Ether 3 - Simple English | The Book of Mormon

The Brother of Jared Makes Stones

The brother of Jared had prepared eight boats. He went up to a mountain they called Shelem because it was very high. He melted rock and made sixteen small stones. They were white and clear like glass. He carried them in his hands to the top of the mountain. He cried out to the Lord and said: 'Lord, you said we must cross the ocean. Please don’t be angry with me because I am weak. We know you are holy. You live in heaven. We are not worthy to be with you. Because of the fall, we always want to do wrong. But you told us to pray to you. You give us what we ask for.' 'You punished us because we did wrong. You made us leave. We have been traveling for many years. But you have been kind to us. Lord, please feel sorry for me. Don’t be angry at your people anymore. Don’t let them cross this big ocean in darkness. Look at these things I made from the rock.' '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.' 'Lord, you can do this. We know you can show great power. What seems small to people is great to you.'

The Lord Touches the Stones

When the brother of Jared finished speaking, the Lord reached out his hand. He touched the stones one by one with his finger. The brother of Jared could see things he couldn’t see before. He saw the Lord’s finger. It looked like a man’s finger with flesh and blood. The brother of Jared fell down because he was scared.

The Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the ground. The Lord said to him: 'Get up. Why did you fall?' He said to the Lord: 'I saw your finger. I was afraid you might hurt me. I didn’t know you had flesh and blood.' The Lord said to him: 'Because you believed, you saw that I will have flesh and blood. No one has ever believed in me as much as you have. If they hadn’t believed this much, they couldn’t have seen my finger. Did you see more than this?' He answered: 'No, Lord. Please show yourself to me.' The Lord said to him: 'Do you believe the words I will speak?' He answered: 'Yes, Lord. I know you speak the truth. You are a God of truth. You cannot lie.'

Jesus Shows Himself

When he said this, the Lord showed himself to him. The Lord said: 'Because you know these things, you are saved from the fall. You are brought back to be with me. That’s why I show myself to you.' 'I am the one who was prepared from the beginning of the world to save my people. I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me all people will have light forever. This is for everyone who believes in my name. They will become my sons and daughters.' 'I have never shown myself to anyone I created. No one has ever believed in me like you have. Do you see that you were created to look like me? Yes, all people were created in the beginning to look like me.' 'This body you see now is my spirit body. I created people to look like my spirit body. I appear to you in the spirit now. Later I will appear to my people in the flesh.'

Moroni Explains What Happened

I, Moroni, cannot write everything about these things. So I will just say this: Jesus showed himself to this man in the spirit. He looked the same way he looked when he showed himself to the Nephites. Jesus taught him just like he taught the Nephites. The Lord did many great things for this man. This is how the man knew he was God. Because the man knew so much, he could see things that were hidden. He saw the finger of Jesus. When he saw it, he fell down because he was scared. He knew it was the Lord’s finger. He didn’t just believe anymore. He knew for sure. Because he knew God perfectly, he could see things that were hidden. So he saw Jesus. Jesus taught him.

The Lord Tells Him to Keep It Secret

The Lord said to the brother of Jared: 'Don’t let these things you have seen and heard go out to the world yet. Wait until the time comes when I will show my glory in the flesh. Keep these things you have seen and heard. Don’t show them to anyone.' 'When you come to me, write these things down. Seal them up so no one can read them. You will write them in a language that people cannot read.' 'I will give you these two stones. Seal them up too with the things you write.' 'I have mixed up the language you will write in. When it’s the right time, I will make these stones make things bigger to people’s eyes. Then they can read what you write.'

The Lord Shows Him All Things

After the Lord said this, he showed the brother of Jared everyone who had lived on earth. He also showed him everyone who would live. The Lord didn’t hide anything from him. He showed him everything to the ends of the earth. The Lord had told him before: 'If you believe in me, I can show you all things.' So the Lord couldn’t hide anything from him. The brother of Jared knew the Lord could show him everything. The Lord said to him: 'Write these things and seal them up. I will show them to people when the time is right.' The Lord told him to seal up the two stones he had received. He should not show them until the Lord showed them to people.

3:1 — Revelation 21:21 (KJV)
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
3:4 — John 11:22 (KJV)
But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
3:9 — Philemon 1:6 (KJV)
That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
3:11 — Acts 26:27 (KJV)
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
3:12 — John 11:27 (KJV)
She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
3:13 — Acts 28:29 (KJV)
And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
3:14 — Acts 10:21 (KJV)
Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?
3:14 — Matthew 13:35 (KJV)
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
3:14 — Acts 22:8 (KJV)
And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
3:17 — Revelation 22:19 (KJV)
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
3:17 — Ephesians 3:6 (KJV)
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
3:19 — Acts 11:12 (KJV)
And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:
3:20 — Acts 24:22 (KJV)
And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
3:20 — Luke 8:28 (KJV)
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
3:21 — Matthew 18:7 (KJV)
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
3:21 — John 16:2 (KJV)
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3:21 — Luke 7:22 (KJV)
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
3:24 — Matthew 4:3 (KJV)
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
3:25 — Daniel 4:35 (KJV)
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

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.
3:17
The phrase, "sufficeth me" can be found in 2 Nephi 11:1; Jarom 1:2; Ether 3:17.

Other common phrases include "dwindled in unbelief" (2 Nephi 26:15; Helaman 15:11, Ether 4:3, D&C 3:18), "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), "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.
3:25
"In Smith's 1832 account he speaks of "the inhabitants of the earth.' This biblical phrase is in Daniel 3:5...(see also 2 Nephi 28:16). The same phrase is used repeatedly in the Doctrine and Covenants (43:28; 62:5; 71:4)." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 39.

See 1 Nephi 1:1, 2 Nephi 26:15, and Omni 1:20 as other examples of Smith's common phrases.

Ether 2 Ether 4

Mosiah 20