Let Your Time Be Devoted to the Studying of the Scriptures
I recently listened to a discussion of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, and the presenter Anthony Sweat discussed how frequently this translation was mentioned in the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph began his work in the summer of 1830 shortly after the Book of Mormon was published and the church was organized. The Lord told Joseph this in July: “And thou shalt continue in calling upon God in my name, and writing the things which shall be given thee by the Comforter, and expounding all scriptures unto the church” (Doctrine and Covenants 24:5). This likely was an allusion to the work of the translation of the Bible that Joseph was called to bring forth. Later that year a revelation to Sidney Rigdon said this: “And a commandment I give unto thee—that thou shalt write for him; and the scriptures shall be given, even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect” (Doctrine and Covenants 35:20). Sidney was to be a scribe in this translation p