Four Future Tenses

Pastor Magesa baptizing new believers

 The Jita language has four different future tenses. The tenses reflect how far into the future the speaker expects something to happen, as well as the level of certainty of the anticipated event. So when we come to John 1:32-33, the Jita translation uses two different future tenses.

Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”

This is a difficult verse to translate for multiple reasons. John is talking about what happened in the past, referring to something even further in the past, and in that distant past he received a message about a future event which will then trigger a subsequent future event.

The Jita translation of these verses uses two different future tenses to clearly communicate the timing of the future events, as well as the certainty of those events. It is such a glorious truth that when Jita people repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus for salvation, they will definitely be baptized with the Holy Spirit and become united to the body of Christ, the Church. 

Please pray for us as we translate God's Word into the Jita language. Pray that we will make it clear, accurate, and natural, and pray that people will be transformed by the Word of God.