Throughout its history, the Martyrs Mirror has been translated — from Dutch to German in 1749, from German to English in 1837 and 1886. Now another translation is in process. Since 2023, a committee of Plain Anabaptists has been translating the iconic book into contemporary English.

It is the “Martyrs Mirror for the new reader,” said James K. Nolt at a public meeting Aug. 4 at the Martindale Fellowship Center in Ephrata, Pa. Readers today need an appropriate translation to inspire, to point them to Christ Jesus and to see examples of faithful lives, he said.

The new edition is being translated directly from the 1685 Dutch edition. Translator Lydia Penner, who previously worked on Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, is working on the project, along with Robert Riall of the Old Order Amish.

The Martyrs Mirror tells the stories of 16th-century Anabaptist martyrs, as well as earlier Christian martyrs, in over 1,000 pages of dense text that may be daunting to modern readers. Its illustrations include depictions of executions and other scenes of faithful witness. Anabaptists have looked to this book for inspiration and identity.

Speakers at the Aug. 4 presentation drew parallels between previous generations of Anabaptists and contemporary situations.

In 1745, Mennonites in colonial America were concerned that their young people were too comfortable to understand the sacrifices of early Anabaptists. They were also concerned about war. So they undertook a German translation of the Martyrs Mirror from Dutch. The Ephrata Cloister first printed the book in 1749.

The important thing is that the church took responsibility for its young people in the 1740s, said Harold Kurtz, a member of the committee.

Today, Anabaptists are moving toward theology that’s more Protestant than Anabaptist, he said. Retranslating the Martyrs Mirror may help young people and others to establish and understand their religious identity.

“We want to make a translation that’s . . . reader-friendly for everybody [and] enticing for the young generation to pick that huge book up,” Kurtz said.

Edsel Burdge, research associate at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies and a member of the committee, talked about the Martyrs Mirror’s development. A direct ancestor is Het Offer des Heeren (The Sacrifice of the Lord), a small book from 1562. The 1685 Martyrs Mirror incorporated previous martyr books, ballads and letters by Dutch Anabaptists, as well as stories about the sufferings of the Swiss Brethren.

The new translation will include all the material from the 1685 edition and new footnotes about sources and corrections of errors. For example, previous editions state that Michael Sattler was executed on May 21, 1527, but the new edition will correct the date to May 20 in a footnote.

“Most, if not all, of Jan Luyken’s 140 prints will be used” in the new edition, according to a booklet describing the project. A committee member projected that translation may be completed by 2030, followed by publication in 2031 or 2032.

Other groups are translating the Martyrs Mirror into other languages, reported Dale Burkholder of Grace Press in Ephrata. In 2025, Frankenthal Mennonite Brethren Church in Germany published a three-volume translation into contemporary German.

Digital Manna, a conservative Anabaptist organization in Tennessee, is working on a Spanish translation. The group hopes to have the first volume completed by 2028.

Holdeman Mennonites (Church of God in Christ, Mennonite) in Canada are making a French translation. This will be helpful for French-speaking African countries and Haiti, as well as Canada and France, Burkholder said. The goal is to have one volume finished in 2027.

Some at the committee meeting shared their experiences of reading the Martyrs Mirror. A man from Virginia said he read 10 pages a day while serving a prison sentence. A visitor from Nova Scotia said he was inspired by the martyrs’ “eternal perspective” — material possessions did not weigh them down.

Committee member Amos Hoover, founder of the Muddy Creek Farm Library in Ephrata, quoted historian Leroy Beachy: “The Martyrs Mirror is a continuation of the Book of Acts.”

Donations toward the contemporary English translation of the Martyrs Mirror can be mailed to Grace Press in Ephrata. Copies of the German translation are also available from Grace Press.