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Similar to the story regarding the swapped seer stone, we also have an account of Joseph Smith not being able to translate unless he was worthy.
David Whitmer said:
He [Joseph Smith] had to trust in God. He could not translate unless he was humble and possessed the right feelings towards every one. To illustrate, so you can see. One morning when he was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done. Oliver and I went up stairs, and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation, but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable. He went down stairs, out into the orchard and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour—came back to the house, asked Emma’s forgiveness and then came up stairs where we were and the translation went on all right. He could do nothing save he was humble and faithful.
– Interview conducted on January 15, 1882, in Richmond, Missouri; published in the Saints’ Herald 29 (March 1, 1882): 68;
Isn’t this what we would expect if the Book of Mormon were true? Wouldn’t we expect humility and righteousness to be a requirement for translating scripture by the gift and power of God?
See: