Ether 12:21
1830 Edition
And after that the brother of Jared had beheld the finger of the Lord, because of the promise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith, the Lord could not withhold any thing from his sight; wherefore he shewed him all things, for he could no longer be kept without the veil.
Changes
Simple English
After the brother of Jared saw the finger of the Lord, the Lord could not keep anything from his sight. This was because of the promise the brother of Jared had gotten by faith. So the Lord showed him all things. He could no longer be kept from beyond the veil.
Paraphrase
After the brother of Jared saw the Lord’s finger—because of the promise he’d received through faith—the Lord couldn’t hold anything back from him. So he showed him everything. He could no longer be kept outside the veil.
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.