Readings from the Book of Mormon

[Daniel_Marsh]

THE BOOK OF ETHER

CHAPTER 2

The Jaredites prepare for their journey to a promised land—It is a choice land whereon men must serve Christ or be swept off—The Lord talks to the brother of Jared for three hours—They build barges—The Lord asks the brother of Jared to propose how the barges shall be lighted.

1 AND it came to pass that Jared and his brother, and their families, and also the afriends• of Jared and his brother and their families, went down into the valley which was northward, (and the name of the valley was bNimrod•, being called after the mighty hunter) with their cflocks• which they had gathered together, male and female, of every kind.

2 And they did also lay snares and catch afowls• of the air; and they did also prepare a vessel, in which they did carry with them the fish of the waters.

3 And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them aswarms• of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, bseeds• of every kind.

4 And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a acloud•, and the brother of Jared saw him not.

5 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should ago• forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a bcloud•, and gave cdirections whither they should travel.

6 And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did abuild bbarges•, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord.

7 And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the aland of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had bpreserved• for a righteous people.

8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should aserve• him, the true and only God, or they should be bswept• off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.

9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be aswept• off when the fulness of his bwrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are cripened• in iniquity.

10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be aswept• off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the bfulness• of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are cswept• off.

11 And this cometh unto you, O ye aGentiles•, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the bwrath• of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.

12 Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be afree• from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but bserve• the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

 

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13 And now I proceed with my record; for behold, it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to that great sea which divideth the lands. And as they came to the sea they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place aMoriancumer•; and they dwelt in btents•, and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years.

14 And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and atalked• with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and bchastened• him because he remembered not to ccall upon the name of the Lord.

15 And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my aSpirit will not always bstrive• with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my cthoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land dchoice• above all other lands.

16 And the Lord said: Go to work and build, after the manner of abarges• which ye have hitherto built. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges after the manner which they had built, according to the binstructions• of the Lord. And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water.

17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly atight•, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.

18 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.

19 And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.

20 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood.

21 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded.

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have awindows•, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

24 For behold, ye shall be as a awhale• in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the bwinds• have gone forth cout• of my mouth, and also the drains• and the floods have I sent forth.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

flameburns623:

Brother Daniel:
Copyright laws of the state where Smith resided led him to

Only problem, is there were no local copyright laws in the US, there was only National. According to US Copyright office history page, copyright law was universal in the US from 1790 and the cloeset update was in 1909.

copyright.gov/history/1790act.pdf
copyright.gov/history/1909act.pdf

copyright.gov/history/index.html

Other things that are out of place is the fact that Smith tried to sell his copyright to others.

So why did Joseph Smith try selling the Book of Mormon copyright?

“Joseph Capron wrote that Smith hoped his volume would “relieve the family from all pecuniary embarrassment.” There is evidence from Mormon sources to confirm Capron’s recollections. Smith himself admitted in his unpublished history that “he sought the plates to obtain riches.” Hyrum Smith wrote to his grandfather, Asael, that he believed that service to the Lord would bring the family their long-awaited prosperity. In October 1829, Joseph wrote excitedly to Oliver Cowdery that Josiah Stowell had a chance to obtain five or six hundred dollars and that he was going to buy copies of the Book of Mormon. Lucy Mack Smith said that when it was finally published in March 1830 the family had to sell copies of the book to buy food.”

"The economic situation of the Smith families was so desperate at this time that Joseph tried to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page wrote with bitterness years later that the prophet heard he could sell the copyright of any useful book in Canada and that he then received a revelation that “this would be a good opportunity to get a handsome sum.” Page explained that once expenses were met the profits were to be “for the exclusive benefit of the Smith family and was to be at the disposal of Joseph.” Page indicated that they hoped to get $8,000 for the copyright and that they traveled to Canada covertly to prevent Martin Harris from sharing in the dividend. Smith evidently believed that Harris was well enough off while his own family was destitute. When Page, Cowdery, and Knight arrived at Kingston, Ontario, they found no buyer. Martin Harris apparently learned of what was done, and Joseph guaranteed him in writing that he would share in any profits made from the subsequent sales of the book. In the spring of 1830 Harris walked the streets of Palmyra, trying to sell as many copies of the new scripture as he could. Shortly after Joseph Smith and Jesse Knight saw him in the road with books in his hand, he told them “the books will not sell for nobody wants them.”

• Marvin S. Hill, Quest for Refuge, p.20-21

i4m.com/think/history/sell_BOM_copyright.htm

The fact is during Smith’s lifetime there were other books like his that speculated about the native americans being Jewish.

For example, A View of the Hebrews

“View of the Hebrews” was published in 1823 and a second edition was published in 1825.

The Book of Mormon was published in 1830.

“View of the Hebrews” flooded the area in which Joseph Smith lived.

The author (Ethan Smith) was the pastor of the religious congregation in which the (Oliver) Cowdrey family attended.

The (Oliver) Cowdrey family was related to the (Joseph) Smith family, and Oliver Cowdrey assisted in the “translation” of the Book of Mormon.

On what was probably a promotional tour for his book, Ethan Smith visited the small hometown (Palmyra) of Joseph Smith in late 1826.

Josiah Priest’s The Wonders of Nature and Providence, Displayed (1825), which also includes numerous parallels to the Book of Mormon, quotes extensively from Ethan Smith’s book and is known to have been available in the local Manchester Rental Library when Joseph Smith lived in the village.

For additional connections and details and references for the above, see Appendix 3 in Sidney Rigdon.

The above facts can be verified by reading Stan Larson’s Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon and B. H. Roberts’s Studies of the Book of Mormon. FARMS would probably have no problems admitting to (and discounting) the above facts.

lds-mormon.com/voh.shtml

follow this link for much more information.

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

It should be noted that these parallels by themseleves are not sufficient to establish that Joseph Smith knew and used the View of the Hebrews. Caution should be excercised before coming to such a conclusion. What these parallels do establish, however, is the fact that the idea of Indians-as-Hebrews was a very popular topic of discussion during Smith’s era. Other writers, such as Josiah Priest and James Adair also published books in support of the theory, and the contemporary newspapers are filled with speculation on the subject. It should therefore come as no surprise that the young Smith also had his own ideas on the origin of the Indians.

Here, then, is the full text of the 1825 edition of View of the Hebrews.

View of the Hebrews - Contents
2think.org/hundredsheep/voh/voh_main.shtml

2think.org/hundredsheep/voh/voh.shtml