| BOOK OF MORMON. | BIBLE. |
| Therefore, O Lord, Thou hast forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob, because they replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the the Philistines, and they please themselves with the children of strangers.--II Nephi xii, 6. | Therefore hast Thou forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob, because they replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like unto the Philistines, and they please themselves with the children of strangers.--Isaiah 11, 6. |
| Their land is also full of idols--they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made; and the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not.--II Nephi xii, 8, 9. | Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made; and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself; therefore forgive him not.--Isaiah ii, 8, 9. |
| Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.--II Nephi xix, 3. | Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: the joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.--Isaiah ix, 3. |
Observe, too, the difference in the clearness of the following passages:
| BOOK OF MORMON. | BIBLE. |
| And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to hear from the II Nephi xviii, 19. | And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead.--Isaiah viii, 19. |
Again the English translators of the Bible, in order to make the sense of various passages more clear, inserted here and there, words of their own; which are always written in italics, that the reader might know what words have been inserted by the translator, and for which he will find no exact equivalent in the original text. It is worthy of note that in those transcribed passages from the brass plates into the Book of Mormon, in almost every instance, the words in the Book of Mormon version are different to those substituted by the translators of the common English version; or are left out, as follows:
| BOOK OF MORMON. | BIBLE. |
| What mean ye? ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.--II Nephi xiii, 15. | What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?--Isaiah iii, 15. |
The above is a case where the inserted word of the translator, which I have written in italics, is omitted, and to my mind the passage as it stands in the Book of Mormon is stronger, more beautiful, because more harmonious. Here is a passage where different words are used than those inserted by the translators:
| BOOK OF MORMON. | BIBLE. |
| Say unto the righteous, that it is well with them; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. | Say ye unto the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. |
| Woe unto the wicked! for they shall perish; for the reward of of their hands shall be upon them.--II Nephi xiii, 10, 11. | Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.--Isaiah iii, 10, 11. |
I think it will be readily conceded that the above passage as it stands in the Book of Mormon is much superior to the version given in our common Bible, indeed it is so throughout, and when it is remembered that Joseph Smith and those who assisted in translating that work were most likely uniformed as to the supplied words of the translators being written in italics, it is an incidental evidence that those passages in the Book of Mormon to which are found corresponding passages in the Bible were not merely copied from the Bible, but in the Book of Mormon we have really another translation of those passages taken from original records of the Hebrews, uncorrupted by the hand of man, and hence more perfect.
One suggestion more I would make to the readers of the Book of Mormon, and that is that they read it prayerfully, with a real desire to know if it is of God. If they will peruse it with that desire in their hearts, I am sanguine that the Spirit of God which searches all things, yea, the deep things of God, will bear witness to their understanding that the book is of divine origin, and they will have a witness from God of its truth. Such a promise, in fact, is contained within the book itself. When Moroni—into whose keeping the plates of the Book of Mormon were given—was closing up the sacred record previous to hiding it up unto the Lord until the time should come for it to be revealed as a witness for God, he engraved the following passage on the plates as words of counsel to those into whose hands the record should fall:
And when ye shall receive these things (i.e., the things written in the Book of Mormon) I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things (Moroni x, 4, 5).