WASHINGTON (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 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.

Copyright 2016 by United Press International