From the October 2016 General Conference
Elder Bednar began his talk with a passage taken from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:21-23 in the Kings James Bible. His point was to emphasize that, the Lord’s statement in the King James Version, “I never knew you,” was changed in the Joseph Smith Translation to read in Matthew 7:33, “Ye never knew me.”
Then he recites in the King James Bible the parable of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25:1-12, where Jesus tells the foolish virgins “I know ye not.” Once again, Elder Bednar explains to us that, the Kings James Version was clarified in the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 25:11 to read, “Ye know me not.”
At the end of his talk found on lds.org under references, you’ll find the footnotes to these JST passages. It’s interesting the Lord inspired Joseph Smith to revise the word of God by taking out the incorrect wording and, replacing it with what should have been in there. But Elder Bednar makes a critical mistake in using the Joseph Smith Translation to prove his point.
If we turn to the Book of Mormon which is considered the “most correct book,” we find the sermon at the temple in Bountiful, where Jesus supposedly appeared to the Nephites following His resurrection. It says in 3rd Nephi 14:23 “And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” That verse is exactly the, same as the one in the Kings James Version of Matthew 7 – word for word. And the 3rd Nephi 14 verse footnote b. is cross-referenced with two other Book of Mormon passages: Mosiah 26:25-27 “And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed. And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Mosiah 5:13 “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”
You not only have two verses in the Kings James Bible, but also three verse in the Book of Mormon – supposedly translated by the gift and power of God – that differ with the Joseph Smith Translation. What, was Joseph Smith thinking? If, it was good enough for the Lord to be quoted in the Bible and substantiated in the Book of Mormon, why did Joseph Smith feel it necessary to change the Lord’s words in his Inspired Version? And what was, Elder Bednar thinking? Why, is the footnote in Elder Bednar’s talk only referencing Matthew 7 and not, 3rd Nephi 14 and Mosiah 26 and Mosiah 5? Is it because Joseph Smith copied the sermon at the temple from the King James Bible sermon on the Mount?
Review Summary:
If you have a modern-day apostle telling its members in a world-wide General Conference that the Bible is wrong and the Joseph Smith Translation is inspired – in spite of what was just pointed out in the Book of Mormon – as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what do you do with that information?
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