BOOK OF MORMON
1 Nephi - Chapter 20 Critique
Setting: This portion of 1 Nephi supposedly occurred between 588 and 570 B.C. during the prophecies of Ezekiel before and after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Verse 1: HEARKEN and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:1 "Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; who swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness;
Note: Mormon scribes have added baptism to this verse since the 1830 edition.
HEARKEN and hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel; yet they swear not in truth, nor in righteousness.
Verse 2: Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name:
Verse 3: Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:3 "I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass."
Verse 4: And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your brow bronze,
Verse 5: And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say--Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:5 "Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.'"
Verse 6: Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:6 "You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them."
Verse 7: They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say--Behold I knew them.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:7 "They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, 'Of course I knew them.'"
Verse 8: Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:8 "Surely you did not hear, surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb."
Verse 9: Nevertheless, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:9 "For My name's sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off."
Verse 10: For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:10 "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
Verse 11: For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:11 "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another."
Verse 12: Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last."
Verse 13: Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:13 "Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand up together."
Verse 14: All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:14 "All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans."
Verse 15: Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:15 "I, even I, have spoken; Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper."
Verse 16: Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:16 "Come near to Me (the Son), hear this: I (the Son) have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I (the Son) was there. And now the Lord GOD (the Father) and His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) Have sent Me (the Son)."
Note: Did anyone notice the Trinity?
Verse 17: And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:17 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go."
Verse 18: O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments--then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:18 "Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea."
Verse 19: Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:19 "Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; His name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me."
Verse 20: Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this, utter it to the end of the earth; Say, "The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!"
Verse 21: And they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also and the waters gushed out.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:21 And they did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
Verse 22: And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
Note: Sidney Rigdon copied this verse from the Old King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 48:22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."
Note: Joseph Smith never had peace in his tumultuous lifetime.
Wherever Joseph Smith went he roused a storm, and from his earliest years country newspapers gave him liberal publicity. Copies of these newspapers, some of which antedate all the early Mormon histories, have fortunately been preserved. During his short, tumultuous career Joseph was haled into court more than a score of times, on charges varying from disturbing the peace to treason. No Man Knows My History, Fawn M. Brodie, preface.