Several 19th-century sources quote the story that a translation from the Latin Vulgate was in existence in 1470 (it is said that the 16th-century Bishop Richard Davies claimed to have seen, as a boy, such a translation in a manuscript at Celydd Ifan, the house of an uncle;[1] and another writer asserts that part of this private manuscript survived until the nineteenth century[2]).

In 1551 William Salesbury was responsible for the publication of the first substantial portion of the Scriptures to appear in Welsh, entitled Kynniver llith a ban, which was a translation of the Gospels and Epistles appointed to be read in Church on Sundays and Holy-days.

(Full title: Kynniver llith a ban or yscrythur lan ac a ddarlleïr yr Eccleis pryd Commun y Sulieu a'r Gwylieu trwy'r vlwyddyn: o Cambericiat W.S.

1. c. 28), which instructed the Anglican Bishops in Wales and Hereford to arrange for the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer to be translated into Welsh.

The work was accomplished by Richard Davies, Bishop of St David's, his cantor Thomas Huet, and William Salesbury.

Salesbury's New Testament was followed by William Morgan's translation of the whole Bible in 1588, Y Beibl cyssegr-lan sef Yr Hen Destament, a'r Newydd.

After Morgan's death, Bishop Richard Parry and Dr John Davies continued the work with the aims of polishing the literary language, replacing forms considered too colloquial, and bringing the text into greater conformity with the King James Version of the English Bible of 1611.

It occupies a similar place in the Welsh language to that of the venerated King James Version in English.

This in turn contributed to the language's continued use as a means of everyday communication down to the present day, despite the pressure of English.

The edition of the William Morgan Bible used today uses the modern orthography (spelling), updated by Professor Henry Lewis (1889-1968).

Meanwhile, he worked on his dream of translating the psalms into the strict, traditional Welsh poetic style of cynghanedd, using a variety of metres.

He completed his version of the psalms on 24 January 1595 (now 1596) whilst anchored at the uninhabited island of Scutum (today called Isla Escudo de Veraguas), off the coast of Panama.

William Middleton's psalms were dedicated to his cousin Sir Thomas Myddelton who lived at Chirk Castle in Denbighshire.

In 1603 he had them published in London by the printer Samuel Stafford, as: Psalmæ y brenhinol brophvvyd Dafydh: gwedi i cynghanedhu mewn mesurau cymreig.

Walter Davies (1761-1849) was a Welsh poet, editor, translator, antiquary and Anglican clergyman, born in Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire.

He reprinted them as Psalmau Dafydd: wedi eu cyfansoddi ar amrywiol fesurau cerdd, gan Y Cabden William Middleton.

In 1603 he had them published in London by the printer Samuel Stafford, as: Rhann o Psalmae Dafydd Brophwyd - iuu canu ar ôl y dôn arferedig yn Eglwys Loegr.

[6] Kyffin's psalms were republished in 1930 by the University of Wales Press in Cardiff when it was entitled: Rhann o Psalmae Dafydd Brophwyd - I’w canu ar ol y don arferedig yn Eglwys Loegr.

Whilst he was Baptist pastor at Llandudno, Rev Lewis Valentine translated a selection of Psalms called Detholiad o'r Salmau, which was published by Gwasg Ilston in 1936.

Thomas Briscoe (1813-1895) translated Isaiah, Job, Psalms and Proverbs from Hebrew in Welsh, which were published between 1853 and 1855.

A project was started by the Theological Branch of the Guild of Graduates (alumni) of the University of Wales, to translate the Bible into modern Welsh.

[7][8] In 1990, a translation of the Gospel of Mark (Y Newyddion da yn ôl Marc) for use in schools was adapted from the New Welsh Bible by Edwin C.

{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) In 2005 an audio version of the BCND was produced by the Bible Society called "Y Llais".

The parts of Jesus Christ and Paul are played by two well-known professional actors - Richard Elfyn and Rhys Parry Jones - and other prominent Welsh voices also feature, including Lisabeth Miles.

On 25 June 2022 the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Welsh was released in digital form by the Jehovah's Witnesses, with a printed edition to follow in December 2022.