WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- A new translation of the Bible updates the religious text with modern technology, replacing several words with emojis.

The digital text titled "Bible Emoji: Scripture 4 Millenials" uses Apple's vast library of emoticons to retell all 66 books of the Bible in a way intended to relate to young people.


In addition to the ebook, the "Bible Emoji" website also allows users to produce their own translations by typing a Bible verse into a text box and having it converted to emoji.

The translator behind the project, who would only identify him- or herself with the cool-dude-with-sunglasses emoji, told the Guardian that the inspiration for the project came from the idea of a futuristic Bible written within the constraints of social media outlets like Twitter.

"I thought if we fast-forwarded 100 years in the future, an emoji Bible would exist," the translator said. "I wanted to make it similar to how you might text or tweet a Bible verse, by shrinking the total character count."

The translator said he began tweeting the verses as a "public proofread" to gauge people's interest in the emoji Bible.

Bible Emoji is available on iTunes for $2.99, but the translator stated he was not able to develop versions for Android and Amazon ebook platforms as they do not recognize Apple's emojis.