BOOK OF MORMON An Account Written by THE HAND OF MORMON UPON PLATES © TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF, NEPHI ‘Wherefore, it is an abridj nt of the record of the people of Nephi, also of the Lamanites— ritten to the Lamanites, who are a rem- it of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by ay of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revela- tion—Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The inter- pretation thereof by the gift of God. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which ig a record ~ of the people of Jared, who were seattered at the time the Lord con- founded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven—Which is to show’ unto the remnant of the House of farael what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they’ may know the cevenanis of the Tord, that they are agt cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS INe'the Cunist, the Ereaxat Gop, manifesting himself unto all nations— nd now, if there are fauits they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn ‘not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the y a aA S. judgment-seat of Christ. ~~ TRANSLATED BY JOSEPH SMITH, Jun. Pusiisnep By The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Sart Lage Crry, Urau, U. 8. A. 1921Copyright 1920 b xy HEBER J. GRANT ‘Trustee-in-Trust for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah, U. 8. A. . First Edition published in 1830 First issued, as divided into chapters and verses with references By ORSON PRATT, in 1879 First issued in double-column pages, with chapter headings, chronological data, revised foot-note references, pronouncing vocabulary and index, in 1920co OS-v?- Rudess. 8- 5-32. Qutle BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON ‘Three classes of Record Plates are indicated on the title-page of The Book of Mormon, namely : 1. The Plates of Nephi, which, as the text of the Book makes clear, were of two kinds—(a) ‘the Larger Plates; (6) the Smaller Plates. ‘The former were more particularly devoted to the sec- ular bistory of the peoples concerned, while the latter were occu- pied mostly by sacred records. 2. The Platea of Mormon, containing an abridgment from the Plates of Nephi, made by Mormon, with many commentaries and a con- tinuation of the history by himself, and with further additions by Moroni, son of Mormon. 8. The Plates of Ether, containing a history of the Jaredites, which ‘account was abridged by Moroni, who inserted comments of own, and incorporated the record with the general history under the title, Book of Ether” To these may be added another set of plates, which are of frequent mention in the Book of Mormon, namely : 4. The Brase Plates of Laban, brought by the people of Lehi from Jerusalem, and containing Hebrew Scriptures and genealogies, many extracts from which appear in the Nephite records. The Book of Mormon comprises fifteen main parts or divisions, known, with one exception, as books, each designated by the name of its principal author. (Of there, ‘the frat six books, namely. First Nephi, Second Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, and Omni, are translations from the correspondinj sections of the Smaller Plates of Nephi. Between the books of Omni an Mosiah, we find 1'he Worde of Mormon, connecting the record of Ney engraved on the Smaller Plates, with Mormon's abridgment of the ger Plates for the periods following. ’he Words of Mormon constitute a brief explanation of the preceding portions of the record, and a preface to the parts following. ‘The body of the Book, from Mosiah to Mormon, chapter 7, inclusive, is the translation of Mormon’s abridgment of the Plates of Nephi. The latter part of the Book of Mormon, from the beginning of Mormon, chap- ter 8, to the end of the volume, was engraved by Mormon’s son, Moroni, who first proceeded to finish the record of his father’s life, and made an abridgment of the Jaredite record, as the Book of Ether. Later he added the parts known to us as the Book of Moroni. ‘The period covered by Book of Mormon annals extends from B. C. 600 to A. D. 421. In or about the latter year, Moroni, the last of the Nephite historians, sealed the sacred record, and hid it up unto the Lord, to be brought forth in the latter days, as predicted by the voice of God through his ancient prophets. In A. D. 1827, this same Moroni, then a resurrected ‘personage, delivered the engraved plates to Joseph Smith.