The New Testament was the first book printed in Icelandic. It was translated by Oddur Gottskálksson (whose father was Norwegian) and published in 1540 (text here[1]). Forty-four years later the whole Bible was printed in Icelandic thanks to Guðbrandur Þorláksson, a Protestant bishop at Hólar.
There was a 1841 translation that was revised in 1863, being compared with the Greek and Hebrew, and with the Norwegian, Danish, English, and French versions, by Professor (afterwards Bishop) Pétur Pétursson and Sigurdur Melsted. This edition (perhaps just the New Testament and Psalms) was edited by Eiríkr Magnusson. The 1863 edition was reprinted in 1866.
The current publisher of the Icelandic Bible is Hið íslenska Biblíufélag (The Icelandic Bible Society). The latest full translation was published in 2007.
| Translation | John 3:16 |
|---|---|
| Hið ísl. Biblíufélag (1981) | Því svo elskaði Guð heiminn, að hann gaf son sinn eingetinn, til þess að hver sem á hann trúir glatist ekki, heldur hafi eilíft líf. |
| Nýa testamenti og Sálmar Davís (1866) | Því svo elskaði Guð heiminn, að hann gaf sinn eingetinn Son, til þess að hver, sem á hann trúir, ekki glatist, heldur hafi eilift lif. |