The Book of Mormon

Ether 4:3

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~AD 401–421

1830 Edition

And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief, and there is none, save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the Gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.

Influences

Romans 11:23 (KJV)
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
Romans 15:19 (KJV)
Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Changes

And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief,; and there is none, save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the Ggospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.

Simple English

After that, they have all stopped believing. There is no one except the Lamanites. They have said no to the gospel of Christ. So the Lord tells me to hide these writings in the earth again.

Paraphrase

But now, they’ve all fallen into unbelief. Only the Lamanites remain, and even they’ve rejected the gospel of Christ. So I’ve been commanded to hide these records in the earth again.

Notes

4:3

The phrase, "dwindled in unbelief" can be found in 2 Nephi 26:15; Helaman 15:11, Ether 4:3, D&C 3:18.

Other common phrases include "expedient that" (2 Nephi 9:15; Alma 34:9; Mosiah 13:27; D&C 9:3), "it must needs be" (1 Nephi 15:33; Alma 32:28; 3 Nephi 5:1; D&C 48:3), "save it were" (Helaman 3:23; 4 Nephi 1:5; D&C 18:35), "sufficeth me" (2 Nephi 11:1; Jarom 1:2; Ether 3:17), "would that ye should" (Alma 38:5; Mosiah 1:3; Omni 1:2; D7C 46:7).

"After noticing that the same phrases of two or more words appear time after time throughout Joseph Smith's scriptures, we did a computer search to identify these groups of words and feel that they provide evidence that the Book of Mormon, the Inspired Version of the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price were all the product of one mind.... When we find a number of different Book of Mormon writers-e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Moroni and Mormon-all using many of the same unusual word combinations, we begin to suspect that all these books were actually written by one person."-Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 39.