What exactly is the Restored Version?
The Restored Version (RV) is the most accurate, exhaustive, comfortable to read, triple-combination ever made.
It was designed to honor Joseph Smith's revelatory words and edits through clean and accurate, Joseph-approved texts.
What's in the Restored Version?
The Restored Version contains each book found in a modern LDS triple combination — except it has Joseph's original, inspired text in an easy-to-read format.
It restores Lectures on Faith (removed from the D&C in 1921), adds an additional 87 uncanonized revelations that Joseph Smith revealed, as well as 33 revelations received by Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and members of the Twelve.
All in one volume.
Incredible, right?
1840 Book of Mormon
1844 Doctrine & Covenants & 122 Uncanonized Revelations.
1851 Pearl of Great Price
1 Nephi-Moroni.
All 7 Lectures on Faith
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All original and modern D&C Sections (1-138)
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87 Uncanonized Revelations Joseph Smith revealed
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33 Uncanonized Revelations that the early brethren revealed (including The Four Hidden revelations)
Moses
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Abraham
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JST Matthew
History of Joseph Smith
See it In Action
This video lacks features that will be in the RV, such as introductions and page numbers.
Three Main Benefits of the RV:
1. Spiritually Significant - The RV contains every known revelation of Joseph Smith (as well as those of his first successors). The RV therefore fulfills the commandment in the D&C that the revelations should be updated and contains more truth than prior editions.
2. Historically Significant - While the foundational text for the RV is the latest edition of each book of scripture that Joseph approved, the RV carefully documents (via footnote and italicized text) every substantive change made by Joseph or his editing committee, making the RV a truly original set of scriptures.
3. Format Significant - The RV contains no columns, no cumbersome cross-references, and no paragraph breaks at every verse — just like the originals — and has been improved with mini-verse numbers in the paragraphs, which provide a smooth, seamless reading experience that makes it easy to lose track of time while reading and makes it easier to see the larger narrative within the scriptures. It is also one of the first original-editions published that can be used with study guides, since almost all originals do not have verses.
Formatted for Easy-Reading
See the big picture easier and lose track of time while reading.
Topical paragraphing makes the overarching narrative more visible, helping readers maintain the big view, rather than compartmentalizing sections of text and doctrine. It also provides a smoother read.
Mini-verse numbers make it practical for community worship, study materials, and don't detract from reading - most original reprints do not have verses or they create paragraph breaks.
The lack of cumbersome cross-references provide a more seamless reading experience, and prevent readers from seeing the same doctrinal references over and over again, which can over-circulate a unique reference about a narrative or doctrine.
Bound to Last
These scriptures look good, feel comfortable, and are bound to last. The Restored Version uses Cover material that is ideal for high quality book covers, that is both hard-wearing and soft, and should handle many years of use. It has beautiful gold or silver gilded edges that catch attention, and are reminiscent of metal plates. It has sturdy, flexible binding making it so the book may comfortably and safely be laid flat on a desk. It has reliable bible paper that is very thin, yet sturdy and thick enough that it’s hard to see through. It has a Marker-ribbon so that you never lose your reading place (unless you have curious household cats who like to claw at marker ribbons).​​
Quality materials for home and on-the-go.
How to Find Value From The Footnotes
Comparing each change can give deeper insight into the meaning of the text.
1 Nephi 15:35-36 RV
1 Nephi 15:35 RV (1840)
"the devil is the foundation of it [hell]"
1 Nephi 15:35 RV footnote 15
"Joseph Smith replaced 'Prepriator' with 'father' in his own handwriting, when revising the printers manuscript; he then revised it a second time, again in his own handwriting, to say 'foundation' in his 1837 revision."​
1 Nephi 15:35 (modern triple combo -- Not in the RV)
"the devil is the preparator of it [hell]"
Comparing the RV text and footnote to the modern version.
"Proprietor" (1840) in Webster's 1828 dictionary is defined as "the person who has the legal right or exclusive title to any thing," which, in terms of hell (the context), is a significant deviation from "preparator" (modern) which modern dictionaries define as "one who prepares specimens or exhibits for scientific study or display."
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Additional insights into the meaning of Joseph Smith's text are gleaned by further comparing the footnote 15 terms "father" and "preprietor", which give deeper meaning to the devil's connection with hell, from simply preparing people for it, to actually being his exclusive right as something like a father over hell.
Why was the RV created?
To provide pure water (truth) that's enjoyable to read and affordable for everyone.
An increasing amount of people are interested in the unaltered revelations of Joseph Smith, and find value in studying the scriptures as they were originally written, so that no prophecy is left out and no words or sentence structures are altered to mean something different - even if the difference is slight. Joseph Smith instructed members of his editing committee that they should not alter the sense (meaning) of the revelations while revising and editing them.
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Additionally, there was a need for a more user-friendly edition of original scriptures, a set that could be comfortably used for daily study, used in church meetings, and for research — all of which work best with standardized, 1876 versification, an advantage photo-reprints do not have.​
Still Have Questions?
How many differences are there between the modern (1981-2013) LDS triple combination and the Restored Version?
Contrary to modern rumor, modern versions introduce many dozen, if not hundreds of substantial changes to sentences and words that revise doctrines from the original scripture. Arguably, many are insignificant, but many others are very significant. In the modern LDS triple combination, scholars have removed and rewritten much information. For example, D&C 130:22 was changed to read the exact opposite of the original verse and the entire Lectures on Faith (which makes up the “doctrine” of Doctrine and Covenants) was removed in 1921 - the Restored Version restores both to their original readings.
Modern versions (post 1879) were not consulted when restoring the original text of the Restored Version.
Does the Restored Version change any punctuation or words from the originals (1828-1844)?
Words? No.
In roughly 1,100 footnotes, we document where earlier manuscripts differed from the final version published during Smith’s lifetime but the Restored Version does not change any words at all. There are instances where manuscripts are difficult to read or are uncertain as to which was created first (D&C 132, for instance). In these cases, we document both the challenges of discerning the original as well as the changes to be as transparent as possible.
Punctuation? Yes.
This may sound a little surprising on its face, but it's important to note that Joseph Smith did not provide punctuation for any of the original scriptures and punctuation wasn't standardized in his lifetime. Additionally, scribes averaged three mistakes per page when copying the original text by hand, and type-setters (printers) made mistakes too, so each published edition contains hundreds of user-errors. Therefore, we modernized the punctuation.
However, if any punctuation could result in varying interpretations, we favored the original and dropped an explanatory footnote to draw attention to the possible change of meaning, even when we felt the interpretation highly unlikely and difficult to logically defend. Again, however, we did not consult places where modern punctuation clearly affects the meaning of the text.
Was Smith’s editing committee changing the scriptures, and how much did they change them?
Yes, Smith’s editing committee was changing the scriptures. There are three main reasons for this. First, there were punctuation and revision problems due to handwriting, copying, and printing practices of the time. Second, Joseph was commanded to revise and publish his revelations. Third, Joseph was trying to simplify and correct passages of scripture that were unclear to readers. This is especially evident in his 1840 revisions of the Book of Mormon where, interestingly, he removed about seventy instances of “and it came to pass” to make the text more user-friendly.
Read Sample Sections
Certain formatting elements in the RV, like page numbers and intro's, are not yet in this pdf.
