JOSEPH’S INSPIRED TRANSLATION, Chapter 10 of As It Is Translated Correctly Part 2 Episode 710

 

It is evident that some Bible translators received more divine help or inspiration than others. And it should be no great surprise that the Prophet Joseph Smith should receive more than all the others.

 

When the Prophet Joseph was only 20 years old, he understood the adverse effects mortal men had had on Bible translations. From the Book of Mormon, he read about the incompleteness and the inaccuracies of the Bible, and why these conditions had occurred;

 

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 had 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. (I Nephi 3:168-172)

 

It was clear to the Prophet what had happened to those ancient manuscripts and he commented:

 

From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. (D.H.C. 1:244)

 

Because so many uninspired translators had made errors in their work of copying or translating, the Bible had lost some of its original scriptures and books. The Prophet clearly indicated that it was the work of men, not the original prophets, who had made the blunders.