If there is one thing that really rubs me wrong when it comes to the Book of Mormon it is how it plagiarized the Bible in so many ways. Mormons may not realize this, but many chapters in this book have not only been copied and pasted from the Bible, namely Isaiah, but also adds to and takes away from verses in the Bible. Joseph Smith orchestrated this with the help of his friends. This is what you will call a false prophet and a liar. We see him copying and pasting from Isaiah, chapter 51 into the Book of Mormon. it reads, “22 Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.” (Isaiah 51:22,23) It is fine to reference the Bible when we write books, but to not do this and to copy and paste verses such as what we see above is when people can get into a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, in the earliest edition of the Book of Mormon, references to Isaiah did not exist, which makes the use of Isaiah plagarism.
To be clear, 2 Nephi, chapter 8 is generally the same thing as Isaiah, chapter 51 and part of 52. However, it has the issue of plagiarism. Verses 24 and 25 are from Isaiah, chapter 52. Let’s read from this chapter now. “22 Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again. 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over — and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over. 24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” (2 Nephi 8:22-25) The very fact that these verses didn’t refer to Isaiah in the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon means that Joseph Smith meant to have these verses be from his book alone. It was later on down the road that the references to Isaiah, chapters 51 and 52 were added. See for yourself HERE. Amen.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I love Your ways and Your words in the Bible. Help people know that tampering with Your words is only doing the will of Satan. We must not cause Your words to be changed in any way possible. Thank You for preserving the Bible for us today. It is a lamp unto my feet. I am able to understand Your ways by studying it out daily in my mind, heart, and soul. I have never been so happy, God. You have lighted up my life and put Your Spirit in me. All I desire now is to live and breathe for You. You are my everything and my all in all. I love Your presence, Jesus. Give me wisdom and lead me from the evils of this wicked world. Help me not fall for different temptations. As I read and study the Bible, help me to apply what has been taught to my everyday life. If I am not living for You in any such way that I should be, bring this to my attention now, so that I do not unknowingly sin in Your sight. How awesome are You, God. Always be with me. Help me to be a light unto the gentiles, that people will see me and then see You, Father, in heaven. My only desire is to live for You and lead people to Your presence also. The best thing I can do is be judged in this life so that I can find freedom before I die. So I say, judge me now, God. Awaken me to righteousness and holiness. Whatever is lacking, fill it. I love You, Jesus. I give You praise! Amen.
