Standard Works - The Bible

The Bible

English-speaking Latter-day Saints typically own and study the LDS Church-published edition of the King James Version of the Bible, which includes LDS-oriented chapter headings, footnotes referencing books in the Standard Works, and select passages from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.

Though the King James Version (KJV) was always commonly used, it was officially adopted in the 1950s when J. Reuben Clark, of the First Presidency, argued extensively that newer translations, such as Revised Standard Version of 1952, were of lower quality and less compatible with LDS tradition. After publishing its own edition in 1979, the First Presidency announced in 1992 that the KJV was the church's official English Bible, stating "hile other Bible versions may be easier to read than the King James Version, in doctrinal matters latter-day revelation supports the King James Version in preference to other English translations." In 2010 this was written into the church's Handbook, which directs official church policy and programs.

A Spanish version, with a similar format and using a slightly revised version of the 1909 Reina-Valera translation, was published in 2009. Latter-day Saints in other non-English speaking areas may use other versions of the Bible.

Though the Bible is part of the LDS canon and members believe it to be the word of God, they believe that omissions and mistranslations are present in even the earliest known manuscripts. They claim that the errors in the Bible have led to incorrect interpretations of certain passages. Thus, as church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. explained, the church believes the Bible to be the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly." The church teaches that "he most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations".

The manuscripts of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible state that "the Song of Solomon is not inspired scripture," and therefore it is not included in LDS canon and rarely studied by members of the LDS Church. However, it is still printed in every version of the King James Bible published by the church.