1 Nephi 4:2
1830 Edition
Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses: For he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea, and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through out of captivity on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.
Changes
Simple English
So let’s go. Let’s be strong like Moses. He spoke to the waters of the Red Sea, and they split apart. Our ancestors walked through on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army followed them and drowned in the sea.
Paraphrase
'So let’s go! Let’s be brave like Moses was. Remember how he spoke to the Red Sea and it split apart? Our ancestors walked through on dry ground while Pharaoh’s army drowned behind them.'
Notes
"There are thirty-two interesting parallels between material found in three books of the Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon story of Nephi....Interestingly, twenty-eight of the thirty-two parallels to the Apocrypha are found in the first five chapters of the Book of Mormon. This constitutes an extraordinary cluster of similarities..." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 29.
Parallel: Both Nephi and Judith counseled their associates to be strong (see Judith 8:24). Both claimed that God's strength did not depend upon numbers (see Judith 9:11). Both Nephi and Judith use a similar expression, "he came with ten thousand" (Judith 16:4). 2 Maccabees, chapter 3, contains a story about "the treasury in Jerusalem" and Heliodorus' attempt to plunder its contents. Laban's treasury was also in Jerusalem. Both Nephi and Heliodorus had to travel to Jerusalem in their attempt to obtain access to the treasury (see 2 Maccabees 3:7-9).
For other parallels, please see: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 1:2, 1 Nephi 1:17, 1 Nephi 4:20-24, 1 Nephi 2:4-6, 1 Nephi 3:3, 1 Nephi 3:16, 1 Nephi 3:25, 1 Nephi 3:31, 1 Nephi 4:1-2, 1 Nephi 4:4-5, 1 Nephi 4:7-9, 1 Nephi 4:18, 1 Nephi 4:19-24 & 38, 1 Nephi 4:20, 1 Nephi 4:27, 1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 13:40, 2 Nephi 5:8, Mosiah 10:13, 4 Nephi 1:31.
For a full note on the use of the Apocrypha, please see the annotation at 1 Nephi 1:1.