Core response
The texts differ. In the CES Letter’s example, 3 Nephi names the Twelve, and the JST adds instructions for traveling disciples. The JST manuscript then keeps the familiar teaching about food, clothing, birds, and the cubit, with some changes. The Church’s appendix prints only the added instructions there. The wording still raises a real question about King James influence, but the excerpt leaves out much of the comparison.
Check the three readings
- 3 Nephi 13:25–27 names the Twelve before Jesus tells them to trust God for food and clothing. Read the verses
- JST Matthew 6:25–27 in the Church’s appendix contains the additional instruction to traveling disciples. The full manuscript continues into the corresponding KJV teaching. Read the manuscript
- The Lord’s Prayer gives a real difference. The JST asks that God not let us be led into temptation, while 3 Nephi retains the familiar wording. Compare the examples
A reply you could give
“I see why the KJV wording stands out. For this example, read the full JST manuscript alongside 3 Nephi. Both teach the disciples to trust God for their needs. The JST expands that instruction. Where the English really differs, I’d ask whether both texts claim to restore the same wording or whether one is clarifying a teaching.”
For the broader question of what Jesus does and teaches at Bountiful, compare the visit and the whole sermon with Matthew.
The claim
Jeremy Runnells argues that if Joseph Smith corrected Matthew’s sermon by revelation, the Book of Mormon should already contain the corrected words. He compares 3 Nephi 13:25–27 and King James Matthew 6:25–27 with the verses selected for the Church’s JST appendix. The passages share substantial King James English, and the full comparison shows where the wording changes. CES Letter, “Mistranslations”
What does the example actually show?
- Matthew 6:25–27 (King James Version). Jesus tells his hearers to take no thought for food or clothing, points to the birds God feeds, and asks who can add a cubit to their stature. Read Matthew
- 3 Nephi 13:25–27. Jesus turns to the Twelve and reminds them that he chose them to minister. The CES Letter begins after this introduction, where the language closely matches the King James verses. The introduction and the familiar wording both appear in the early printer’s manuscript. Read 3 Nephi · Printer’s manuscript, page 385
- Joseph Smith Translation. The revision adds instructions to go into the world, face persecution, teach from house to house, and trust that God will provide. The Church appendix labels those added lines JST Matthew 6:25–27 and points to KJV Matthew 6:25. Runnells quotes those lines. In the full manuscript they are followed by the familiar food, clothing, birds, and cubit passages, with some changes. Read the appendix · Read the full manuscript page
The Book of Mormon appeared in 1830. Joseph and his scribes began revising the New Testament in March 1831, about a year after that publication. The surviving second revision manuscript preserves this part of the earlier revision. 1830 title page · Joseph Smith Papers, Revision 2 historical introduction
Where do the texts genuinely differ?
In the Lord’s Prayer, KJV Matthew 6:13 and 3 Nephi 13:12 say “lead us not into temptation.” JST Matthew 6:14 says “suffer us not to be led into temptation.” The revision makes the request that God prevent it explicit. 3 Nephi 13:12 · JST Matthew 6:14
KJV Matthew 5:22 includes “without a cause” in the warning about anger. Both 3 Nephi 12:22 and the JST manuscript omit those words. A later revision can therefore agree with 3 Nephi against the KJV in one verse and differ from it in another. Matthew 5:22 · 3 Nephi 12:22 · JST manuscript, page 8
What would count as a contradiction?
If both versions claim to preserve the same exact words of the same sermon, a wording difference is a problem for that claim. Matthew and 3 Nephi present the teachings in different settings. Both 3 Nephi and the JST direct this part to disciples who minister. A Latter-day Saint can read the JST as an inspired clarification or expansion. The two can teach the same point about trusting God while using different words. The close King James wording in 3 Nephi still calls for an account of the English translation, and these verses alone cannot establish the antiquity of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith Papers, historical introduction · David A. LeFevre on the sermon in the JST
Runnells also appeals to Joseph’s description of the Book of Mormon as the “most correct” book. In Wilford Woodruff’s 1841 record, Joseph immediately connects that claim to drawing nearer to God by living the book’s teachings. That statement supplies no rule that a future Bible revision must match the Book of Mormon word for word. Woodruff’s journal, November 28, 1841
A concise response
“The familiar King James words really are in 3 Nephi. The full JST manuscript keeps those lines, with changes, after its added instructions to missionaries. Elsewhere, the JST does use different words, as in the Lord’s Prayer. I read that as clarification. If you think it shows the earlier wording was wrong, what makes that the better reading of this revision?”
Compare the JST with Adam Clarke’s Bible commentary
