Sign 24 – The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ is Published

Year:1830

Scriptures:

Stick of Ephraim

Ezekiel 37:16-20

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

18 ¶ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 ¶ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.(George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955-1961] 6: 110)

“The Prophet Ezekiel is commanded to take one stick and write upon it, ‘For Judah,’ and another and write upon it, ‘For Joseph,’ and join them together; and, when asked for the meaning of this symbolical act, he was to say: ‘Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. * * * Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel.’ (Ezek. 37:15 Ezek. 37:19 Ezek. 37:15-28)

“The prophet here predicts the final union of the ‘whole house of Israel’—Judah and Ephraim— and the establishment of the everlasting covenant of peace, and says this restoration is to be preceded by the joining together of the records of the two divisions of the people. The Old Testament is the record of Judah. It came to us through the efforts of the Jews. The Book of Mormon is, more particularly, the record of Israel. In the coming forth of the Book of Mormon the prediction is fulfilled.” (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955-1961] 4:291)

“Now, my friends, you may go to work, with all your Christian benevolent societies, to gather the Jews from the nations; you may combine all the wisdom and learning of Christendom, and put all the funds they can rake and scrape together from the two hemispheres of the earth, and after all, you never can accomplish the gathering and restitution of Israel until the Lord does it in his own way, by uniting the records of Judah and Joseph to accomplish this work. Then, and not till then, will the house of Jacob rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, and no more be ashamed.” (Orson Pratt, JD 2:291)

Translation

“…[T]he Prophet and Oliver continued their translation and writing of the plates. However, as Joseph Fielding Smith indicates below, the final work of the translation did not take place at Harmony, Pennsylvania.

“It was not destined that the work of translation should go on in Harmony, without interruption. Opposition finally made itself manifest and became so strong that even Isaac Hale—a man who believed in justice, law and order, but who did not express much faith in the mission of Joseph Smith—became somewhat bitter in his feelings. The necessity of a change of residence was apparent. Oliver Cowdery wrote to a young friend, David Whitmer of Fayette, New York, with whom he had previously corresponded regarding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, desiring that he would come and take Joseph and himself to the Whitmer home in Fayette. This David Whitmer consented to do, and the removal was made in June, 1829.

“When David was on the journey to Harmony on this mission, he was met some distance from the town of Harmony by Joseph and Oliver. In referring to this circumstance some years later, David Whitmer wrote: ‘Oliver told me that Joseph had informed him when I started from home, where I stopped the first night, how I read the sign at the tavern, where I stopped the next night, etc., and that I would be there that day for dinner, and this is why they had come out to meet me. All of which was exactly as Joseph had told Oliver, at which I was greatly astonished.’ (Millennial Star, 40:769-74; also quoted by Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History, pp. 59-60)

“The translation was finally completed at the Whitmer farm in Fayette, New York. Concerning the actual date of the completion of the translation, Francis Kirkham has written: 'It appears that the entire copy might have been prepared before the printing began for the reason that the original copy would be kept at a separate place to guard against loss or destruction. In any event, one month to six or seven weeks would be no more than sufficient time to prepare the manuscript, arrange for, and actually begin the printing which, from the evidence presented below, began in August, 1829.”

“The conclusion is this: The translation and writing of the Book of Mormon commenced April 7, 1829, at page sixteen or a little before and were completed about July 1, 1829…..

'The evidence appears complete, that the printing of the Book of Mormon began in August, 1829, and was completed not later than March 26, 1830, at the printing press of E. B. Grandin at Palmyra, New York.

“From the above sources, it is clear that the Book of Mormon was dictated by Joseph Smith in the relatively short period of seventy-five working days.'” (Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976] 31)

Publishing

“Two major goals of each published edition of the Book of Mormon have been (1) to faithfully reproduce the text; and (2) to make the text accessible to the reader. The goal of textual accuracy has led later editors to earlier editions and, when available, to the original and printer's manuscripts…. The goal of accessibility has led to some modernization and standardization of the text itself and the addition of reader's helps (introductory material, versification, footnotes, chapter summaries, dates, pronunciation guides, and indexes).

“Four editions were published during Joseph Smith's lifetime:

1. 1830: 5,000 copies; published by E. B. Grandin in Palmyra, New York. In general, the first edition is a faithful copy of the printer's manuscript (although on one occasion the original manuscript rather than the printer's was used for typesetting). For the most part, this edition reproduces what the compositor, John H. Gilbert, considered grammatical ‘errors.’ Gilbert added punctuation and determined the paragraphing for the first edition…. The testimonies of the Three and the Eight Witnesses were placed at the end of the book. In this and all other early editions, there is no versification.

2. 1837: Either 3,000 or 5,000 copies; published by Parley P. Pratt and John Goodson, Kirtland, Ohio. For this edition, hundreds of grammatical changes and a few emendations were made in the text. The 1830 edition and the printer's manuscript were used as the basis for this edition.
3. 1840: 2,000 copies; published for Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith (by Shepard and Stearns, Cincinnati, Ohio), Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith compared the printed text with the original manuscript and discovered a number of errors made in copying the printer's manuscript from the original. Thus the 1840 edition restores some of the readings of the original manuscript.

4. 1841: 4,050 copies (5,000 contracted); published for Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Parley P. Pratt (by J. Tompkins, Liverpool, England). This first European edition was printed with the permission of Joseph Smith; it is essentially a reprinting of the 1837 edition with British spellings.

“Two additional British editions, one in 1849 (edited by Orson Pratt) and the other in 1852 (edited by Franklin D. Richards), show minor editing of the text. In the 1852 edition, Richards added numbers to the paragraphs to aid in finding passages, thereby creating the first-although primitiveversification for the Book of Mormon.

“Three other important LDS editions have involved major changes in format as well as minor editing:

1. 1879: Edited by Orson Pratt. Major changes in the format of the text included division of the long chapters in the original text, a true versification system (which has been followed in all subsequent LDS editions), and footnotes (mostly scriptural references).

2. 1920: Edited by James E. Talmage. Further changes in format included introductory material, double columns, chapter summaries, and new footnotes. Some of the minor editing found in this edition appeared earlier in the 1905 and 1911 editions, also under the editorship of Talmage. 
3. 1981: Edited by a committee headed by members of the Quorum of the Twelve. This edition is a major reworking of the 1920 edition: The text appears again in double columns, but new introductory material, chapter summaries, and footnotes are provided. About twenty significant textual errors that had entered the printer's manuscript are corrected by reference to the original manuscript. Other corrections were made from comparison with the printer's manuscript and the 1840 Nauvoo edition.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 volumes, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow [New York:7Macmillan, 1992] 151)

2013 Edition of the Book of Mormon

“After nearly eight years of work, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released in digital formats an updated edition of its English-language scriptures and study aids.

“The last update to the Church’s English scriptures—the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—was completed in 1981. The improvements made for that edition, including the addition of extensive study helps in each book of scripture, were significant and crowned 10 years of work.

'The current edition of the scriptures, with its extensive study helps, will continue to serve Latter-day Saints very well.'

“The 2013 edition includes revisions to study aids, new photos, updated maps, and adjustments to chapter and section headings.

“Online and mobile versions of the new edition are available now at scriptures.lds.org. Annotations that readers have made in their Gospel Library accounts will automatically transfer to the new digital scriptures.

“The Church plans to release printed copies of the new edition beginning in August 2013. Because the new edition maintains the pagination and font style of the earlier edition, most members will notice little if any difference. For example, all the verses found on page 47 of the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon will be found on page 47 of the new edition. This consistency allows members to continue using the 1981 edition.

“'The current edition of the scriptures, with its extensive study helps, will continue to serve Latter-day Saints very well' said Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 'This new edition incorporates adjustments that will be a blessing to Church members in years to come, but members should not feel that they need to purchase a new set of scriptures, particularly since all of the adjustments are available in digital formats at no cost. Changes to the scriptural text include spelling, minor typographical, and punctuation corrections.'” (Church Releases New Edition of English Scriptures in Digital Formats. See lds.org.)

News Release — 18 April 2011

Book of Mormon Reaches Another Milestone: 150 Million and Counting

Salt Lake City —

As The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grows, so does the publishing of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The 150 millionth copy of the Book of Mormon was recently printed, passing another milestone in the book’s 181-year history.

“The Lord brought forth the Book of Mormon at a period of time when printing methods would enhance its distribution far and wide,” Church President Thomas S. Monson said in the Special Witnesses of Christ video (2000). “Modern-day printing presses now enable the Church to print and distribute many millions of copies of the Book of Mormon each year.”

To date, the Book of Mormon has been fully translated into 82 languages and partially translated in 25 more. A full-time missionary force of more than 52,000 helps distribute free copies of the Book of Mormon worldwide, and free copies can also be obtained from Mormon.org.

The Book of Mormon was first published in English in 1830 in Palmyra, New York. This book has been described as the “keystone” of the Church, and from the beginning, Church members have accepted it as scripture alongside the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price and the Bible.

The Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible as scripture for members of the Church. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are used side by side in their preaching and personal study. In fact, a recent study found that Latter-day Saints score high among religious groups in their knowledge of the Bible.

In 2003, Book magazine named the Book of Mormon one of the “20 Books That Changed America.” In October 2007, late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley described its modern influence: “Through all of these years critics have tried to explain it. They have spoken against it. They have ridiculed it. But it has outlived them all, and its influence today is greater than at any time in its history.” (Read what individual Church members say about the Book of Mormon.)

In addition to the 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon in print, the Church also makes the volume available on its official website in a format that facilitates a study of the book and in applications for handheld devices. (News Article published 18 April 2011 in lds.org)

Purposes and Contents

“The Book of Mormon, as its modern subtitle states, stands with the Bible as ‘Another Testament of Jesus Christ.’ Its main purposes are summarized on its title page: to show the remnants of the Book of Mormon people what great things God did for their forefathers, to make known the covenants of the Lord, and to convince ‘Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.’ The central event in the Book of Mormon is the appearance of the resurrected Christ to righteous inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere after his ascension into heaven at Jerusalem. During his visit, Christ delivered a sermon that is similar to the Sermon on the Mount recorded in the New Testament, but with certain vital clarifications and additions. He declared his doctrine, the fulness of his gospel necessary to enter the kingdom of God; and he established his Church with its essential ordinances, and ordained disciples to preside over the Church. At this time, Christ also explained the promises of God to Israel; healed the sick and disabled; blessed the children and their parents; and expressed his great love, allowing each individual to come forward and touch the wounds he had received during his crucifixion. The record of Jesus´ visit and many other passages in the Book of Mormon verify the divine sonship, ministry, Atonement, resurrection, and eternal status of the Lord Jesus Christ and show that the fulness of his gospel is the same for all people, whenever and wherever they have lived.

“The ancestors of these people to whom Jesus appeared had been in the Western Hemisphere for about 600 years. The Book of Mormon opens with the family of Lehi in Jerusalem at the time of the biblical prophet Jeremiah. Lehi was warned by God about 600 B.C. to take his family and flee Jerusalem before it was destroyed by Babylon.686 The account, written by Lehi´s son Nephi 1, first tells of his family´s departure from Jerusalem and of his dangerous return to the city with his brothers to obtain sacred records that contained their lineage, the five books of Moses, and a history of the Jews and writings of prophets down to Jeremiah´s time.

“The group traveled in the wilderness until they reached a pleasant land by the sea where Nephi, with God´s instruction, built a ship that took them to the New World.688 Nephi´s older brothers, Laman and Lemuel, expressed resentment at Nephi´s closeness to the Lord and did not want him to rule over them. When the family reached the New World, this antagonism led to a schism between the Nephites and Lamanites that pervades the Book of Mormon.

“As the Nephite sermons, prophecies, and historical records were compiled and handed down, the writers emphasized that those who keep God´s commandments prosper. Unfortunately, many who prospered became proud and persecuted others, with war as the eventual result. The desolation of war humbled the people, who began again to call upon God.

“Ancient American prophets, like biblical prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel, were shown visions of the future of various nations. For example, Nephi foresaw Christopher Columbus´ discovery of America, the influx of Gentiles into the New World, and the American Revolution, as well as the birth and earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Christ´s birth, ministry, and death were prophesied by Lehi, Nephi, Benjamin, Samuel the Lamanite, and other prophets. When Mosiah 1 discovered a people who had left Jerusalem with Mulek, a son of Zedekiah, and King Limhi´s messengers found a record of the extinct Jaredites, the Nephites learned that they were not the only people God had brought to the Western Hemisphere.

“After the appearance of Jesus Christ, the Nephites and Lamanites enjoyed peace for more than 160 years. Then, many who had been righteous broke their covenants with God, and the Church and their civilization began to collapse. At last, in A.D. 385, the few remaining Nephites were hunted and killed by Lamanites. The book ends with Moroni, the last Nephite, writing to the people of modern times, admonishing them to ‘come unto Christ, and be perfected in him’.“ (http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/emmain.asp?number=43)