Chapter Twenty-Four
Joseph Smith’s Revision of the King James Version Bible’s Isaiah Chapter 29
He attempted to use the Bible to deceive men by writing himself into prophecy.
“In the spring of 1831, Joseph Smith began what has come to be known as “The Inspired Translation of the Bible.” It was in large part not a translation at all. It was rather a revision of the King James Bible. The work was limited to those parts of the Bible upon which divine revelation had been received. During the Ohio and Missouri period he worked at short intervals. The heavy work of directing the affairs of a scattered church, the difficulties encountered in setting up the new economic and social ventures, and the untimely persecution heaped upon him, prevented this work from ever reaching completion.”151
The following chapter is a quote from the Bible used by the Reformed Mormon Church,
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, INSPIRED VERSION
,
(This writer has a difficult time even addressing it by this title! It is no more inspired than the story of Winnie the Pooh!!!)
Joseph Smith changed this chapter of Isaiah from what the King James Bible said in an apparent attempt to use his version of the Bible to deceive people into thinking he was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. This author has taken the liberty to highlight the majority of changes made by Smith so that readers might more easily distinguish his additions and alterations. Some segments of verses were omitted by Smith and will only be found by a careful comparison of the King James Bible and this quote, but it is the sections that were added that are the most disturbing. The reader should note that there are only twenty-four verses in Isaiah chapter twenty-nine in the Authorized King James Bible whereas there are thirty-two verses in Smith’s revision. No other English translation has thirty-two verses in this chapter of Isaiah.
Notice carefully the message between verses eleven through twenty-five. Almost every word has been changed, and most of the verses do not correlate in the slightest with what the King James Version says. Smith planted himself into the text in verses fourteen and seventeen among others. The reader who is familiar with Smith’s telling of how he came to be the translator of golden plates may realize how closely verses eleven through twenty-five retell his story. It should be obvious that Smith intended to use his version of the Bible to persuade prospective converts that he was the fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
Notice carefully the message between verses eleven through twenty-five. Almost every word has been changed, and most of the verses do not correlate in the slightest with what the King James Version says. Smith planted himself into the text in verses fourteen and seventeen among others. The reader who is familiar with Smith’s telling of how he came to be the translator of golden plates may realize how closely verses eleven through twenty-five retell his story. It should be obvious that Smith intended to use his version of the Bible to persuade prospective converts that he was the fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
“CHAPTER 29
God’s judgment -The sealed book.
WOE to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; for thus hath the Lord said unto me, It shall be unto Ariel;
3 That I the Lord will camp against her round about, and will lay siege against her with a mount, and I will raise forts against her.
4 And she shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and her speech shall be low out of the dust; and her voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and her speech shall whisper out ofthe dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of her strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 For they shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 Yea, it shall be unto them even as unto a hungry man who dreameth, and behold, he eateth, but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or like unto a thirsty man who dreameth, and behold, he drinketh, but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite. Yea, even so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion.
9 For, behold, all ye that do iniquity, stay yourselves, and wonder; for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall bedrunken, but not with wine; ye shall stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For, behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For, behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets, and your rulers; and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquities.
11 And it shall come to pass, that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book; and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.
12 And behold, the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.
13 Wherefore because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore, the book shall be kept from them.
14 But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust; and shall deliver these words unto another, but the words that are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book.
15 For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for, behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.
16 And the day cometh, that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the housetops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be, even unto the end of the earth.
17 Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it, save it be that three witnesses shall behold it by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.
18 And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said, that the words of the faithful should speak as it were from the dead.
19 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and woe be unto him that rejecteth the word of God.
20 But, behold, it shall come to pass, that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee.
21 And the learned shall say, Bring hither the book and I will read them; and now because of the glory of the world, and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot bring the book for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it.
22 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say, I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him, The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.
23 Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.
24 Wherefore, when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee, and obtained the witnesses which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up the book again, and hide it up unto me, that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read until I shall see fit in mine own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of men.
25 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men, save it be according to their faith.
26 And again it shall come to pass, that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him, Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people; yea, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise and learned shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.
27 And woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord. And their works are in the dark; and they say, Who seeth us and who knoweth us? And they also say, Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay.
28 But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of hosts, that I know all their works. For, shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
29 But behold, saith the Lord of hosts, I will show unto the children of men, that it is not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.
30 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book; and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness; and the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the Lord; and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
31 For, assuredly as the Lord liveth, they shall see that the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, and they that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught.
32 Therefore, thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; but when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”152
Not all Mormons accept this revision as inspired even though most accept Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. This leads the author to ask some important questions. If Smith had truly been a prophet of God, why do some Mormons not hold to his revisions of the Bible? Smith claimed it was God who told him what to change in his inspired version. Does that not make it God’s inspired message? Are these Mormons who do not hold to Smith’s version ignoring God’s inspired Word? That sounds awfully dangerous to this author! On the other hand, if this is not the inspired Word of God, which apparently many Mormons agree it is not by their rejection of it, then this version of God’s Word is evidence that Joseph Smith was a liar, not a prophet of God. God did not tell him to make these changes. In fact, the evidence examined in this volume indicates that God had never told Joseph Smith anything at all. Everything Smith claimed to be ‘from God’ is nothing more than his imagination! The entire Mormon Church and form of Mormon worship is based on the deceitful fantasies of a false prophet, . . . or the Mormon Church has rejected the inspired corrections of their foundational prophet. Either way, it appears that Mormons are storing up for themselves condemnation against the day when the Holy God judges every man.
Joseph Smith had no fear of God and a lack of respect for God’s Holy Word. His additions and revisions of the preceding chapter of the book of Isaiah evidence this. In the BkM, he took sections and verses from the Holy Bible and placed them into his fiction novel in an attempt to make his book look like another Bible. By his heretical fantasy he has misled millions of people who might otherwise have read the Bible and found the real truths of God’s Word. He would have done well to heed his own words found in 2 Nephi 28:15 in the BkM:
Joseph Smith had no fear of God and a lack of respect for God’s Holy Word. His additions and revisions of the preceding chapter of the book of Isaiah evidence this. In the BkM, he took sections and verses from the Holy Bible and placed them into his fiction novel in an attempt to make his book look like another Bible. By his heretical fantasy he has misled millions of people who might otherwise have read the Bible and found the real truths of God’s Word. He would have done well to heed his own words found in 2 Nephi 28:15 in the BkM:
“O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!” (Emphasis by this author.)
Smith might have spared himself certain condemnation had he not changed the words “author and proprietor” on the title page of the 1830 copy of the BkM to “translator” in all subsequent copies. He became one of the world’s biggest frauds with that one small act. Prior to that event he might have stood before God merely as the author of a fiction novel.
The entire foundation of the Mormon Church rests upon the BkM, which Joseph Smith claimed to be “ . . . the most correct of any book on earth, . . .”153 Readers must conclude that he meant to include the Bible in his indictment against all other books, which seems to be verified in 1 Nephi chapter thirteen. In that section Smith claimed, “ . . . there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.”154 One need only speak to a well-versed Mormon to discover their distrust of the Bible. Their beliefs that men have changed the Bible through the centuries, making it untrustworthy, set the corner stone for the need of the BkM. The claim to be the Restored Church grows from the idea that the Bible cannot be trusted while the BkM can. Now that we know the BkM to be a fairy tale written by Joseph Smith, what of his claims against the accuracy of the Bible? Just because Smith distrusted the Bible, set about to undermine its truths, plagiarized verses from it to adorn his fiction novel, and called it untrustworthy does not make it so. Just because men today, Mormon or others, believe the Bible to be untrustworthy, does not prove its fallacy. Unbelievers have always invented excuses to validate their decision to distrust God’s Holy Word, and it can be expected that they always will. Honest believers have always found God to be true to his Word. Chapter twenty-five will discuss the accuracy of the Bible, and chapter twenty-six will consider whether it will even matter on judgment day. Let’s consider some historical details that may cause those standing on the fence to reconsider their view about the accuracy of the Bible.
The entire foundation of the Mormon Church rests upon the BkM, which Joseph Smith claimed to be “ . . . the most correct of any book on earth, . . .”153 Readers must conclude that he meant to include the Bible in his indictment against all other books, which seems to be verified in 1 Nephi chapter thirteen. In that section Smith claimed, “ . . . there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.”154 One need only speak to a well-versed Mormon to discover their distrust of the Bible. Their beliefs that men have changed the Bible through the centuries, making it untrustworthy, set the corner stone for the need of the BkM. The claim to be the Restored Church grows from the idea that the Bible cannot be trusted while the BkM can. Now that we know the BkM to be a fairy tale written by Joseph Smith, what of his claims against the accuracy of the Bible? Just because Smith distrusted the Bible, set about to undermine its truths, plagiarized verses from it to adorn his fiction novel, and called it untrustworthy does not make it so. Just because men today, Mormon or others, believe the Bible to be untrustworthy, does not prove its fallacy. Unbelievers have always invented excuses to validate their decision to distrust God’s Holy Word, and it can be expected that they always will. Honest believers have always found God to be true to his Word. Chapter twenty-five will discuss the accuracy of the Bible, and chapter twenty-six will consider whether it will even matter on judgment day. Let’s consider some historical details that may cause those standing on the fence to reconsider their view about the accuracy of the Bible.
#151 Berrett, p. 100
#152
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, INSPIRED VERSION, CONTAINING THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, AN INSPIRED REVISION OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION BY JOSEPH SMITH, JR., (Independence, Mo., Herald Publishing House, 1974 Edition), pp. 699-701,(Highlighting added by this author to indicate those sections added or changed by Joseph Smith Jr.)
#153 Introduction to the BkM
#154 I Nephi 13:28, BkM
