The LDS version of the Book of Mormon often interferes with understanding the text. The funeral sermon given by Jacob following the death of his older brother, Nephi, is divided by the LDS Book of Mormon into chapters that disrupt the continuity of his message.

Nephi was approximately 20 years older than Jacob. Nephi married a wife before Jacob was born in the wilderness. Because he was older, Nephi was the undisputed community leader until his death.

Jacob assumed the role of the priestly/prophetic leader upon his older brother’s death. It is clear that Jacob saw their community had drifted into serious sin, and on the occasion of Nephi passing he attempted to correct those lapses.

In Covenant of Christ, the entire funeral sermon is in a single, undivided chapter. That Chapter 2 begins with: “The words Jacob, Nephi’s brother, spoke to the Nephites following Nephi’s death.” (Paragraph 1) The sermon ends with: “This concludes what I said following Nephi’s death. Now I Jacob spoke many more things to the Nephites, warning them against fornication and adultery, the inciting of lust, and every kind of sin, explaining to them their awful consequences. And not even one percent of the doings of this people, who are now becoming numerous, can be written on these plates.” (Paragraph 13)

In this sermon Jacob condemned greed, failing to care for the needy, and taking plural wives. The portion of the sermon dealing with plural wives in the Book of Mormon reads this way: “Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife, and concubines he shall have none; for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me I will command my people otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts. For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction. For they shall not commit whoredoms like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts. And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our father, Lehi. Wherefore, ye have known them before, and ye have come unto great condemnation, for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done.”

In Covenant of Christ this portion of the sermon now reads: “The Lord says: This people are beginning to increase in iniquity; they don’t understand the scriptures, trying instead to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms because of what’s written about David and his son Solomon. Indeed, David and Solomon had many wives and concubines — something offensive to Me, says the Lord. Therefore the Lord says: I led this people from the land of Jerusalem by My power so I could make from Joseph’s offspring a righteous branch that will follow Me. Therefore I won’t let this people do like others did in the past. So, my people, listen to me and hearken to the Lord’s word: No man among you is to have more than one wife — and he is not to have any concubines. I the Lord God delight in women’s chastity and prostitution is an abomination to Me — says the Lord of Hosts. Therefore this people must keep My commandments, says the Lord of Hosts, or the land will be cursed on their account. For in My Wisdom I will have covenant people, says the Lord of Hosts, whom I’ll command and lead, and they will hearken to this commandment to have only one wife. I the Lord have seen the sorrow and heard the sobbing of the daughters of My people in the land of Jerusalem, and elsewhere in My people’s lands, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. The Lord of Hosts says: I won’t let the cries of the beautiful daughters of this people, whom I’ve led out of the land of Jerusalem, come up to Me against the men of My people, says the Lord of Hosts. They’re not to mislead the daughters of My people — because of their kind, gentle nature — and use their vulnerabilities to subjugate them. If they do this I will chastise them even destroy them if needed, because I’ve commanded them not to commit whoredoms like others did in the past, says the Lord of Hosts. Now, my brothers and sisters, you know these commandments were given to our father Lehi; so you are familiar with them. And you’ve come under great condemnation, since you’ve violated what you were taught.”

In this portion of his sermon, Jacob reminds his people that their father, Lehi, was the one who gave the command to have only one wife. That command was being obeyed by the Lamanites, but not by the Nephites. At the funeral sermon Jacob acted immediately upon assuming the role of the priest/prophet to reaffirm the commandment, and to denounce the sin.

We have no real ability to reconstruct whether Nephi’s age and infirmity prevented him from addressing this problem in the final years of his life. Whatever may have provoked this lapse into disobedience, when Nephi died his brother immediately took up the subject to reform his people. That first sermon of Jacob, following the death of Nephi, is one of the most important clarifications given to us in Covenant of Christ. Whatever mistakes may have been made in the past, we now have a clear clarification to guide us away from this serious error.

The Book of Mormon explains that it is an imperfect record containing errors. That point is made at the very start of the record, and then again at the end of Mormon’s abridgment, as bookends for the book of prophecy. Here are those two acknowledgements of the record’s flaws. They are stated below, first in the language of the Book of Mormon, then secondly in the language of the Covenant of Christ:

Dedication text: Book of Mormon: “And now, if there 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.” [As changed by the LDS church’s version of the book, because they did not like the original way Joseph Smith translated it. What follows is the way in which Joseph Smith originally translated as the dedication.] “And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of Christ.”

Contrast that with the newly restated language in Covenant of Christ: “If there are any errors, they are human mistakes. That being the case, do not condemn the things of God, so you can be found spotless at Christ’s judgment seat.”

Then we have both an acknowledgement and a description of how some of the miscommunication happened in Mormon 4:11:

Book of Mormon: “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him. But rather, give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been. And now behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us according to our manner of speech. And if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in the Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also. And if we could have written in the Hebrew, behold, ye would have had none imperfection in our record.”

Covenant of Christ: “Don’t condemn me because of my imperfection, or my father because of his imperfection, or those who have written before him, but rather give thanks to God that He has shown you our imperfections, so you can learn to be wiser than we’ve been. We’ve written this record, according to our knowledge, in characters we call reformed Egyptian, handed down and adapted by us to fit our speech. If our plates had been large enough, we would have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew characters have been adapted by us as well. If we could have written in Hebrew, however, there wouldn’t have been any miscommunications in our record.”

These statements (and others) in the record were taken into account as the modern English restatement was accomplished. If the original authors acknowledge and explain their weakness, then it would be counter to the authenticity of the record to smooth everything into flawless language, complete sentences, and perfected punctuation. The original has very difficult grammar and sentence structures, often with interrupting clauses that make it very difficult to follow. In dealing with the text it was unnecessary to remove and correct all that. Instead there was a single focus: Make it understandable.

The text has been transferred into modern English that an average reader of the language today will understand. The objective was clarity, understandability and comprehension. NOT reforming it into exemplary prose.

If you accept the original as an authentic prophetic message from inspired writers in the past, whose record nevertheless has flaws, then the modern English restatement will mirror that same record in a way that equips you to understand its message.

The record advises us to consider its message, not its flaws. That is perhaps even more important for us who have Covenant of Christ to read: Consider carefully its message, not any real or imagined flaws that you notice.

While I worked on Covenant of Christ, there were passages that were very difficult for me to understand. So much so that I would highlight them and move on, then return later to grapple with the text.

An example of this kind of difficulty that I had to spend time studying to understand is the passage below from Helaman 4:11 “And may God grant, in his great fullness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace according to their works. And I would that all men might be saved.” This was written by Nephi, son of Helaman who was the son of Helaman, Alma the Younger’s son. I’ve read that passage for half-a-century. Probably have see it over a hundred times. But it never stood out to me until Covenant of Christ.

To understand the text I had to go back to the earlier text materials he wrote just prior to this, as well as the materials that he wrote afterward. This particular passage is a critical part of his overall message. It is a wonderful insight into how God dealt with his people, and in turn how God will deal with the Gentiles who receive the warnings in this book of scripture.

The believers in Nephi’s day fell into errors, forgot God, needed to be reminded to repent, and suffered punishment to bring them back to remember God. The Lord inflicted them with punishment, violence, slavery and death from time to time in order to motivate them to remember Him.

Nephi was keenly aware of what is required to let hard-hearted people return and repent. His account portrays these difficult circumstances as part of the necessary things to save people. In this difficult to understand text he is saying that he hopes, no matter what it requires, that God will take the steps needed to get people to repent and return.

Here is how that passage now reads in Covenant of Christ: “And may God in His infinite wisdom do whatever is required for mankind to be led to repent and do good works, so they can be restored to grace for grace based on their works. I want all mankind to be saved.”

If you read Covenant of Christ and compare it with the Book of Mormon, you will find that the book now addresses our condition, need to repent and accept Christ, and the danger of rejecting faith in Christ more clearly and understandably. Young people who are less able to understand 1600s English language will be particularly benefitted from reading this new version.

Perhaps the greatest clarification in Covenant of Christ comes from the Lord reaffirming His role as the Second Comforter. In the King James Version of the New Testament, in the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord referred to the Holy Ghost as “the Comforter.” He promised to send the Holy Ghost to His disciples upon His departure to comfort them. But He also refers to His own continuing willingness to also visit them: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (KJV John 14:18.) I’ve written about the reality of this promise by the Lord in the book The Second Comforter: Conversing With the Lord Through the Veil.

The Lord’s Sermon at Bountiful is similar to the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. In the newly restated Sermon at Bountiful, the Lord provides us the way He wants us to understand His greatest sermon. Traditionally His message has been stated as “Blessed are…” while describing the difficulties His followers are to face in this world. But in Covenant of Christ He reaffirms and reasserts His role as the Second Comforter. He wanted it stated in these newly clarified words:

“[B]lessed are those who believe in your words and come down into the depths of humility and are baptized, since they will be visited with fire and the Holy Ghost and will receive a remission of their sins. Yes, God is with the poor in spirit who come to Me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
And also, God is with all those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
And God remembers the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
And God accompanies all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And God loves the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
And God blesses the pure in heart, for they will see God.
And God is with all the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
And God is beside all those who are persecuted for being called by My name, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. And God stands with all of you when people revile, persecute, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, because of following Me, for you should all have great joy and be very glad, because a great reward awaits you in heaven; the prophets who lived before you were persecuted in the same way.” 3 Ne. 5:11-19.

Here the Lord is telling us of His immediate and accessible presence: He is WITH us, He REMEMBERS us, He ACCOMPANIES us, He LOVES us, He BLESSES us, He is BESIDE us, and He STANDS WITH us as we go through this life’s trials and challenges.

It took three days for the Lord to teach me about this specific sermon before I was able to render His message in this newly clarified manner. The Sermon is His. And may His name be praised for what He has done to clarify and explain His meaning to us. More than any previous generation we have the ability to see how the Lord wants to not only connect with us, but how He asks us to accept and recognize His presence as we pass through the ordeals of life.

Of all the great clarifications given by the Lord in Covenant of Christ, His restatement of His meaning for us in this greatest of sermons is perhaps the gift I prize most.

These series of posts are not to benefit those who accepted the Lord’s 2017 Covenant. Feedback from those who believe has been overwhelmingly positive, and may well be unanimous in accepting the new text, Covenant of Christ. Just yesterday I got an email from a woman whose gratitude for the new book brought tears of joy to my eyes as I read her tender message.

But the text is not solely for use by those who believe the Lord has begun anew the forward progress of the restoration. The book is to help all who believe the Book of Mormon to understand the content through modern English.

The hope is that LDS, Fundamentalists, Community of Christ, and others who study the Book of Mormon will welcome this new version and consider benefitting from the content. The text was originally prepared by the authors to come forward for this generation. And events now happening are discussed in the book’s prophecies. Therefore, it is important for people living today to learn the wisdom, warnings, guidance and testimony provided by writers who were inspired by Jesus Christ for our benefit.

We have a political season underway in the United States at this moment. The divided political camps are both making the same plea to the public. Both claim that the “other party” is evil, not to be trusted, lying and dangerous. It doesn’t matter which side you hear, the message is the same, only the identities are switched.

Listen to the description of the “other party” that airs nightly on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, Daily Wire, Newsmax, Washington Post, New York Times, and even the Wall Street Journal. Go to any other news source and compare messages. The messaging is to fear and distrust the rival political party and those who will vote contrary to the viewpoint being advocated.

The ultimate objective of the messaging is exposed in Covenant of Christ. When the leader of one faction wanted to violently overthrow his opponent, it required him to dehumanize his target, and stir up anger to motivate violence: “As soon as Amalickiah obtained the kingdom he began to manipulate the Lamanites against the Nephites. Indeed, he appointed men to speak to the Lamanites from their towers accusing the Nephites. In this way, he influenced them against the Nephites, so that in the latter end of the 19th year of the judges’ rule, having carried out his scheme to that point, having been made king over the Lamanites, he also made it his aim to rule over the entire land, and all the people who lived there, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites. So he had advanced his plan, since he had hardened the Lamanites’ hearts and blinded their minds and stirred them up to anger, so much so that he collected a large army willing to attack the Nephites.” Alma 21:31. It was the tools he used that are being used again today to manipulate the public and motivate violence: “Amalickiah had, in this way, been obtaining power by fraud and deceit[.]” Id, 32.

Bloomberg News today said the United States is now the third-most likely nation to experience widespread civil violence next year. If angry political voices are able to stir up the public for a long enough time, there will be resulting violence.

It has been the trajectory of two prior civilizations that occupied the Americas to disintegrate into violence and upheaval when they abandoned worship of the God of this land: Jesus Christ. The purpose of Covenant of Christ is to forewarn this generation about that destiny awaiting us, if we follow that same path.

We still have time to repent and return to following the Lord. These posts are to persuade everyone who is willing to read Covenant of Christ and consider just how relevant the warnings in that book are for where we find ourselves right now.

As I understand it, clarifying what something means is not changing its meaning. It is restating the matter in words that are better understood. However, even if a person believes and accepts that there are “changes” in their understanding of that word, the Lord has told us: “I Am the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I deliver My words according to My own pleasure. And because I’ve spoken one word, there’s no need for you to conclude that I can’t speak another. Because My work isn’t finished yet, and it won’t be until the end of mankind, or even from then on and forever.” RE 2 Ne. 12:9-10. If the Lord has more to say, then it should be His prerogative to do so. I dispute that the text has been changed, although it has certainly been clarified. Sometimes in surprising ways that would not be attainable without the Lord’s clarifications.

One of the clarifications that the Covenant of Christ makes very clear is that the text is NOT a history. That point is made continually: Jacob 2:13: “And not even one percent of the doings of this people, who are now becoming numerous, can be written on these plates.” Words of Mormon describing what his abridgment has included: 1:2: “I can’t write one percent of my people’s activities.” Helaman 2:4: “But not even one percent of events are included in this book, such as an account of the Lamanites and Nephites wars, conflicts, divisions, preaching, prophecies, shipping, shipbuilding, building of temples, synagogues, and sanctuaries, and their righteousness and wickedness, and their acts of murder, robbery, and plunder, and all kinds of abominations and whoredoms and idol worship.” Ether 6:20: “Then he ended his record, but I haven’t written one percent of it[.]” 3 Ne. 2:16: “they can’t all be written in this book. Indeed, this book can’t contain even one percent of what occurred among so many people in 25 years.”

Even Christ’s teachings are likewise not given but in a tiny sample: 3 Ne. 12:1: “And now not even one percent of what Jesus taught the people can be written in this book.” I assume that if over 99% of what the Lord taught was omitted from the text, then He has every right to make His message more clearly stated for us.

Covenant of Christ (like the Book of Mormon) is NOT a history. It is instead a prophecy. As the one who abridged the text explained why the less than 1% of the material was given to us today as our warning: “Why have you altered God’s holy word so as to bring condemnation on your souls? Look to God’s revelations, because the time is coming when all these things will certainly be fulfilled. The Lord has shown me great and awe-inspiring things about what’s going to take place soon after these words appear among you. Now, I speak to you as though you were present, yet you are not. But Jesus Christ has shown you to me, and I know the things you do. I know you live pridefully. There are none, except for a few, who aren’t lifted up in pride to their very center, to the point of wearing very fine clothing, and to the point of envying and strife, malice, persecution, and all kinds of iniquity. Your congregations and churches — every single one of them — have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. You love money and your material possessions and your fine clothing and decorating your houses of worship more than you love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. You pollutions, hypocrites, and you teachers who sell yourselves for things that will corrode and decay, why have you polluted God’s holy congregation? Why are you ashamed to take upon yourselves the name of Christ? Why don’t you consider that the value of an endless happiness is greater than misery that never dies? Isn’t it because of the world’s praise?” Mormon 4:5.

Covenant of Christ was meant specifically as a warning to us. Now. And we need to understand the text. As Jesus Christ forewarns us about this very moment we live in: “Yes, woe to the Gentiles unless they repent: For when that day comes, says the Father, I’ll take away your strength from you, and I’ll destroy your security. Your cities will fall and I’ll break open your guarded borders. Your sciences and learning will turn into foolishness, and your false beliefs will cause your failure. I’ll expose the fraud of those in authority, and your trusted institutions will lose everyone’s loyalty.” 3 Ne. 9:12. This is now underway. We need to awaken and see how the Covenant of Christ is aimed directly at us, to awaken us to our present plight, the justified condemnation we are under, and coming judgments.

The Lord’s clarifications throughout the new text are all intended to address us where we are today.

I’ve addressed false beliefs derived from the Book of Mormon text in the past. I coined the term “Trinitarian comma” because of doctrinal disputes over whether Joseph Smith’s understanding of the Godhead changed over time. There are many scholarly works exploring the apparent changing view of the Godhead by Joseph from the original Book of Mormon text to the Lectures on Faith and Nauvoo era sermons. I dismissed these by pointing out that John Gilbert provided all the punctuation to the text, and by replacing the punctuation I could make the text read consistent with the Lectures on Faith. Those punctuation changes were adopted for the Restoration Edition of the Book of Mormon. I only point this out to show that doctrinal errors crept into beliefs because of content in the text that were not part of what the Lord intended, nor what Joseph Smith even provided.

I’ve heard of criticisms that some traditional, long-held, widely defended interpretations of the text are contradicted by the rewording in Covenant of Christ. This criticism assumes the traditions are correct. That ignores the possibility that the Lord has now deliberately clarified His meaning in order to precisely reject the traditional view and make His meaning directly opposed to it. After all, He has told us something about traditions, especially those borrowed from Historic Christianity: “they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight, that those professors were all corrupt, that, They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” T&C 1, JS-H, Section 2:5

I’d suggest reading Covenant of Christ as if it were a new message and see what it tells you about our present circumstances. The book is for and about us. It is not history. It is prophecy and warning for us at this very moment in time. It was clarified for the very generation when the book’s message was intended to be understood. Read it to try to understand what it is telling you.

I got an email asking about contacting those involved in the Covenant of Christ text, because the writer wanted to pose questions to have the text defended. I responded with the below answer, which I also forwarded to those who worked on the project, as he requested. The answer to his question may be of general interest, so I am putting it up on this website below:

While I will pass it on, the accountability is confined to me.

During the years of work on moving words into modern meanings, I consulted on choices between variants, but the text remained essentially a restatement of the original with all the difficulties of reading the textual construct of the original.

When it was turned over to me, I trusted all of the predecessor work and went through the text originally believing it was only going to be a sort of commentary. But on the winter solstice I learned otherwise, and the revelation of that night has been put into the prayer I read at the conference.

That changed things. I worked through the text and made more changes to the content structurally, and condensed things that were redundant because it cleared up the text’s message to say it clearly once. I went through the entire text rearranging, condensing, and clarifying often by using fewer words.

Some of the text was particularly difficult and obtuse in meaning, so I highlighted the passage and moved on. As I proceeded I found one place where a sentence was repeated in two different versions. The ones who had it before me had not reached an agreement and one of them rendered the sentence one way and the other rendered it another way. I looked at the original sentence in the Book of Mormon and deleted both of the options and wrote it again plainly.

As I went through I also discovered late in Alma that there was a missing sentence. I found the original text in the Book of Mormon and recovered that missing sentence.

Please understand that I was “inspired” by another, higher intelligence than mine as I uncovered details, such as those I just mentioned and claim that the Lord guided my poor efforts.

After coming to the end I went back and looked at all the highlighted text materials and made the effort to figure out what the text was saying and then put it plainly in English we would understand today. As I did that I looked at the text before and after those places and found that it could be improved still further.

The first pass-through shortened the text by over 20 pages in the MS Word format I was using.

So I returned to the start and went through the text a second time from beginning to end. Then, after completing it I returned and did it again a third time. Then again a fourth time. Each time through the text was clarified and condensed, and sharpened in the statement the text was conveying.

By this time the text was shortened by over another 27 pages in the MS format I was using., reducing the text by over 47 pages total,

As I finished, there were still some things that I knew needed to be standardized but I did not want to keep the text from my predecessors and returned it to them with instructions about standardization and asked for their reactions/input. They completed their assignment and returned the text to me.

I then went through the text for what I believed would be a final pass through, and made still more changes and corrections as inspired to do, trusting this would be the end of the work. At that point I finalized and presented the prayer to the Lord to get the text approved by Him. Instead of approving I was again directed to go through the text another time from front to back. I did so and made the final changes to the text, again offered the prayer and received the Answer.

I made thousands of changes to the text in order to render it in the final form. I believe that all of the changes were attributable to the Lord and is specifically for the reason He stated to me on the Winter Solstice: “But this has a different purpose. This is to help a new generation to understand the content to help with the Lord’s return.” It has been a rework under Divine direction to accomplish that purpose. All of the restatements of the text are designed to sharpen the reader’s focus on those things most important for preparing a generation for the Lord’s return. Therefore I recognize that the text speaks a message now that was out of focus in the earlier text and therefore greatly sharpens the warning to us. The war chapters that seemed so random before are now aimed directly at us. We are now shown how selective and precise the destruction of the wicked has occurred in the people on this land who ripened in iniquity and failed to heed the God of this land.

The text is now ours. To either heed or reject. To parse into segments that ignore the direct and threatening warning sharpened in the restatement in modern English, or to give heed and realize the Lord will “in His wrath” do again what has happened before on this land.

This is a work that belongs to the Lord, because as He has stated: “There is as much Divine attention and assistance in getting this new version completed as before.”

I would never dare to make any change to anything the Lord has provided to us as scripture. It would take such gall and foolishness that I could not consider it. But, inasmuch as the Lord had condescended to speak with me, I will obey and do as He directs. And I will also confirm and testify the Lord has stated to me, and I have faithfully recorded His word that: “I labored alongside you in this work. My word is truth. My word is spirit. As you worked with the text I gave you my word and it is to be kept as it was given. My word carries with it the power of truth, and you are not called to alter it, but are to defend it. As you have considered comments from others you have feared man more than me. The corruption of scripture has been caused by men fearing others and failing to heed my word. You were told to update the language, and that included restating my doctrine, sacrament and baptismal prayers but you hesitated and needed to be commanded to do so. Let your work of updating the language now end with the words I have given you.
Publish it for the people to read. Then, have the voice of the people determine if they will accept it as my Covenant, as they will be judged by their voice on this matter.”

I will, therefore, defend it, just as I have been commanded to do. The accountability for the text rests with me. Although I will pass your email and this response along to the others who have worked on it, the overwhelming rewrite was my responsibility and was accomplished between December 10, 2023 and the Summer Solstice of 2024. Those were happenstance dates that I didn’t take any notice of until it was later pointed out to me by one of the others working on the project.

If there are questions or complaints I think I owe the responsibility to defend the text.

The Lord has explained: “For behold, I am Endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is Endless punishment, for Endless is my name.” (T&C 4:2) That was a “mystery” until it was explained to us. Meditating on that new light it is apparent that the “endlessness” of God is installed throughout the creation. Every fingerprint on every hand is unique. The DNA of every living thing is so unique that we can identify exactly the organism from DNA matching.

Every snowflake is unique. All topography is unique, and that is built into English and American common law, because land is not considered interchangeable. “Blackacre is not fungible.” In law school an example of any real estate principle is referred to using the term “Blackacre” for the place. And anything that is “fungible” is interchangeable with any other like kind thing.

We build fungible stuff. Every car, phone, television, rifle, brick, toaster, or dresser made by a manufacturer on an assembly line is purposefully intended to be identical. We want to look at a catalogue or showroom floor model and trust that when we buy the thing what we will receive will be identical with what we first chose. We oppose what is unique through our commerce, and that carries on into how we deal with nature. Every unique tree that we harvest is then cut into dimensional lumber measured as 2×4′ or 2×6′ etc. The thing God made singularly and endlessly is converted into a reliable sameness by our industry.

We don’t even let one another remain unique. We classify ourselves into categories by our national identities, race, age, education, income level, height, weight, etc. so much so that if you were given a description of a character in a book you would imagine them to be familiar to you based on your impulse for categorization and others you have met. We can dismiss whole groups in political campaigns because we think of them as a “voting block” and therefor we needn’t appeal to them.

We are here to be “added upon” by the experiences of this life. Everyone who has ever lived here, and everyone who will yet live here will be “added upon” as stated in the T&C: “And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon, and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” (T&C 145: Book of Abraham 6:2.) The reference to those who “kept their first estate” means all of us who descend from Adam and Eve and live in this world.

We began as brothers and sisters, taught by parents who had been in the presence of God, and shared a common religion that taught us truths that God gave to our first parents. But the continuity of knowing those truths was broken in the second generation. Rebellion and rejection began with the first children of Adam and Eve, and has continued throughout the generations.

Despite the failure of mankind to follow God, the Lord has adapted His efforts to let every person who lives here to be added upon. How that has happened is again, Endless. Meaning the Lord has accomplished His purposes in ways that truly justify His claim to the name of “Endless.”

The Book of Mormon teaches: “For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore, we see that the Lord doth counsel in his wisdom, according to that which is just and true. I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it.” (Alma 15:13 RE; 29:8-9 LDS) In the Covenant of Christ edition this is rendered in modern English to read: “The Lord gives to every nation, from their own people, using their own language, teachers delivering His message that He decides is relevant for them. Therefore we should trust that the Lord is wise enough to guide everyone to the truth appropriate for them. I know the Lord’s commandments to me, and I’ve found joy obeying.”

No two of us have the same understanding, and the Lord has been taking that into account. He is far more willing to let us develop gradually, uniquely and patiently than we are willing to tolerate differences in understanding. It is common for “religious” people to damn others whose understanding differs from theirs solely on the basis of their own small window into an infinite plan of a God whose name is Endless.

One lady has spent a few years tying to get people to see across religious divides by having representatives of different faith traditions speak in a worldwide conference sharing differing truths from their own faith tradition. She has set another one to be held this October 13th. That upcoming Unity in Humanity Conference organized by Jill Van Haren will be announced on my website as it gets closer. But the idea underlying her years-long effort is one the Covenant of Christ/Book of Mormon endorses: The Lord does give to every nation, from their own people, using their own language, teachers delivering what part of His message that He decides to be relevant for them. Therefore we should trust that the Lord is wise enough to guide everyone to the truth appropriate for them. And therefore I try to be patient with such truths as others possess and show respect for something they hold sacred.

There is Endless variety–everywhere. That is evidence of God’s character. It should not try our patience. It should bring us joy. No matter how far afield mankind has strayed from God, they are being “added upon” by their experiences here. However tragic, beautiful, diseased, joyful, miserable, heroic, selfish, celebrated, forgotten or remembered any given life has been or will ever be, they all are being added upon. This world has been adapted to let us be selfish, insecure, impatient, rigid, foolish, arrogant and cruel to then allow others to be unselfish, confident, patient, adaptable, wise and humble. At some point there will be a Judgement Day. When that time comes we will see that infinite variety in its true light and then be “added upon” by realizing what we each lack.

While we are still here among the living, we have the opportunity to see the Endlessness of God’s efforts to add upon each of us. Every trial is a blessing, every blessing an opportunity to help others. Every moment is priceless. The fewer moments we spend judging and damning others for their differences, and the more charitably we use our words, thoughts and deeds, the greater we become in the eyes of God.

Many of the most intolerant and belligerent people I’ve encountered are very religious. And some of the most kind people I’ve encountered have given up hope of finding value in any religion. That runs contrary to what Adam and Eve were first taught about finding joy and rejoicing in their posterity. When we hate and condemn one another based on our own ‘self-righteousness’ we are insulting an Endless and Eternal God whose very name discloses the variety deliberately planned for this Creation of Theirs.

A side-by-side comparison of the Book of Mormon and Covenant of Christ texts is now up and available to see. It is located at this link found on the CovenantofChrist.org website: Read text of both.

The original text appears first, and the new version appears next. All the text of both books are now there for a comparison review.

The objective of the effort in this new version was not to rewrite the book into smooth and flawless modern English, but was only to restate the text in a way that a modern English reader would comprehend the material. Therefore, the modern English text is only directed at accomplishing that singular objective: to be stated in a way that can be understood.

It was apparent to me while working from the original that the middle English translation by Joseph Smith was an actual translation from a language other than English. The syntax, phrasing, grammar and entire structure continually suggested that there was another language used to record the original. Joseph Smith was turning that into something akin to King James English.

Because some of the structure in the original version was very difficult to untangle the thought as rendered in the text, occasionally the text had to be reorganized. Therefore some of the verses (used by the LDS) were rearranged to make it understandable for a modern reader. When that happened the verse numbers that are part of the text are shown in the rearranged text as originally numbered in the LDS version. This is why sometimes verses are numbered out of order in the rearranged and restated text.

Every verse of the original remained part of the restated text. Nothing was omitted. Nor was anything changed in meaning from the original with only a few exceptions. Because the Lord provided assistance, some of His assistance clarified the text and the Lord’s clarifications were adopted in the new version.

There was a protocol adopted of using capitalization for pronouns referring to God. That was done to allow text that refers to “he” and “him” to be distinguished between “He” referring to the Lord and “he” referring to Lehi, or some other man. That protocol was adopted in order to make the text better understood and thereby eliminate ambiguity.

Finally, readers should bear in mind that the original contained NO punctuation when Joseph Smith finished the translation. All the punctuation was provided by John Gilbert, an employee of the EB Grandin printshop. Some punctuation remains, some have been reordered to clarify text and eliminate what I’ve referred to as “Trinitarian commas” in a talk I gave some time ago. Those adjustments were to make the text read in a way that conformed to the Lectures on Faith.

Minimalist punctuation was deliberate. It allows a modern reader to confront the text without imposing too much on how it ought to be read. If you have a pencil, you can punctuate it as you please. But what is important is that there is a clear text that reliably covers the material in a way you can better understand it. That alone was the objective.

I was reflecting on the many people who were one time fellowshipping and meeting with me and then departed for their own undertaking. I could count 20 before I stopped. Most have taken strange religious routes that seem self-destructive to me.

One of the things I’ve observed is that when a person accepts the idea of continuing revelation and the possibility of access to God, there are those who are so overcome with the idea that they assume any “inspiration” can be trusted. They model the error described by Joseph Smith: “Try the spirits, but what by? Are we to try them by the creeds of men? What preposterous folly — what sheer ignorance — what madness! Try the motions and actions of an eternal being (for I contend that all spirits are such) by a thing that was conceived in ignorance and brought forth in folly — a cobweb of yesterday. Angels would hide their faces, and devils would be ashamed and insulted, and would say, Paul we know, and Jesus we know, but who are you? Let each man of society make a creed and try evil spirits by it, and the Devil would shake his sides; it is all that he would ask — all that he would desire. Yet many of them do this, and hence many spirits are abroad in the world. One great evil is that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits: their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of God. Hence, the Methodists, Presbyterians, and others frequently possess a spirit that will cause them to lie down, and during its operation, animation is frequently entirely suspended; they consider it to be the power of God and a glorious manifestation from God — a manifestation of what? Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of Heaven withdrawn or the purposes of God developed? Have they seen and conversed with an angel — or have the glories of futurity burst upon their view? No!” That is excerpted from T&C 147. That entire section should be studied.

I’ve given counsel to many people, and had some reject that counsel. I take no offense when they decide to ignore my advice, but let them go in peace and no longer make any effort to convince or condemn them. But their course has almost always been downhill.

I reject polygamy, immorality, adultery and sexual deviancy in any form. Anyone who claims I have not been clear on that is deceiving themselves and misleading others.

I do not believe there is any other way or means for salvation than through Jesus Christ. There is none greater, now that He has risen from the dead and had all power in heaven and on earth conveyed to Him. He and His Father are one, and I worship them as the Father and Son. There is no other spirit that can be relied upon for salvation and continuing progress in this world and the worlds to come.

I do not believe I am a great man, nor am I mighty and strong, nor someone worth elevating above the common man that I am. It is wrong for any man to think of himself as better than another. Even if asked by the Lord to accomplish an assignment, it does not make the laborer better than another. I cannot save another, and cannot save myself. I and you are dependent upon a Savior, and that role was filled by Jesus Christ.

I plan to write more about the false spirits that influence people, but may instead address that in a talk. But for now, I wanted to make a statement to again affirm what I believe and teach. I try to be public about everything important, and not to hide my position from public view. A private conversation that addresses an issue between someone with a specific need, issue or concern is just that: a private conversation. They get whatever they get out of the conversation, and whatever they repeat second-hand is never trustworthy.

I have no spokesman. I speak for myself. I try to be clear and if there is resulting confusion then I try to clear it up in due course.

I read part of the June 20, 2024 revelation at the Sawtooth Conference. Another part of it was sent by email to those who are addressed in that portion of the document. But the entire transcript has not been released so far, and therefore I am providing it below:

On June 20, 2024 the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
It is enough. I have given to you my direction both now and as the work was underway, and therefore I say to you: It is enough.
I labored alongside you in this work. My word is truth. My word is spirit. As you worked with the text I gave you my word and it is to be kept as it was given. My word carries with it the power of truth, and you are not called to alter it, but are to defend it. As you have considered comments from others you have feared man more than me. The corruption of scripture has been caused by men fearing others and failing to heed my word. You were told to update the language, and that included restating my doctrine, sacrament and baptismal prayers but you hesitated and needed to be commanded to do so. Let your work of updating the language now end with the words I have given you.
Publish it for the people to read. Then, have the voice of the people determine if they will accept it as my Covenant, as they will be judged by their voice on this matter. Once the voice of the people has been heard, if they accept it let it be your Covenant version to guide you. No one should be forbidden from using the earlier text, nor compelled to use only one of these two, but if approved by their vote it will be your Covenant text to guide you.
As for my doctrine, sacrament and baptismal prayers, use the new language but you are not to forbid using the earlier language, as I will accept either wording for these ordinances.
In the future when translating the Book of Mormon into other languages, use this Covenant of Christ version as the source for that work.
And again, let this be how you proceed with the Hebrew translation also underway: When it is finished let your fellow servant Jaqim pray and ask if I will accept it, trusting the answer he will receive from me. Then let him find twelve believing Jews who speak and read Hebrew who will sustain it as scripture, have them meet and vote, and once sustained by their vote let it be published as scripture with their names testifying to it, and I will hold the Jews accountable for how they respond to the testimony of Jaqim and the other twelve who witness.
There have been disputes among the women about the conduct of women’s councils and disputes about how they are to proceed. I have given direction and it is not wise for the women to be commanded in every particular, but it is also not wise for the direction I have given to be used to achieve a predetermined outcome. The outcome should be based on, and the result of, what is learned in the council.
All my revelations are intended to guide you, and therefore remember that I have told you that I suffered the Constitution of the United States to be established to maintain the rights and protection of all based upon just and holy principles; and that I established the Constitution by the hands of wise men whom I raised up for this very purpose. The abuses and mistreatment of mankind by unjust governments needed to end, and the principles adopted in the Bill of Rights were intended to secure the protection of those accused of transgressing the laws of the land. The women should consider those protections as they decide how to conduct councils involving those accused of transgressing the laws of God.
Let the women call a conference at a suitable time and place convenient to allow interested women to attend. Have your wife, Stephanie Snuffer conduct the conference deliberations and let any who want to speak present their concerns. Reason together and draw upon the experiences from those past women’s councils. Let the women learn to come to agreement and the voice of that conference decides all matters raised. And I remind you that the majority of those who vote decide the voice of the conference of women. If 100 vote, the vote of 51 decides the matter. And, if another dispute later arises from other women’s councils, and there is a need, call another conference of the women and resolve the dispute by the voice of the women’s conference, as often as need arises.
Now, as for you my servant, I have instructed my people to partake of the sacrament in your families, and you have neglected to do so. This is your obligation and you are no longer to neglect doing so as this is your duty.
Hear me now: Let every person take care in how they use my name, as if I had part in their every dispute, for many things provoking arguments among the people are born from pride, stubbornness, aspiring for control, and reckless indifference toward me and one another. I bear with the people still, and patiently await the return of natural fruit in my vineyard. Do not be misled by my patience, for the time is quickly approaching for the harvest of my vineyard. Amen.

During the time that Covenant of Christ was being written I was prayerful and submissive to the Lord. It was an intimidating effort and seemed audacious to even consider undertaking. My first impression was that it might be a useful commentary, but not something authoritative. I was surprised to learn by revelation from the Lord on December 22, 2023 that: ” The original Book of Mormon translation was to get that generation to be willing to accept it as scripture. They needed it to mimic the King James Version language. But this has a different purpose. This is to help a new generation to understand the content to help with the Lord’s return. There is as much Divine attention and assistance in getting this new version completed as before.” True to that revelation there was Divine attention and a great deal of Divine assistance. More importantly, it became clear that this was not like the earlier publication, but had a different purpose for a different audience, living at a different time. This was for US (this generation), today.

When it was stabilized into a final text I offered it in prayer to the Lord to receive His acceptance. Instead of accepting it, I was instructed to read the entire text again, which was done. In that final read-through there were a handful of corrections made. With that, the Lord was again asked for His acceptance. We got an answer on June 20, 2024, the Solstice when the longest daylight and shortest nighttime happens. That answer began with these words:

It is enough. I have given to you my direction both now and as the work was underway, and therefore I say to you: It is enough.
I labored alongside you in this work. My word is truth. My word is spirit. As you worked with the text I gave you my word and it is to be kept as it was given. My word carries with it the power of truth, and you are not called to alter it, but are to defend it. As you have considered comments from others you have feared man more than me. The corruption of scripture has been caused by men fearing others and failing to heed my word. You were told to update the language, and that included restating my doctrine, sacrament and baptismal prayers but you hesitated and needed to be commanded to do so. Let your work of updating the language now end with the words I have given you.

Just like the earlier revelation on the Winter Solstice, this one affirmed the Lord’s involvement, His direction, and His ownership of the results. The words that state that the Lord’s “word is truth” and His “word is spirit” is a thought I’ve not understood before they were spoken in this answer. When the Lord breathes into words His animating spirit of truth, they contain power that can save the souls of mankind.

The revelation about the effort to restate the text in modern English confirms the Lord was as concerned and assisted in this new text similarly to what He did with the original translation. I believe and accept that because I witnessed it. To the extent that there were “changes” I think the Lord was helping to make it more closely conform to the original purpose of the book. I put “changes” in quotes because I trust when the Lord authorizes clarifications for a modern reader that is not truly a change, but is instead a restatement to help us understand.

I do not think the text is smooth and a model of modern English. That was never the objective. The objective was clarifying meaning and making it accessible to us in our day. But remember, too, that there is no prohibition about retaining and using the original text, even if someone decides they’re going to accept this one as scripture.

In the beatitudes, the “God is with” and “God remembers” and “God is beside” language is something that took three days of input from the Lord before I was willing to make that rendering for the wording. I’m confident that the Lord could clarify what He intended, and I just accepted it from Him (but not without some resistance). The “blessed are” language is iconic. I would not dare change it, and in fact I did not change it. The Lord did.

There are a number of wording choices that I am convinced were intended to make the text applicable to the generation that will welcome the return of the Lord. Those are to help us. But we are under no obligation to uncritically accept it, and I am pleased with all the reactions and feedback. However, I do not claim this is mine, because it belongs to the Lord. As He put it: “I gave you my word and it is to be kept as it was given.”

Despite the Lord saying this, He has also said in that answer: “Publish it for the people to read. Then, have the voice of the people determine if they will accept it as my Covenant, as they will be judged by their voice on this matter. Once the voice of the people has been heard, if they accept it let it be your Covenant version to guide you. No one should be forbidden from using the earlier text, nor compelled to use only one of these two, but if approved by their vote it will be your Covenant text to guide you.”

We are free to accept or reject the text. The Lord respects our agency and intends for us to actively participate in His work. He treats us as equals having a choice to accept or reject even His word, even though He offers us His gift. Given the Lord’s mortal experience it is clear He tolerates rejection. Perhaps more than any of us He is acquainted with rejection and sorrow. He can sincerely ask: For what does it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift. I don’t think that is rhetorical, but a lamentation and a sincere reflection on how He and His word have been received in times past.

There are some variances in how some of the text is restated in the modern English version. You will notice, if you consider the entire body of scripture, that the same original passages of scripture get quoted elsewhere in the scriptures with remarkable variances in text wording. The Malachi text about the return of Elijah is in all volumes of scripture, but wording is quite different. When John the Baptist appeared and spoke to Joseph and Oliver, he is quoted differently by Joseph than by Oliver. Isaiah passages are quoted differently by Paul, and by Abinadi, and by Christ. Yet every one of these variations is scripture.

I’m not sure what to make of it other than to say that different renderings of the same material is not at all unprecedented. The hope is that each rendering is capable of bringing the reader into contact with the truth, and in turn closer to God. However well treated or mistreated the scriptures have been in generations past, I can assure you that when the Lord claims ownership of the Covenant of Christ text it can be trusted as scripture, and as the will of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.

Those who attended the Top of the Mountains Conference are aware that a modern English version of the Book of Mormon was introduced. There were 100 free copies handed out to those who attended. The books are available through the website Covenant of Christ. (covenantofchrist.org)

Right now the text is for believers to review before an October Conference where a vote will be taken to accept or reject the book. If it is accepted by the Conference as scripture, then it will be added to the website scriptures.info and available to read online.

In a few weeks there will be a side-by-side version of the modern English version and the traditional Book of Mormon to let people read and compare both versions online. That will appear on the Covenant of Christ website when completed. (covenantofchrist.org)

The copyright for the text is held by Restoration Archives. The Restoration Archives maintains websites, advanced money to print and inventory leather-bound high quality volumes of the scriptures, and does not make a profit. They incurred the cost for all the copies of the leather-bound scriptures in the first printing, which required well over $100,000.00 to produce because they cannot be produced as print-on-demand copies. Restoration Archives will incur the cost for the second printing which is fast approaching. When leather-bound copies are sold, they are sold from an inventory that Restoration Archives has already purchased and stocked. Then they incur the work of distributing and fulfilling orders. Although volunteers do the manual work of fulfillment, there are still shipping costs and delivery costs (some are driven to locations by volunteers and dropped off). Restoration Archives incurs ongoing costs and losses. So the copyright and associated responsibilities for dealing with the work of making scriptures available goes through them, and they have my gratitude for all they accomplish.

Right now the challenge is for people to read and decide how they will vote in the upcoming October Conference. The plan is for everyone to be invited to attend and vote, and the vote will be taken live in the assembly. Although someone can vote at home without attending, the plan is for only those who assemble at the Conference to have their votes counted.

Details about date, location and times are not yet planned but are actively being worked on by the organizing conference committee. I’m not a member of that committee, and await learning details from those who are in charge. Once I have been provided information I will pass it along.

The upcoming Top of the Mountains conference in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho will be live streamed on the Internet after all. Conference organizers have managed to accomplish providing that service. My talk will be live at this link: Conference Talk

All of the other talks will likewise be live streamed and the Conference website has links and information about all of those at this link: Top of the Mountains Conference

There is also a Conference scheduled on July 10-12 focusing on Emma Smith. That conference information/website is linked here: Remembering Emma-Mothers in Zion That conference will be held in Grand Junction, Colorado.

There will be a conference from June 26th through July 1st. The planned event is linked here: Top of the Mountains Conference

The venue will not allow it to be streamed live. All the talks will be recorded and posted on-line shortly afterward. I have been invited to speak, and will provide a link to my talk on this website when I return from Idaho.