Ether 12:19
1830 Edition
And there were many whose faith was so exceeding strong even before Christ came, which could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.
Changes
Simple English
Many people had very strong faith before Christ came. They could not be kept from beyond the veil. They saw with their own eyes the things they had seen by faith. And they were glad.
Paraphrase
Many people had such powerful faith even before Christ came that they couldn’t be kept outside the veil. They actually saw with their physical eyes what they had first seen through the eyes of faith. And they were overjoyed.
Notes
LDS scholar Grant Hardy writes, "Any quotations in the Book of Mormon from biblical writings composed after 600 BC are anachronistic, potentially challenging both the book's historicity and its credibility. This is all the more so when the borrowed expressions appear in the exact words of the King James Version of 1611. Nonbelievers simply view the English Bible as one of Joseph Smith's sources, while Latter-day Saints look instead for more apologetic explanations... it is difficult to explain how it is that Moroni and his father before him had access to writings attributed to the apostle Paul.... Ether 12 is written as if Moroni is as fully familiar with the text of Hebrews as he is with Nephi's or Mormon's writings."
He continues, "There can be little doubt that Moroni's discourse on faith at Ether 12 is, in some way, based on the Epistle to the Hebrews, but it is more than simply an imitation; it is a creative adaptation."
He further states, "From the perspective of believers (LDS), it would be rather ironic if Moroni, who eschewed his father's program of evidence-based faith, here inadvertently ended up providing perhaps the strongest textual validation for the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Paradoxically, though, with Ether 12's clear and thorough dependence on Hebrews 6 and 11, Moroni has simultaneously supplied some of the most compelling evidence that the book has its origins in the nineteenth century." -Hardy, Understanding the Book Of Mormon, pp. 255, 257, 260.