The Joseph Smith Translation

Joseph Smith, Jr., The Holy Scriptures, Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith, Jr. the Seer ... Plano, Illinois: Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Joseph Smith, I.L. Rogers, E. Robinson, Publishing Committee, 1867.

This version was several times reprinted by Herald Publishing House in Independence, Missouri as Inspired Version. The Holy Scriptures, Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation by Joseph Smith, Jr. A slightly revised edition was published by Herald Publishing House in 1944 under the title, Holy Scriptures. Containing the Old and New Testaments. An Inspired Revision of the Authorized Version, by Joseph Smith, Junior. A New Corrected Edition. Herald Publishing House is the official publisher of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which holds the copyright on this version.

This revision of the KJV incorporates many changes which Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, made merely on the basis of what he thought the Scriptures ought to say. Although he had no knowledge of Hebrew or Greek, and though he did his revision without reference to any sources whatsoever, he maintained that the Scriptures had been corrupted, and that he was by divine revelation presenting an English version of the original text. Smith was killed in 1844, without having published the version. The manuscript remained in the possession of his widow until its publication in 1867. It became the authorized version of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (now called the Community of Christ). This church was founded by Smith's son when his rival, Brigham Young, took over the leadership of the original church organization in 1844. Young took his followers to Utah while Smith's son remained with his followers in Missouri. The "Reorganized" church in Missouri won a court case over the ownership of the version, and so the Utah church uses instead an edition of the KJV annotated with the variants of Smith's version. In the Reorganized church the version is commonly called "the inspired version," but in the Utah church it is called the "Joseph Smith Translation" (JST).

The version, as might be expected, is exceedingly peculiar. Marion Simms, who calls the version "absurd and impossible," describes it very fully in his books, The Bible from the Beginning (New York: Macmillan, 1929. pp. 147-57) and The Bible in America (New York: Wilson-Erickson, 1936. pp. 235-38).

JOHN 1:1-34

King James

Joseph Smith

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

1 In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made which was made.
4 In him was the gospel, and the gospel was the life, and the life was the light of men;
5 And the light shineth in the world, and the world perceiveth it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came into the world for a witness, to bear witness of the light, to bear record of the gospel through the Son, unto all, that through him men might believe.
8 He was not that light, but came to bear witness of that light,
9 Which was the true light, which lighteth every man who cometh into the world;
10 Even the Son of God. He who was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God; only to them who believe on his name.
13 He was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the same word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bear witness of him, and cried, saying, This is he of whom I spake; He who cometh after me, is preferred before me; for he was before me.
16 For in the beginning was the Word, even the Son, who is made flesh, and sent unto us by the will of the Father, And as many as believe on his name shall receive of his fulness. And of his fullness have all we received, even immortality and eternal life, through his grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but life and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 For the law was after a carnal commandment, to the administration of death; but the gospel was after the power of an endless life, through Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.
19 And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved.
20 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him; Who art thou?
21 And he confessed, and denied not that he was Elias; but confessed, saying; I am not the Christ.
22 And they asked him, saying; How then art thou Elias? And he said, I am not that Elias who was to restore all things. And they asked him, saying, Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
23 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
24 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet Esaias.
25 And they who were sent were of the Pharisees.
26 And they asked him, and said unto him; Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not the Christ, nor Elias who was to restore all things, neither that prophet?
27 John answered them, saying; I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
28 He it is of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and said; Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!
30 And John bare record of him unto the people, saying, This is he of whom I said; After me cometh a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me, and I knew him, and that he should be made manifest to Israel; therefore am I come baptizing with water.
31 And John bare record, saying; When he was baptized of me, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
32 And I knew him; for he who sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me; Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
33 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Below is the Forward and Preface to this version as it appears in a reprint of the 1944 edition published by Herald Publishing House in Independence, Missouri.

FOREWORD

Joseph Smith, Jr., worked diligently to present a more correct version of the Bible. He began this revision in 1830 and completed the initial revision by July 2, 1833. The original manuscripts indicate additional editing by Joseph Smith after that date. It was his intention to have the printing done, as evidenced from statements he made as late as 1841 (Doctrine and Covenants 107:28) concerning the urgency of this project. However, it was not published during his lifetime.

Among the valuable manuscripts he left in the possession of his widow, Emma, was this work on the Bible which he described as the "New Translation." These manuscripts were preserved, and after Joseph Smith III became president of the Reorganized Church, Emma delivered them to a committee appointed by the General Conference of 1866 to procure the manuscripts. This committee consisted of William Marks, Israel L. Rogers, and William W. Blair. During 1866-1867 the committee of publication (Joseph Smith III, Israel L. Rogers and Ebenezer Robinson) had a printer's manuscript made. This was carefully compared with the originals and edited by the committee. From this printer's manuscript the first edition of "The Holy Scriptures" was printed in December 1867.

In view of Joseph Smith's revelatory experience, it was natural that he should seek more light relative to the biblical text, especially as he came to realize the inadequacy of the available versions. Revelations concerning the creation and early history of mankind and the prophecy of Enoch were received between June and December, 1830. The specific commandments authorizing the "New Translation" are found in the Doctrine and Covenants:

and a commandment I give unto thee [Sidney Rigdon], that thou shalt write for him [Joseph Smith]; and the Scriptures shall be given even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect.—Section 34:5, December1830.

Thou shalt ask, and my Scriptures shall be given as I have appointed, and they shall be preserved in safety; and it is expedient that thou shouldst hold thy peace concerning them, and not teach them until thou hast received them in full.—Section 42:15a, February 1831.

And now, behold, I say unto you, it shall not be given unto you to know any further concerning this chapter [Matthew 24], until the New Testament be translated, and in it all these things shall be made known; wherefore, I give unto you that you may now translate it, that ye may be prepared for the things to come; for verily I say unto you, that great things await you.—Section 45:11a, b, March 1831.

Four manuscripts were developed under the direction of Joseph Smith, Jr. From these the Committee of Publication prepared the text for the printer. These four manuscripts were (1) a completely written out manuscript consisting of what is now Doctrine and Covenants Section 22 and Genesis 1:1 to 24:42a; (2) another manuscript including Doctrine and Covenants Section 22 and recommended changes covering all of the Old Testament; (3) a fully written revision of Matthew 1:1 to 26:71; and (4) a subsequent manuscript revising and improving No. 3 and indicating changes to be made in other portions of the New Testament.

The first document in the Old Testament manuscripts (now Doctrine and Covenants Section 22) was not incorporated as part of the biblical text. This, however, has appeared in all editions as an introductory revelation.

The process by which this text was derived deserves comment. As noted, certain completely new portions were given in the form of revelatory documents and included in the text—for example, the larger share of chapters 5, 6 and 7 in Genesis. In the manuscripts the biblical text of both the Old and New Testament was revised and written out, word-for-word, to Genesis 24:73 and John 6:5 respectively; thereafter only the places where corrections were to be made were noted. Sidney Rigdon and John Whitmer appear to have shared the major work of transcription, with occasional help from Emma Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

The word "translation" is used consistently by Joseph Smith, Jr., to describe this work, and although this use of the word has later become somewhat obsolete, it serves to illustrate the method by which the text was determined (an older meaning of "translation" carries the connotation of changing a verbal expression into other forms even though in the same language). It appears that apart from the revelatory form of some portions such as those mentioned, the major part of the new version was arrived at through a prayerful, analytical approach, in most places following the language form and arrangement of the King James version. Many books and chapters were marked "correct" and therefore follow the Authorized Version.

The text as published in 1867 was reprinted many times until 1944 when a "Corrected Edition" was prepared under the direction of the First Presidency and the Board of Publication. This "Corrected Edition" was found to be necessary in order to rectify certain spelling, punctuation, and errors in grammar, together with other omissions. Most of the 1944 corrections brought the text into greater harmony with the original manuscripts, as the following illustrations demonstrate:

TEXT	1867 EDITION	ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS AND 1944 EDITION
Gen. 8:53	"sent the dove out"	"sent forth the dove out"
Exod. 32:14	"execute my judgment"	"execute judgment"
Exod.33:21	"Behold, thou shalt stand"	"And the Lord said, Behold, thou shalt stand"
Isa. 2:5	"his own wicked ways"	"his wicked ways"
Isa. 13:22	"I shall destroy"	"I will destroy"
Isa. 34:7	"unicorns"	"reem"
Matt. 11:2	"words of Christ"	"works of Christ"
Matt. 13:18	"and taketh away that which"	"and catcheth away that which"
Matt.14:20	"when the even was come"	"when the evening was come"
Matt.16:2	"weather is fair; and in the morning"	"weather is fair, for the sky is red; and in the morning"
Luke 13:11	"and was bound together"	"and was bowed together"
John 1:6	"Then was a man sent from God"	"There was a man sent from God"
Rom.1:8	"throughout the world"	"throughout the whole world"
1 Cor.1:24	"them which are called"	"them who believe"

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

This work is given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to the public in pursuance of the commandment of God.

As concerning the manner of translation and correction, it is evident, from the manuscripts and the testimony of those who were conversant with the facts, that it was done by direct revelation from God.

It was begun in June, 1830, and was finished July 2, 1833.

Joseph Smith was born in Dec., 1805, and was, at the finishing of the manuscripts of this work, in the 28th year of his age.

The manuscripts, at his death, in 1844, were left in the hands of his widow, where they remained until the spring of 1866, when they were delivered to Wm. Marks, I. L. Rogers, and Wm. W. Blair, a Committee appointed by the Annual Conference, of April, 1866, to procure them for publication; and were, by them, delivered to the Committee of Publication consisting of Joseph Smith, Israel L. Rogers, and Ebenezer Robinson, and are now presented as they came into our hands.

It is declared in the Book of Mormon that "many plain and precious parts" have been taken away from the Bible:

"For behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb, many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have been taken away; and all this have they done, that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord; that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men: wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God; and after these plain and precious things were taken away, it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles."—1 Book of Nephi, 3:168-172—Book of Mormon.

This declaration is fully sustained by the following quotations from history, relative to the transmission of the Bible.

Prof. Wm. Whiston, in his translation of the works of Flavius Josephus, in a note to chap. 11 of Book 9, Ant. Jews, in reference to a quotation, professedly from Nahum, says:

"By which quotation we learn what he himself always asserts, viz: that he made use of the Hebrew original, (and not of the Greek version;) as also we learn, that his Hebrew copy considerably differed from ours."

Dupin says in his "Complete History of the Canon and Writers of the Books of the Old and New Testament:"

"St. Jerome, in his commentary upon the 40th chapter of Ezekiel, says: 'When we translate the Hebrew words into Latin, we are sometimes guided by conjecture.'"

Again he says: "When Origen observed that there was less in the Greek than in the Hebrew, he did supply it from the version of Theodotion, and put an asterisk or star to it, to signify that this was to illustrate what was obscure. St. Jerome makes frequent mention of the additions, corrections, and subtractions made in the versions of the Septuagint, by Origen. … St. Jerome says in the preface to his commentary on Daniel, that in all, both the Greek and Latin churches, both in those in Syria and in Egypt, the edition of Origen is made use of."

Again, Dupin says: "By the carelessness of the transcribers, and sometimes of those who set them at work, the asterisks being either misunderstood, or entirely left out in some places, the additions of Theodotion were confounded with the version of the Septuagint, which perhaps moved St. Jerome to say that Origen had corrupted and confounded the version of the Septuagint."

Dupin continues: "In short we must confess that there are many differences betwixt the Hebrew text and the version of the Septuagint, which arise from the corruption and confusion that are in the Greek version we now have. It is certain that it hath been revised divers times, and that several authors have taken liberty to add thereunto, to retrench and correct divers things. That in the first centuries there were different editions, and that corrections have been inserted from the versions of Theodotion and others, which made St. Jerome say with reason, that in his time the version of the Septuagint was nowhere to be found in its purity. … It is mere superstition to assert, as some authors do, that the Hebrew text which we have at present is not corrupted in any place, and that there is no fault, nor any thing left out, and that we must indisputably follow it at all times. This is not only to speak without all evidence, and contrary to all probability, but we have very good proof to the contrary, for in the first place there are differences betwixt the oldest of the Hebrew copies which the Massorites have observed, by that which they called Keri and Ketib, and putting one of the readings in the text and the other in the margin, we have the different readings of the Jews of the East and the Jews of the West, of the Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, and the manuscript copies of the Bible are not always alike. "

This "Complete History of the Canon," &c., says: "The Council of Trent, (held in 1540,) when it declared the vulgar version authentic, did not thereby declare it as done by divine inspiration, neither as a piece conformable in all respects to the original texts, or free from all errors. … Notwithstanding the care and precaution of the Massorites and Jews who have wrote or printed the Hebrew Bibles, there are still a great many differences between the manuscripts and printed Bibles, as Buxtorfe has observed in his Rabbinical Library, and Capelle after him. There are differences in the punctuation about the consonants, and whole words and verses, which shows that let them be never so diligent, it is impossible but some faults will slip in, either in the copying or printing of a work. … Nor can it be said for certain that all those books which are cited in the Holy Scriptures were of divine inspiration. 'Tis a medium and middle way that ought to be followed according to the opinion of the fathers, who have acknowledged that there may be some books divinely inspired, and others of human composition among those that are cited in the canonical books. … It cannot be said that no fault has crept into the scriptures by the negligence or inadvertency of the transcribers, or even by the boldness of those who have ventured to strike out, add, or change some words which they thought necessary to be omitted, added or changed. This is the common fate of all books, from which God has not thought fit to exempt even the sacred writings. From hence have proceeded those various and different lections between the Greek copies of the books of the New Testament, which began to appear in the first ages of the church, and are still continued."

Says Dupin: "We do not find that the two greatest men of the church, I mean Origen and St. Hierom, who had searched the ancient copies of the scriptures with so much care and diligence, and have visited so many churches in the East, have ever spoken of the originals of the New Testament, written with the hands of the apostles, which they would not have failed to do if there had been any in their time." To account for this, Dupin continues, "But it hath been already made to appear, elsewhere, that it is no wonder that the primitive Christians, who had not a regular body of a state in which they lived, and whose assemblies, on the contrary, were furiously disturbed by the Jews and pagans had lost the originals of their books." From the same work we take the following: "In the primitive ages there was no talk of reading the Holy Scriptures in the originals; any copy whatever, provided it was used in the orthodox churches, might be relied upon as if it had been the first original, written with the hands of the apostles."

Dupin continues: "The critics have sometimes reformed the text, because they looked upon it as faulty; they have met with a sense that shocked them in the text, and which might be reformed by taking away one single word; they have determined that the text ought to read so and so, and have boldly corrected the text upon a mere conjecture. The copiers or the regulators of the copies have taken a great deal of liberty upon this respect being pursued—that they should do some service in explaining it more clearly, but sometimes have determined the text by such words as give it quite another sense."

"St. Chrysostom observes: The Jews having been at some times careless and negligent, and at other times profane, they suffered some of the sacred books to be lost through their carelessness, and have burnt and destroyed others."—Simons' Crit. Hist. N. Test.

"The common version of the Bible was printed in A. D. 1611. The only printed editions of the Greek Testament at that time were Cardinal Ximenes', printed A. D. 1514; Erasmus', in 1516; Stephens', 1546, and Beza's, in 1562, with some editions taken from these; substantially the same may be said of the Old Testament. King James' Translation was made from no uniform edition whatever. Although there is, by authority, a standard English edition of the Bible, there is no standard Hebrew or Greek text for the original of that version. That called the 'received text,' is the text of Erasmus, which is a version of the Latin Vulgate compared with the Greek text. This edition was corrected severally, by Stephens, Beza and Elzevir, and published by the latter, at Leyden, in Holland, in 1624, thirteen years after King James' translation was published. In the compilation of this 'received text,' Erasmus consulted but eight manuscripts, only one of Revelations; all of which copies were later than the tenth century. The manuscript of Revelations was but a partial one. To supply what was wanting, he translated the Latin of the Vulgate into Greek, to supply the deficiencies, to make up the 'received text.'"—March's Introduction, Vol. 2, p. 846, and Penn's Annotations.

It is also declared in the Book of Mormon, touching the restoration of the Scriptures: "Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord."—2 Nephi 2:19-23.

And again: "And the angel spake unto me, saying, these last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him or they cannot be saved; and they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb."—1 Nephi 3:192-194.

In the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 22, verse 24, we read follows: "And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto you concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak, and in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught, and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold I will raise up another like unto thee, and they shall be had again among the children of men; among as many as shall believe."

Again in Sec. 42, verse 15: "Thou shalt ask, and my Scriptures shall be given as I have appointed, and they shall be preserved in safety; and it is expedient that thou shouldst hold thy peace concerning them, and not teach them until ye have received them in full. And I give unto you a commandment, that then ye shall teach them unto all men; for they shall be taught unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people."

PREFACE TO 1944 EDITION

This corrected edition of the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures was prepared under the direction of the First Presidency and the Board of Publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The committee found some words and phrases transposed or improperly placed in the work done by Joseph Smith, Jr. These errors, together with others involving spelling, punctuation, and typographical or other omissions, were corrected, particularly in those instances where the meaning of the text had been affected. Few other corrections were required.