Why doesn’t the Church put the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible in the text rather than in the footnotes?

Question

Dear Gramps,

When reading the bible I often find the Joseph Smith Translation in the footnotes. The longer corrections are in the back of the bible. Why don’t we just put the corrected parts (or translations) in place of the incorrect parts in the bible? Are the incorrect parts of the bible there with the correct ones so we can compare the two? And did Joseph Smith finish the correct translation of the bible before he was killed, or is there more to be done? Thanks,

GM

Answer

Dear GM,

I would imagine that one of the purposes of retaining the King James Version would be so that we could maintain credibility with the Christian world. Can you imagine the difficulty we would have trying to convert people when they would claim that we didn’t even use the same bible that they do? Elder Bruce R. McConkie had this to say on the subject,

“The King James Version of the Bible is by all odds the best and plainest rendition of the original records that the translators of the world have produced. It is the Bible version prepared by the Lord for use by his modern prophet, Joseph Smith, when he translated the Book of Mormon, brought forth the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, and laid the foundations of the great work of restoration in the latter days. The Joseph Smith Translation, commonly called the Inspired Version, has added to and perfected much of the King James Version, and someday — we suppose it will be a millennial day — the work of perfecting the Bible will be completed, and men will then have again the scriptural knowledge possessed by their forebears” ( The Millennial Messiah, p.149).

The prophet did not finish his translation of the Bible. He was martyred before the work was completed.

Gramps