The Book of Mormon

Ether 3:4

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~2200 BC

1830 Edition

And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea.

Influences

John 11:22 (KJV)
But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

Simple English

'I know you have all power. You can do anything to help people. Please touch these stones with your finger. Make them ready to shine in the dark. They will give us light in our boats when we cross the sea.'

Paraphrase

'I know you have all power. You can do whatever you want for our good. So touch these stones with your finger and prepare them to shine in the darkness. Let them give us light in the vessels we’ve made, so we can see as we cross the sea.'

Notes

3:1-4

From an Latter-day Saint perspective, this verse can be seen as supporting the idea that God employs stones as instruments for revealing and guiding His people in miraculous ways. From a critical viewpoint, however, it is one of several passages in the Book of Mormon that appear to echo elements of Joseph Smith’s reported involvement with folk or occult practices. In that light, passages such as Ether 3:1–4, Ether 3:24, and Alma 37:23 may be viewed as paralleling his use of seer stones during the translation of the Book of Mormon. Similarly, the concept of “slipping” or “sinking” treasure due to curses—an idea associated with Joseph Smith’s milieu—is also reflected in Helaman 13:31–35.

The October 2015 issue of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints magazine Ensign includes a photograph of the seer stone and explains, "In fact, historical evidence shows that in addition to the two seer stones known as 'interpreters,' Joseph Smith used at least one other seer stone in translating the Book of Mormon, often placing it into a hat in order to block out light. According to Joseph's contemporaries, he did this in order to better view the words on the stone.... according to Martin Harris, Joseph also used one of his seer stones for convenience during the Book of Mormon translation. Other sources corroborate Joseph's changing translation instruments." —“Joseph the Seer,” Ensign, October 2015, 53.

“There was a company there in that neighborhood, who were digging for money supposed to have been hidden by the ancients… They dug for money in Palmyra, Manchester, also in Pennsylvania, and other places. When Joseph found this stone, there was a company digging in Harmony, PA., and they took Joseph to look in the stone for them, and he did so for a while, and then he told them the enchantment was so strong that he could not see, and they gave it up.” (Joel Tiffany, “Interview with Martin Harris,” Tiffany’s Monthly, August 1859).

“In frontier America, seer stones or “peep stones” were commonly used by lost object finders, people engaged in the widespread practice of lost treasure digging, and sometimes by people seeking to uncover the kind of truths we might call a private or police detective for today. It is unclear how much of this kind of activity Joseph Smith was involved in, except for water divining and treasure digging, which are widely attested.” -Eric A. Eliason, BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol.55, No.1, 2016.