The Book of Mormon, Another False Testament

An Account Written by The Hand of Mormon
Upon Plates taken from The Plates of Nephi

Wherefore, it is abridgment of the record of the people of
Nephi, and also of the Lamanites --Written to the Lamanites,
who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew
and Gentile-- Written by way of commandment, and also by the
spirit of prophecy and of revelation --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 interpretation thereof by the gift of God.

An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a
record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the
time the Lord confounded 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 Israel what great
things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they
may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast
off forever --And also to convincing of the Jew and Gentile
that Jesus is the CHRIST, the are faults they are the
mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God,
that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of
Christ.

Translated by Joseph Smith, Jun.

Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 1987


INTRODUCTION

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable
to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the
ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does
the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit
of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold
plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet historian
named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great
civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 BC, and
afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites
and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord
confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is
known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years all were
destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal
ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the
personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the
Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the
doctrines of the gospel outlines the plan of salvation, and
tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and
eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the
account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own
and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21
1823, the same Moroni then a glorified resurrected being
appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him
relative to the ancient record and its destined translation
into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who
translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is
now published in many languages as a new and additional
witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and
that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and
ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I
told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most
correct of any book on earth and the keystone of our
religion and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its
precepts, than by any other book."

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven
others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be
special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of
Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as
"The Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The Testimony of
Eight Witnesses."

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to
ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to
ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the
book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith
will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power
of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will
also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the
Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and
prophet in these last days and that The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lords kingdom once again
established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming
of the Messiah.

THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES

BE IT KNOWN unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people,
unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace
of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the
plates which contain this record, which is a record of the
people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren,
and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of
which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been
translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath
declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the
work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the
engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been
shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we
declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came
down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes,
that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings
thereon. and we know that it is by the grace of God the
Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear
record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in
our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us
that we should bear record of it; wherefore to be obedient
unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these
things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we
shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found
spotless before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell
with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one
God. Amen.

OLIVER COWDERY
DAVID WHITMER
MARTIN HARRIS

THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES

BE IT KNOWN unto all nations, kindreds tongues, and people,
unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith Jun., the
translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of
which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold;
and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated
we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings
thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work,
and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with
words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us,
for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the
said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And
we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world
that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness
of it.

CHRISTIAN WHITMER
JACOB WHITMER
PETER WHITMER, JUN.
JOHN WHITMER
HIRAM PAGE
JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.
HYRUM SMITH
SAMUEL H. SMITH

TESTIMONY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH

The Prophet Joseph Smith's own words about the coming forth
of the Book of Mormon are:

"On the evening of the ... twenty-first of September [1823]
... I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty
God... .

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I
discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to
increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when
immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in
the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.

"He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was
a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do
I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so
exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and
his arms also, a little above the wrists; so, also, were his
feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His
head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had
no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that
I could see into his bosom.

"Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole
person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance
truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but
not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I
first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left
me.

"He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a
messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his
name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that
my name should be had for good and evil among all nations,
kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and
evil spoken of among all people.

"He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold
plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this
continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also
said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was
contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient
inhabitants;

"Also, that there were two stones in silver bows-and these
stones fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called
the Urim and Thummim- deposited with the plates; and the
possession and use of these stones were what constituted
Seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared
them for the purpose of translating the book.

"Again, he told me, that when I got those plates of which he
had spoken -for the time that they should be obtained was
not yet fulfilled-I should not show them to any person;
neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim; only to
those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I
should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about
the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could
see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so
clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I
visited it.

"After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin
to gather immediately around the person of him who had been
speaking to me, and it continued to do so, until the room
was again left dark, except just around him, when instantly
I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven and
he ascended until he entirely disappeared, and the room was
left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its
appearance.

"I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling
greatly at what had been told to me by this extraordinary
messenger; when, in the midst of my meditation, I suddenly
discovered that my room was again beginning to get lighted,
and in an instant, as it were, the same heavenly messenger
was again by my bedside.

"He commenced, and again related the very same things which
he had done at his first visit, without the least variation.
which having done, he informed me of great judgments which
were coming upon the earth, with great desolation by famine,
sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments
would come on the earth in this generation. Having related
these things, he again ascended as he had done before.

"By this time, so deep were the impressions made on my mind,
that sleep had fled from my eyes, and I lay overwhelmed in
astonishment at what I had both seen and heard. But what was
my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my
bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me
the same things as before; and added a caution to me,
telling me that Satan would try to tempt me (in consequence
of the indigent circumstances of my father's family), to get
the plates for the purpose of getting rich. This he forbade
me, saying that I must have no other object in view in
getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be
influenced by any other motive than that of building His
kingdom; otherwise I could not get them.

"After this third visit, he again ascended into heaven as
before, and I was again left to ponder on the strangeness of
what I had just experienced; when almost immediately after
the heavenly messenger had ascended from me the third time,
the cock crowed, and I found that day was approaching, so
that our interviews must have occupied the whole of that
night.

"I shortly after arose from my bed, and, as usual, went to
the necessary labors of the day; but, in attempting to work
as at other times, I found my strength so exhausted as to
render me entirely unable. My father, who was laboring along
with me, discovered something to be wrong with me, and told
me to go home. I started with the intention of going to the
house; but, in attempting to cross the fence out of the
field where we were, my strength entirely failed me, and I
fell helpless on the ground, and for a time was quite
unconscious of anything.

"The first thing that I can recollect was a voice speaking
unto me, calling me by name. I looked up, and beheld the
same messenger standing over my head, surrounded by light as
before. He then again related unto me all that he had
related to me the previous night, and commanded me to go to
my father and tell him of the vision and commandments which
I had received.

"I obeyed; I returned to my father in the field, and
rehearsed the whole matter to him. He replied to me that it
was of God, and told me to go and do as commanded by the
messenger. I left the field, and went to the place where the
messenger had told me the plates were deposited; and owing
to the distinctness of the vision which I had had concerning
it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived there.

"Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario county,
New York, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most
elevated of any in the neighborhood. On the west side of
this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of
considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box.
This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper
side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part
of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around
was covered with earth.

"Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got
fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little
exertion raised it up. I looked in and there indeed did I
behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the
breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which
they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind
of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones
crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and
the other things with them.

"I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by
the messenger, and was again informed that the time for
bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it,
until four years from that time; but he told me that I
should come to that place precisely in one year from that
time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I
should continue to do so until the time should come for
obtaining the plates.

"Accordingly, as I had been commanded, I went at the end of
each year, and at each time I found the same messenger
there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at
each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going
to do, and how and in what manner His kingdom was to be
conducted in the last days.

"At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates, the
Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. On the twenty-second
day of September, one thousand eight hundred and
twenty-seven, having gone as usual at the end of another
year to the place where they were deposited, the same
heavenly messenger delivered them up to me with this charge:
That I should be responsible for them; that if I should let
them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should
be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to
preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for
them, they should be protected.

"I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict
charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger
had said that when I had done what was required at my hand,
he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I
had them, than the most strenuous exertions were used to get
them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was
resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more
bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were on the
alert continually to get them from me if possible. But by
the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until I
had accomplished by them what was required at my hand. When,
according to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I
delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge
until this day, being the second day of May one thousand
eight hundred and thirty eight."

For the complete record, see Joseph Smith-History, in the
Pearl of Great Price, and History of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, volume 1, chapters 1 through 6.

The ancient record thus brought forth from the earth as the
voice of a people speaking from the dust, and translated
into modern speech by the gift and power of God as attested
by Divine affirmation, was first published to the world in
the year 1830 as THE BOOK OF MORMON.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION ABOUT THE BOOK OF MORMON

The Book of Mormon is a sacred record of peoples in ancient
America, and was engraved upon sheets of metal. Four kinds
of metal record plates are spoken of in the book itself:

1. The Plates of Nephi, which were of two kinds: the Small
Plates and the Large Plates. The former were more
particularly devoted to the spiritual matters and the
ministry and teachings of the prophets, while the latter
were occupied mostly by a secular history of the peoples
concerned (1 Nephi 9: 24). From the time of Mosiah, however,
the large plates also included items of major spiritual
importance.

2. The Plate of Mormon, which consist of an abridgment by
Mormon from the Large Plates of Nephi, with many
commentaries. These plates also contained a continuation of
the history by Mormon and additions by his son Moroni.

3. The Plates of Ether, which present a history of the
Jaredites. This record was abridged by Moroni who inserted
comments of his own and incorporated the record with the
general history under the title "Book of Ether."

4. The Plates of Brass brought by the people of Lehi from
Jerusalem in 600 BC These contained "the five books of
Moses, ... And also a record of the Jews from the beginning,
É down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of
Judah; And also the prophecies of the holy prophets" (1
Nephi 5: 1 1-13). Many quotations from these plates, citing
Isaiah and other biblical and nonbiblical prophets, appear
in the Book of Mormon.

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. The first portion (the first
six books, ending with Omni) is a translation from the Small
Plates of Nephi. Between the books of Omni and Mosiah is an
insert called The Words of Mormon. This insert connects the
record engraved on the Small Plates with Mormon's abridgment
of the Large Plates.

The longest portion, from Mosiah to Mormon, chapter 7,
inclusive, is a translation of Mormon's abridgment of the
Large Plates of Nephi. The concluding portion, from Mormon,
chapter 8, to the end of the volume, was engraved by
Mormon's son Moroni, who, after finishing the record of his
father's life, made an abridgment of the Jaredite record (as
the Book of Ether) and later added the parts known as the
Book of Moroni.

In or about the year AD 421, Moroni, the last of the Nephite
prophet 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 AD 1823, this same Moroni, then a resurrected personage,
visited the Prophet Joseph Smith and subsequently delivered
the engraved plates to him.

About this edition: Some minor errors in the text have been
perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. This
edition contains corrections that seem appropriate to bring
the material into conformity with prepublication manuscripts
and early editions edited by the Prophet Joseph Smith.