying heavily on Luthers German Bible
two men has contributed to the fact that today
translation. He eliminated many of Trubars Ger
Slovenians can read Gods Word in their mother
manisms and made the translation more uni
tongue.
form. Dalmatin may have used his knowledge of
Greek in his translation work, but scholars still
debate whether he consulted early Greek texts
or not.
Fynbos Region
(shown in green) F lo ra l Region
BY AWAKE!WRITER IN SOUTH AFRICA
Pincushion protea
National Parks Board of South Africa
A unique partnership exists between
erica flowers and the sunbird
A Watsonia
Kirstenbosch, Cape Town
WAS born into a large Catholic family on and Father were nowhere to be seen. W here
O U N G A ndrea is sure
Y th a t G od hears her
prayers. But not all youths
share that confidence. Some
feel too distant from G od
to approach him. They may
even w onder if G od cares
enough about them to make
prayer worthwhile.
W hat is th e secret o f Will God Hear My
prayer? Simply put, it is hav
ing a real friendship w ith
God. The psalm ist prayed:
Prayers?
Those knowing your name will trust in you. that end, consider ju st a few of the things
(Psalm 9:10) W hat about you? Do you know that the Bible teaches us about the Hearer of
G od well enough to tru s t him w ith your prayer.Psalm 65:2.
prayers? Before you read any further, please
try to answer the questions in the box entitled God Is a Real Person
How Well Do You Know God? How many First, the Bible helps us to appreciate that
can you answer? God is not some impersonal force. He is a
Are you able to answer at least some of the person with a name, Jehovah. (Psalm 83:18)
questions now, even before reading the rest In Hebrew that name means He Causes to
of the article? Then you already know more Become. He can become whatever he needs
about God than most people do. It may be, to be in order to accomplish his purpose. An
though, that your answers reveal a need to impersonal bundle o f energy could not do
take in more knowledge about him, to get that! So when you pray, you can be sure that
to know him more intimately. (John 17:3) To you are not talking to some abstract force or
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
What is Gods What does the What was Gods How can What should
name, and Bible reveal to greatest expres we enjoy properly be our
what does it be four main sion of love for friendship attitude when
mean? attributes of mankind? with God? we pray?
God?
Studying the Bible and learning from
creation will help you to know God better
nI
It Strengthened
HER FAITH
A woman in New York State, wrote
garding the 32-page brochure
Will There Ever Be a World Without War?:
I felt compelled to write to let you know
how much I appreciated and enjoyed it.
Although I am not Jewish and was raised
by a mother who was one of Jehovahs
Witnesses, I was never more moved by a
piece of literature in my life!
I hesitated to read it at first because
I felt that since it considered subjects
of special interest to the Jews, I would
have a hard time getting through it. i was
wrong. Everything was presented in such
a clear and logical way.
Certain peoples in history have cer
tainly experienced intense suffering.
That has been true of the Jews, espe
cially during the Holocaust of the last
century. We invite you to read Will There
Ever Be a World Without War? It consid
ers such topics as Why Does God Permit
Wickedness? Knowing the True God
What Does It Mean? and Who Will
Lead the Nations to Peace?