A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

Why is this edition of the Inspired Holy Scriptures critical today? There are hundreds of versions of the Bible in the world of Christianity, but none with the revelatory authority of the work completed by Joseph Smith Jr., who completed it between June 1830 and July 1833. His son, Joseph Smith III, first published it in 1867 for use by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, now owns the original manuscript, but the text is in the public domain. Some passages noted as “JST” (Joseph Smith Translation) have been included as footnotes or appendices in the LDS Church’s official King James Bible. However, only about thirty percent of the notations are included and are not easily incorporated into daily scripture reading and study. Unfortunately, the original 1867 RLDS publication did not indicate what Joseph Smith Jr. added or amended, making it cumbersome to use in class study with those using the authorized LDS KJV Bible.

This edition is a faithful re-typeset version of the 1867 printing with the changes made by Joseph Smith Jr., set in [brackets], along with the words of Deity (God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost) set in red text. Other enhancements include blue text for the words of angels and quoted Scripture and italicized blue text for the words of Satan. Also included is a timeline of the translation process. Minor changes made by Joseph in marginal notes in his personal 1828 H&E Phinney Co Bible, but omitted in the 1867 printing, are shown in <brackets> in Genesis Chapter 5, affect the revised Patriarch’s ages.