Notes

306 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

All-wise Father. It will not be a one-year's course that will accomplish this work. It will take years of earnest endeavor. Ignorance in this regard is almost universal.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.

Wofdingf of the Lord's Prayer,

Is the wording of the Lord's prayer, "Lead us not into temptation," a mistranslation, and if so, how is it that the same words occur in the Book of Mormon?

This is a very difficult question to answer definitely or satisfactorily, as the Lord has not revealed the correct answer. We have, however, an opinion on the matter, and it is this: Few of the present generation can comprehend the attitude of the Protestant Christian world to the Bible at the time the Book of Mormon was published. Every word in it was regarded as sacred and the word of God, The people worshiped the book rather than the Author. Such was the condition of the minds of those to whom the latter-day gospel was carried. Therefore, not to put fresh obstacles in the way of the honest, or further hurt their susceptibilities, the Lord, in his divine wisdom and loving kindness, permitted those portions of the Bible that were incorporated in the Book of Mormon to appear in the identical language to which the people were accustomed. It was only when a change was absolutely necessary that he permitted it. If this supposition be correct, then in no case would this precaution have to be observed more strictly than in the utterances of the Redeemer himself, as, for instance, in the Lord's prayer. To show how clearly the text of the Old Testament has been followed, we draw attention to some peculiarities in the extracts from the prophecies of Isaiah that appear in the Book of Mormon. In the second verse of the twenty-second chapter of the second

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book of Nephi, the word Jehovah appears with every letter capitalized. It is so printed in the Bible where this same verse occurs.

(Isa. 12: 2.) Elsewhere in the Book of Mormon the word appears with only the first letter a capital. In the same chapter (verse 6.) Zion is spelled Sion; in all other places it is spelled with a Z. But in this place it is copied letter for letter from the corresponding verse in Isaiah (12: 6.) In Isaiah (6: 2, 6.) the double plural both Hebrew and English — appears in the word seraphions. It so

appears when quoted in the Book of Mormon. The word silverlings appears (II Nep. 17: 23,) in the reproduction of Isaiah 7: 23. Now silverlings were as unknown to English speaking people at the time the Book of Mormon was translated as they were to the Nephites. These are small things, but they have weight when considered in this connection. Another thing that must 'be remembered: it was not until considerably later in the history of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that it was shown to him that the more correct translation of this portion of the prayer would be, "Suffer us not to be led into temptation."

The President's Cabinet* 1. —Who are the members of the Cabinet? President's 2. —Will there be a new cabinet after March 4? 1. —The present cabinet is: secretary of state, John Hay, District of Columbia; secretary of treasury, Lyman J. Gage, Illinois; secretary of war, Elihu Root, New York; attorney- general, John W. Griggs, New Jersey; postmaster- general, Charles Emory Smith, Pennsylvania; secretary of navy, John D. Long, Massachusetts; secretary of interior, E. A. Hitchcock, Missouri; secretary of agriculture, James Wilson, Iowa. 2.— OnjNovember 13, last. President McKinley asked all the members of his present cabinet to remain with him during his second term, a compliment of high degree. So there will be little or no change in the cabinet after March 4, 1901.