Farsi Church Translation: Live Persian Sermon Captions That Read Right to Left

Who is Farsi sermon translation for?

Persian-speaking believers worship in many settings. Some attend an English-speaking church where they are one of a few Persian families. Some belong to a multilingual congregation where the sermon is preached in English, Chinese, Korean or Spanish. Others gather in a Persian-language fellowship and want English-speaking friends, spouses or children to follow along.

In every one of these rooms, the need is simple: understand the sermon in the language of the heart, in words that sound like church. A literal machine translation can miss that, especially with Bible terms and names. The sections below explain how Sermon Translate handles Farsi, and where its limits are.

How do right-to-left Farsi captions work?

Farsi captions are laid out right to left, so each line reads the way a Persian reader expects, not as an English layout with Persian letters dropped in. They are written in Persian script only.

Translation engines sometimes mix in Arabic letter forms that look almost identical but are not Persian. Sermon Translate converts those to the Persian ی and ک before the line is shown, so readers do not stumble on letters that look slightly wrong. A formal register is requested for every sermon line, which suits the pulpit.

The same right-to-left layout carries through to phones. When a church uses QR Code Join, Farsi captions on the listener's phone also read right to left, in large text.

Which Bible terms, book names and versions are used?

Church vocabulary follows the terms of the Persian Old Version Bible. A few examples:

When the preacher clearly names a passage or clearly quotes a known verse, a popup shows the verse in the reader's chosen version. Farsi readers can choose the Farsi Contemporary Bible (ترجمه تفسیری) or the Persian Old Version (POV). Vague allusions and paraphrases do not trigger a popup, and the app does not invent references. The bilingual Bible reader shows any passage side by side in two languages, such as Farsi and English, for a small group or a family reading together.

Can the preacher speak Farsi?

Yes. Farsi (Persian) is one of the 10 speaker languages, so a Persian-language fellowship can preach in Farsi and show captions in English for spouses, children or guests who read English best. English readers can choose NASB, KJV, NKJV, ESV or NIV for their verse popups.

Farsi captions work from other speaker languages too. A church preaching in Chinese can caption in Farsi for Persian-speaking members, as described on the Chinese to Farsi page, and the English to Farsi page covers the most common direction.

How can Persian speakers read on their own phones?

There are two ways, and the difference matters for cost and for privacy.

• QR Code Join ($10 a month on top of any paid plan): press Share with congregation and project the QR code. People scan it with the phone camera and read the live captions in the phone browser, with no account and no app. Each share gets a new private code, and scanning uses no extra translation hours.
• Their own account: a member opens Sermon Translate on their own phone and signs in. Each person needs their own account, and a subscription after the free 15-minute trial. This is also how someone keeps saved transcripts or AI sermon notes.

A shared projector or TV is the third option. The Subtitles screen shows up to 5 caption languages at once, so Farsi and English lines can share one screen, and nobody reading it needs an account.

How do you keep names and terms consistent in Farsi?

Names of pastors, members and ministries are the words a translation engine is most likely to get wrong, and a Persian name spelled a new way each week is distracting. The church glossary lets you add names of speakers, elders, deacons, ministries, places, hymn titles and doctrinal terms, with the required Farsi wording, and it is applied to every translation.

Custom vocabulary is listed as a Standard plan feature ($34 a month or $290 a year, 30 hours a month). Ask a Persian-speaking member to help write the Farsi entries, since they will know how your fellowship already says each name.

Honest limits for Farsi-speaking congregations

• Captions are text only, with no spoken audio. Listeners who prefer to hear the sermon may still be better served by a human interpreter.
• It needs internet on the translating device and on each phone. It does not work offline.
• Speed: in our recorded demo, words reached the caption in about 1.5 seconds, and translations typically followed 3 to 4 seconds after each sentence.
• Accuracy depends on audio quality, clear speech and unusual vocabulary, and sung lyrics produce fewer captions than speech.
• Machine translation can still miss nuance. Ask a Persian-speaking member to read a test sermon before you rely on it.

Next step

Use the free 15-minute trial with a recording of a recent sermon, set Farsi as the caption language, and ask a Persian-speaking member to read the captions and verse popups and tell you honestly how they read. The Persian church page and the pricing page will help you choose a plan.

Frequently asked questions

Do Farsi sermon captions display right to left?

Yes. Farsi captions are laid out right to left on the shared screen and on phones that join with the QR code.

Which Persian Bible versions are available?

Farsi readers can choose the Farsi Contemporary Bible (ترجمه تفسیری) or the Persian Old Version (POV) for verse popups.

Can a sermon preached in Farsi be translated into English?

Yes. Farsi is a speaker language, so a Persian-language service can show English captions for readers who prefer English.

Do Persian-speaking visitors need an account to read the captions?

Not if the church adds QR Code Join ($10 a month on a paid plan). Otherwise, each person using the app on their own phone needs their own account, while anyone can read a shared projector screen.

Try Sermon Translate at your next service

Start with a free 15-minute trial, no credit card needed. Plans start at $19.99 a month.