LDS Edition Of The Bible

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) publishes LDS Edition of The Bible in English and Spanish that it encourages its members to use. The text of the LDS Church’s English-language Bible is the Authorized King James Version and the church’s Spanish-language Bible is a revised Reina-Valera translation. The editions include footnoting, indexing, and summaries that are consistent with LDS Church teachings and that integrate the Bible with the church’s other Standard Works.

The eighth Article of Faith of the church states, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly”.

Quadruple combination (Bible & other Standard Works) opened to the Book of Isaiah – note the cross references between Biblical and Latter-day Saint scripture in the footnotes

English-language King James Version edition

Full name Holy Bible King James Version (English) Santa Biblia: Reina-Valera 2009 (Spanish) Bíblia Sagrada, Almeida 2015 (Portuguese)
Language English, Spanish, and Portuguese
Complete Bible
published 1979 (English) 2009 (Spanish) 2015 (Portuguese)
Textual basis King James Version (English) Reina-Valera (Spanish)
João Ferreira de Almeida’s translation (Portuguese)
Religious affiliation The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Website www.lds.org/scriptures/bible

In 1979, the LDS Church published its first edition of the Bible in English. The text of the Bible is that of the Authorized King James Version. Both the Old and New Testaments are included, but the Apocrypha is not. Each chapter includes a paragraph-long heading that summarizes the contents of the chapter from a “Mormon perspective”. Cross-referencing footnotes to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price are included, as is an LDS-oriented 600-page topical index and the church’s bible dictionary. Selected references to the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible are included in footnotes, with longer excerpts included in an appendix. Lastly, the edition contains bible maps and a gazetteer. In 1999, color photographs from the Holy Land were added. None of the LDS-specific supplements in the edition claim doctrinal authority: only the text of the King James Version (and the other Standard Works) is considered canonical by the LDS Church.

The publication of the English-language LDS edition of the Bible was overseen by apostle Thomas S. Monson, who later became the President of the LDS Church. The English-language edition has been described as portraying a “strongly conservative” version of Mormonism that is largely reflective of the theological positions of apostle Bruce R. McConkie, who assisted Monson in editing the work and wrote the chapter headings.

Spanish-language Reina-Valera edition

In 2009, the LDS Church published a Spanish-language edition of the Bible. Entitled Santa Biblia: Reina-Valera 2009, the text of the Bible is based on the 1909 version of the Reina-Valera translation. Changes to the text included modernization of grammar and vocabulary. Like the English-language edition, the Spanish-language edition includes LDS-oriented footnotes and chapter headings, as well as a topical index. The church’s Spanish-language Bible project was supervised by general authorities Jay E. Jensen and Lynn A. Mickelsen. In 2010, the church’s Handbook was modified to state: “Spanish-speaking members should use the Latter-day Saint edition of the Reina-Valera Bible.”

Portuguese-language Almeida edition

In 2015, the LDS Church released a new Portuguese-language edition of the Bible, a revision of the edited and corrected 1914 edition of the João Ferreira de Almeida translation. This version was initially released electronically, and became available in print in March 2016.

Other languages

As of 2015, the LDS Church does not publish Bibles in any other languages besides English, Spanish and Portuguese. However, as stated in the Handbook, “[i]n many other non-English languages, the Church has approved a non–Latter-day Saint edition of the Bible for use in Church meetings and classes.”

External links

English-language edition

• English-language LDS Church Bible: complete text in PDF, including footnotes and chapter headings. Does not include other supplemental material.
• English-language Old Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings
• English-language New Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings
• English-language Study Helps: complete text in HTML of the topical index, bible dictionary, maps, and Joseph Smith Translation

Spanish-language edition

• Spanish-language LDS Church Bible: complete text in PDF, including footnotes and chapter headings.
• Official webpage of Spanish-language edition
• Spanish-language Old Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings
• Spanish-language New Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings

Portuguese-language edition

• Portuguese-language LDS Church Bible: complete text in PDF, including footnotes and chapter headings.
• Official webpage of Portuguese-language edition
• Portuguese-language Old Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings
• Portuguese-language New Testament: complete text in HTML, including footnotes and chapter headings

Other media

• “That Promised Day: The Coming Forth of the LDS Scriptures” – BYUtv documentary describing the production of the modern (1979+) English editions of the Standard Works, starting with the LDS edition of the Bible.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia