Translator-led AI for Christian publishing
Truth,
faithfully translated.
Lectio helps your team settle theological terms, prepare and protect Bible quotations, and guide AI with human-approved decisions — then carries those decisions through translation, review and publication.
7-day free trial·No credit card
Built from twenty years of ministry translation work·Word, InDesign & ODT·Keeps working offline
Human-led by design
Use AI without giving it the final say.
AI is a genuine gift for this work. It can draft in an afternoon what once took a season — time your translators can spend on the judgment only they can bring. But a published book is still your team’s responsibility, and a fluent draft can quietly choose the wrong sense of a theological term, re-translate a quoted verse, or carry a right decision into a paragraph that makes it wrong.
Lectio is built so your team gets that speed without losing the judgment. It asks first — about the terms, the verses, the rules — and the draft follows what your team decided.
Before drafting
Your team decides.
The brief, the terminology, the rules — and contested terms and Bible quotations go to a translator before a single sentence is drafted.
During drafting
AI drafts inside those decisions.
The model receives what your team approved — confirmed senses, rules, memory, the surrounding text. Saved Bible quotations bypass it entirely.
Before approval
Your team approves.
Translators refine the draft paragraph by paragraph, reviewers suggest without overwriting, and every confirmation records who made it and in which review step.
ចំណុចស្នូល៖ ចូរមានការឲ្យតម្លៃខ្ពស់ចំពោះព្រះបន្ទូលរបស់ព្រះជាម្ចាស់
តើលោកអ្នកជឿថា ការជួយកសាងក្រុមជំនុំដែលមានសុខភាពល្អ គឺជាការទទួលខុសត្រូវរបស់លោកអ្នកដែរឬទេ?
English source
We desire bad things. Jesus desires good things. And here’s the good news: God has granted Jesus his desires. What’s that? Our salvation and joy!
Khmer
AI draftយើងប្រាថ្នាចង់បានអ្វីៗដែលអាក្រក់។ ព្រះយេស៊ូវមានបំណងព្រះហឫទ័យចង់បានអ្វីៗដែលល្អ។ ហើយនេះគឺជាដំណឹងល្អ៖ ព្រះជាម្ចាស់បានប្រទានឲ្យព្រះយេស៊ូវនូវអ្វីដែលទ្រង់សព្វព្រះទ័យចង់បាន។ តើព្រះយេស៊ូវសព្វព្រះទ័យចង់បានអ្វី? នោះគឺសេចក្តីសង្គ្រោះ និងអំណររបស់យើង!
Local churches exist to display God's glory to the nations.
Why is there such a discrepancy between our doctrine and our practice?
Highlight any source phrase for an explanation, or any Khmer phrase for alternatives — without leaving your place in the document.
The workspace shows what shaped each draft — here, a confirmed glossary sense and a team spelling rule — and a person confirms every paragraph.
AI proposes. Your team decides. Lectio remembers.
How it works
How Lectio helps your team translate faithfully.
Scripture, terminology, and what your team learns from its own edits — three decisions, and what Lectio does at each.
Scripture
AI can help translate the book. It shouldn't rewrite the Bible you chose.
Christian books quote Scripture throughout, and in the target language those passages should come from the Bible translation your ministry chose — not from a fresh rendering generated inside an AI draft. Before drafting begins, Lectio brings the manuscript's identified Bible quotations into one guided review. Your team sees each passage in context and pastes the corresponding wording from its preferred target-language Bible. Once saved, that wording is protected: Lectio drafts the surrounding paragraph around it without translating, paraphrasing or improving it.
- Review the identified quotations in one place, instead of hunting through a finished draft
- Protect full verses and exact quoted fragments from AI rewriting
- Mark a paraphrase or non-quotation for ordinary translation when that's what it is
- Handles partial quotations and differing versification schemes
Your Bible supplies the Scripture. Lectio makes sure AI leaves it alone.
Matched in the source
Much like the author of Proverbs 23:26 says, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” Brothers and sisters, God wants your hearts.
Khmer, from your Bible
Saved wording is protected — AI drafts around it, never over it. Mark something as not a quotation and that span translates like any other sentence.
Terminology
A glossary can list two translations. It can't decide which one belongs here.
“Son of David” can describe a family relationship, or it can carry a messianic title. Both translations may be legitimate; only one fits a particular sentence. When a source term has more than one approved sense, Lectio flags the occurrence, recommends the sense that fits the surrounding text, and waits for the translator to confirm or change it. That approved decision then guides the draft — and the same term can resolve differently two pages later when the context changes.
- Per occurrence, not per project — the same word can resolve differently two pages apart
- Lectio recommends a likely sense; the translator confirms it, changes it, or types the exact form this occurrence needs
Choose the correct term before AI translates the sentence.
Segment 34 · English source
Blind Bartimaeus called out to the Son of David, and Jesus stopped.
Lectio read the sentence and selected the matching sense. Confirm this choice, or choose the other.
royal son of the line of King David
theological: royal messianic title of Davidic descent; NOT a biological son
a male child
general: a male biological child in a family or biographical context
Team learning
Stop making the same correction twice
Lectio remembers what it first drafted and what your team approved instead. When the same kind of correction appears repeatedly, it groups the examples and proposes the glossary entry or translation rule that could prevent it next time. Every proposal shows its evidence: the original wording, the human correction, how often the pattern appeared, and how confident it is.
- Nothing becomes team policy silently — a person accepts or dismisses every proposal
- Proposals arrive as glossary entries or rules you can read, edit and switch off
Your second book starts where the first one finished.
Your team replaced ឱ្យ with ឲ្យ in 14 segments
Same substitution every time, across three documents. Looks like a spelling preference worth writing down.
let him ask God
សូមឱ្យអ្នកនោះទូលសូមពីព្រះជាម្ចាស់
សូមឲ្យអ្នកនោះទូលសូមពីព្រះជាម្ចាស់
Proposed rule
Working as a team
A review experience that feels familiar.
If your team knows suggestion mode in Word or Google Docs, reviewing in Lectio will feel familiar — proposals in the text, someone responsible accepting them. Then Lectio does the part a document editor never did: it hands the work to the next person.
Suggesting mode, exactly as you'd expect
A reviewer's deletions strike through in red and their insertions underline in green. Whoever owns the next step accepts or rejects each one. Nothing they do overwrites the translation, so you can hand a chapter to a volunteer proofreader without worrying about what they might undo.
- If someone can suggest an edit in Google Docs, they can review in Lectio
- Comments anchor to the exact phrase — no more “paragraph 4, third line”
- Every version is kept, so you can always see who changed what
English source
Later in the prayer, Jesus is even more specific, praying that Christians…
Khmer
នៅបន្តិចទៀតក្នុងសេចក្ដីអធិស្ឋាននេះ ព្រះយេស៊ូវមានព្រះបន្ទូលកាន់តែជាក់លាក់ជាងនេះទៅទៀត ដោយព្រះអង្គបានអធិស្ឋានសុំទូលសូមឲ្យគ្រីស្ទបរិស័ទ
A suggesting step can propose but not overwrite. Every version is kept, so you can always see who changed what.
Hand work to the next person automatically
Build the steps your team actually runs — translate, review, edit, review again, proofread — and assign them once, at the project level. When a step finishes, the next one opens and the right person is told. Every document after the first routes itself.
- Several proofreaders or editors can work the same document at the same time
- A proofreader can be given the target text without the source, for a blind pass
- Each step controls what the person working on it can see, change and approve
Translation review finished 6 minutes ago. Lectio opened your step and emailed you.
- Bible Verse ReviewCompleteSopheak C.
- Pre-translationCompleteSopheak C.
- TranslationCompleteSopheak C.
- Translation ReviewCompleteDara M.
- EditingIn progressPhalla L.
- Apply Editor FeedbackDara M.
- ProofreadingRithy S.
- Proof ReviewSopheak C.
Assign the steps once at the project level. Lectio routes every later document through the same workflow.
Built for the work around translation
Keep the book, the workflow, and the team together.
Preserve the publication structure
Lectio works with the original Word, InDesign or ODT document structure, so styles, footnotes, tables, images and chapter organization stay connected to the translation. Long books can be divided into manageable parts without abandoning the publication file — including right-to-left scripts.
Keep working when the connection drops
Translators continue in the same workspace through unreliable connectivity, and their work syncs when the connection returns — no exporting the project into a second editor and importing it back.
Support a language more deeply than a dropdown
For languages that get limited support from mainstream tools, Lectio can add word breaking, spell checking, honorific handling, protected phrases and proper typography. Khmer has all of it today.
Loving your in-laws
Would you like to love your in-laws? Act like love does, and do not envy or boast.1
1 1 Corinthians 13:4.
محبة عائلة الزوج
هل تودين أن تحبي عائلة زوجكِ؟ سيري على نهج المحبة، ولا تحسدي ولا تتفاخري.1
1 كورنثوس الأولى ١٣:٤.
A specialized workspace, not a general localization platform
Built for a narrower job than a general CAT tool.
Trados, memoQ, Smartcat, Phrase, Lokalise and Redokun are capable tools, and they are often the better choice — for broad localization, established agency workflows, large connector ecosystems, or straightforward document translation.
Lectio is built for a different center of gravity: Christian books, curriculum, training and discipleship resources, where theological terminology, protected Bible quotations, accountable human review and the publication file itself are central.
Lectio is a strong fit when
- Theological terms must be settled deliberately rather than left inside an AI draft
- Your books quote Scripture throughout, and those quotations must use your chosen target-language Bible
- Translators, editors and proofreaders need defined, accountable responsibilities
- You want recurring corrections to become visible, reviewable team knowledge
- Connectivity is unreliable, or your language needs deeper support than a locale code
- The publication file matters as much as the translated text
Another tool may serve you better
Choose Trados or memoQ if you need a mature desktop CAT environment, broad interoperability and a plugin ecosystem, or your translators already have deep, established processes there.
Choose Smartcat, Phrase or Lokalise if you mainly localize software, websites, product interfaces or video, need a large connector ecosystem, or Christian publishing is a small slice of a bigger localization operation.
Choose Redokun if the whole problem is getting Word or InDesign documents translated and returned with their layout, and terminology governance isn't central.
Nathan Wells
Founder of Lectio · Missionary, translator & language-technology builder
Why Lectio exists
Built from real Christian translation work.
Nathan first arrived in Cambodia in 2003, immersed himself in Khmer, and spent his early years there in local discipleship ministry. Since 2006 his work has centered on helping Cambodian teams produce accurate, natural, well-edited resources in Khmer — translating, editing and publishing books and curriculum alongside Khmer translators, editors and pastors through ACTION Cambodia, and reaching millions of Cambodians each year through PlovPit, a Christ-centered Khmer publishing platform, and its social channels.
He also founded the Society for Better Books in Cambodia, building the tools Khmer publishing lacked: dictionaries, spelling and grammar resources, translation memories, word-breaking utilities, fonts and keyboards — made freely available to everyone working in the language.
Lectio grew directly out of that experience: important decisions disappearing between chapters, Bible quotations being retranslated instead of preserved, the same edits made again and again, and translation drifting apart from review and publication. And it stays in that lineage — Lectio is business as mission, a company that exists to support the work of Christian translation, not the other way around.
“AI can help a team draft faster. It should not make translators less responsible for what they publish.”
Features your team uses throughout a project.
Manuscript-level guidance
Every draft carries a brief written from the whole document — subject, audience, register — alongside your rules, the terminology your team approved, relevant memory, and the paragraphs on either side. Not just the sentence in front of you.
Two-pass AI review
An optional editing pass looks for meaning that shifted, terms that drifted from your glossary, and numbers that came out wrong — then re-checks each finding before it reaches an editor, so the list is worth reading.
Translation memory that matches on meaning
Memory is retrieved by semantic similarity, not only by matching characters, so useful prior work surfaces even when the new sentence says the same thing a different way. Import what you have as TMX or TBX, or build memory from documents you've already translated.
Ask about any phrase
Highlight a phrase in the source for an explanation of what it means. Highlight a rendering for alternatives. Both happen without leaving the paragraph you're working on — no second tab, no losing your place.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the AI make theological decisions?
- Lectio can recommend; it cannot approve. Your team defines the terminology, translation rules, Bible wording and document guidance. When a term has more than one legitimate sense, Lectio recommends the likely meaning and waits for a translator to confirm or change it. A person approves every translated paragraph and every proposed team rule.
- Is Lectio a Bible translation tool?
- No. Lectio is built for Christian books, curriculum, training and discipleship resources. Its Scripture workflow helps your team place wording from its chosen target-language Bible into those publications and protects it during AI-assisted translation — it is not a replacement for a dedicated Bible translation environment.
- Does Lectio provide or automatically insert Bible text?
- No. Your team pastes the wording from a Bible translation it is authorized to use. Lectio guides your team through the quotations in the manuscript, records the wording you approve, and keeps AI from rewriting that protected text.
- Does Lectio impose one denomination's vocabulary?
- No. Lectio does not supply a required glossary or Bible translation. Your organization defines the terminology, senses, Bible wording and rules appropriate to the project.
- We already have glossaries and translation memory.
- Bring them. Lectio imports TBX and TMX, and it can build a memory from documents you have already translated, so your first project starts with everything your team knows.
- Who can see our unpublished manuscripts?
- Only the people you put on the project. Work stays private to your team, glossaries and memory are shared only where you choose, and every segment carries a record of who confirmed it.
- Our translators aren't technical.
- Lectio is designed around familiar document and suggestion-mode patterns — if someone can use Word or Google Docs, the review experience will feel familiar. Each person sees the paragraph and review step assigned to them, not the complexity of a traditional CAT environment.
- Which languages do you support?
- 54 configured today, including Khmer, Vietnamese, Arabic, Urdu, Lao and Burmese, with right-to-left layout handled through export. The depth of language-specific tooling varies — Khmer is the deepest — and adding a language is straightforward, so if yours isn't on the list, ask.
- What does it cost?
- Plans start at $39/month for a solo translator and scale up to production teams, priced by included translation credits and seats — see the full plans. Every self-serve signup starts with a 7-day free trial with credits included, no credit card required.
Let AI help with the draft. Keep Scripture and judgment with your team.
Terminology drifts between chapters. The same correction gets made again and again. Translation memory remembers sentences, not the reasons behind them. Lectio makes your decisions stick.
7-day free trial·No credit card
Bring the glossaries and memory you already have — Lectio imports TBX and TMX.