Since the printing master type for the LDS scriptures were starting to deteriorate in quality through its long use, the Church took the opportunity of making some adjustments and improvements to the text at the same time that they prepared new printing master type, so we will have a new edition!.   See the announcement article here. 

New printed editions will be available in August 2013  (mark your calendars!!),  but Elder Neil A. Andersen was quoted as saying that members will not need to go out and buy new editions of the scriptures, since the changes will be reflected in the church’s digital version of the scriptures and are available for free. (That being said, I really want one!)   

It seems that the Church has had this in the works for eight years!  I guess that means that they have been accumulating this stuff to put it all in all at once, knowing that the master type would degrade eventually and they would be ready with a list of adjustments to make at the same time that new type was made.

Here’s what sticks out to me, although there is more:

·      Spelling in Bible is modernized

·      Typos were corrected in text and footnotes.  (Yay!  It can be disturbing when you try a footnote and it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it’s base scripture!  That’s happened to me a few times..)

·      Study aids have been corrected and updated.  (In particular, they made the Topical Guide easier to read, starting new paragraphs when a new standard work is started.) 

·      Photos and maps adjusted.  (Ooo!  That’s always exciting!)

·      The Joseph Smith Translation Appendix has had its contents enlarged for easier reading and entries have been added.   (I’m sure those whose vision is changing in their mature years will appreciate this.  Also, larger typeface will give the JST a psychological boost, giving it the same legitimacy as the rest of the scriptures.)

·      D&C will have updated historical information in the headings that helps readers understand context better.  (This is quite exciting for me.  For a while I have felt that the headings needed a boost somehow, although I would want tons more info than the scriptures would have space for.)

·      In the Book of Mormon, synopsis portions of the text that were previously italicized will be de-italicized to indicate more easily to the reader that they are actually part of the translation and not a study help like the chapter headings are. 

To read more, see these links:

Explanations for the Doctrine and Covenants headings

Overview of adjustments made to the scriptures

Be sure to click on question 8 down at the bottom of the page, since the answer has a link to a PDF file with an expanded listing of specific adjustments made. 

One particular adjustment of which I highly approve is in Isaiah 58:8 about “rereward.”   It has been more accurately rendered “rearward” in “the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward” to make it easier for readers to understand that the Lord “has our back,” so to speak.     (When I was engaged in writing my book “Isaiah Insights into Teenage Temptations,” this “rereward” issue required a lot of thought and puzzling to understand and I eventually settled on "rearward" anyway, so I appreciate what the church is doing. 

I notice the church is calling these “adjustments” and not “changes,” since “changes” to the scriptures evokes a sense of tampering in negative ways.  Again, be sure to check out the PDF file of changes so that you can satisfy yourself as to the exact nature of these adjustments.   I love that the church is making the adjustments so transparent so that we can understand for ourselves the need for them.

YAY for the scriptures!!