The Book of Mormon

Mormon 3:20

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~AD 360–375

1830 Edition

And these things do the spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ, yea, every soul which belong to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

Influences

2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Romans 9:11 (KJV)
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

Changes

And these things doth the sSpirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgement -seat of Christ, yea, every soul whicho belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

Simple English

The Spirit shows me these things. That is why I am writing to all of you. I am writing so you will know that you must all stand before Jesus to be judged. Every person who has ever lived must stand there. You will be judged by your works, whether they are good or bad.

Paraphrase

The Spirit has shown me these things. So I write to all of you. I write so you’ll know this: every soul—every descendant of Adam—must stand before Christ’s judgment seat. You’ll be judged by your works, whether good or evil.

Notes

3:20

"Smith's writings contain many similar phrases as the Book of Mormon... A common phrase in both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants is 'build up my church.' Doctrine and Covenants 10:54 states, 'build up my church.' In Mormon 3:20 we read: 'build up again my church.' in 4 Nephi 1:26 we read: 'build up churches.' -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 40.

See 2 Nephi 28:22; 1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Nephi 26:15; and 2 Nephi 28:16 as other examples of Smith's common phrases.