Serbian Bible: Daničić–Karadžić (Cyrillic) DK

Individual translator
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew (not verified)
New Testament source: Textus Receptus
Protestant (66 books)
Formal (word for word)
1868
Public domain

At a glance

Language: Serbian
Tradition: Individual translator — The work of the language reformer Vuk Karadžić and the philologist Đura Daničić, outside the Church's sponsorship; the British and Foreign Bible Society bought and later reprinted Vuk's New Testament.
Church approval: No — Vuk's New Testament (1847) appeared without the Serbian Orthodox Church's approval and its import into Serbia was banned at the Metropolitanate's request (the ban later lapsed); the 1868 Bible was not used in services. Daničić's Old Testament met no comparable objection and is still in use; for services the Church uses its own Synodal New Testament of 1984, sometimes printed with Daničić's Old Testament.
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew — Hebrew canon and chapter divisions. Sources disagree on the working base of Daničić's translation: Naumow (2017) and Serbian Wikipedia say mainly German translations ('превасходно преведен са немачког'); an article in the weekly Vreme (vreme.com, 'Nanosnica lepe izabranice') says a Latin translation. SOURCE NOT VERIFIED.
New Testament source: Textus Receptus — Erasmus's Textus Receptus (Naumow); Vuk also used the Slavonic, Luther and Russian versions.
Canon: Protestant (66 books)
Style: Formal (word for word)
Year: New Testament (Vuk Karadžić) Vienna 1847; Daničić's Psalter 1864 and Pentateuch 1866; complete Bible 1868 (Old Testament dated 1865, 1867 or 1868 in different sources). Digital text: eBible.org srp1868, an ekavian edition.
Translators: Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (NT, 1847); Đura Daničić (OT)
Reading level: 19th-century literary Serbian; this digital edition uses the ekavian pronunciation (свет, грех), not Vuk's and Daničić's ijekavian (свијет, гријех).
Verse numbering: English (KJV-style)
Licence: Public domain — Karadžić died 1864, Daničić 1882. eBible: 'Public Domain' / 'Овај превод Библије је у јавном власништву'. The 1984 Synodal New Testament and later editions are separate, copyrighted works.
Text source: eBible.org (srp1868)

Notes

eBible.org's edition in the ekavian pronunciation (e.g. свет, грех); Karadžić and Daničić wrote in ijekavian (свијет, гријех).
No deuterocanonical books.
Chapter divisions follow the Hebrew Bible in Job 39–41, Ezekiel 20–21, Hosea 11–12 and Jonah 1–2 (verse numbers there differ from English Bibles).

About

The classic Serbian Bible: Vuk Karadžić's New Testament (1847) and Đura Daničić's Old Testament, published together in 1868. It shaped the modern Serbian language. Vuk's New Testament first appeared without the Serbian Orthodox Church's approval and the Church's services use its own 1984 New Testament, but the Daničić–Karadžić Bible is still widely read by Serbian Orthodox and Protestant Christians. This digital edition is in ekavian Serbian; it has no deuterocanonical books.

Strengths

Classic Serbian text
Public domain

Things to know

Not the Serbian Church's liturgical New Testament
Ekavian modernisation of an ijekavian original
Hebrew chapter divisions in Job 39–41, Ezekiel 20–21, Hosea 11–12, Jonah 1–2

Not yet verified

Whether the BFBS itself published the 1868 Bible: SOURCE NOT VERIFIED
Who first made the ekavian edition, and when: SOURCE NOT VERIFIED
Daničić's working base for the Old Testament (German, Latin or Hebrew; sources disagree): SOURCE NOT VERIFIED

Profile checked 2026-10-18.

Books in this edition (66 books)

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation

Not in this edition: Tobit, Judith, Esther (Greek), Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (4 Ezra), Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, Odes, Daniel (Greek)

Letters show which canons include a book: O Orthodox, C Catholic, P Protestant (in brackets: printed as Apocrypha or in an appendix).

Publisher's statement

Свето писмо или Библија Превод Даничић-Караџић
The Holy Bible in Serbian, Daničić-Karadžić translation, Cyrillic Alphabet
Public Domain
Language: српски (Serbian)
Овај превод Библије је у јавном власништву (није заштићен ауторским правима).
2026-01-03

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