The Bible was translated into Manx by a committee of clergy from the Isle of Man under the direction of Bishop Mark Hildesley. The New Testament appeared in 1767, and the Old Testament (including 2 books of the Apocrypha) in 1772 and the whole Bible as one volume in 1775.
Of 20,000 people in the Isle of Man, few in Hildesley's day knew English. A Manx translation of the New Testament had been begun by his predecessor Thomas Wilson. Hildesley himself learned Manx well enough to conduct the church services in it, but not perfectly. John Kelly made for him a grammar and dictionary. At first, with the support of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Hildesley printed the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer, translated, under his direction, by the clergy of the diocese, as well as the Christian Monitor, John Lewis's Exposition of the Catechism, and Bishop Wilson's Form of Prayer for the use of the herring fishermen.
With further assistance, around 1766, Hildesley made arrangements for the translation of the Old Testament, dividing it into 24 parts. The names of the translators are given in Weeden Butler's Life of Bishop Hildesley. The work was given for final revision to Philip Moore and John Kelly. The first volume of the translation was completed on 2 July 1771; the second volume was ready for the press on 6 April 1772; and all was finished and transcribed in December of the same year, at the time of the bishop's death. The work was printed at Whitehaven under the title of: Yn Vible Cashcrick: ny, yn Chenn Chonaant. Veih ny chied ghlaraghyn, dy kiaralagh chyndaït ayns Gailck; ta shen dy ghra, chengey ny mayrey Ellan Vannin. It was published in 1773. The second edition of the Manx scriptures was published as one volume at Whitehaven in 1775.
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