But the heavenly messenger commanded Joseph Smith not to translate again the part he had already translated, but instead thereof he should translate the "smaller plates" of Nephi, and that account was to take the place of Mormon's abridgment up to the latter days of the reign of King Benjamin. (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 10.) Thus it is that we have the "Words of Mormon," beginning on page 158, explaining how the "smaller plates" of Nephi came into his possession and attached to the plates containing the record he himself was making, and connecting the historical narrative of the "smaller plates" of Nephi with his own abridgment of Nephi's "larger plates." The "Words of Mormon," interrupting as they do the history of the Nephites, have caused no little confusion in the minds of unthoughtful readers; but after it is understood that they are merely the link connecting the ecclesiastical history engraven on the "smaller { 290} plates" of Nephi to Mormon's abridgment, and that they take the place of the first part of Mormon's record, the difficulty will disappear.
5. _Difference in the Literary Style of the "Smaller Plates" and Mormon's Abridgment_.--One thing we cannot forbear to mention, and that is, in the parts of the Book of Mormon translated from the "smaller plates" of Nephi, we find none of those comments or annotations mixed up with the record that we have already spoken of as being peculiar to the abridgment made by Mormon--a circumstance, we take it, which proves the Book of Mormon to be consistent with the account given of the original records from which it was translated. The value of this fact appears if we stop to consider how destructive to the claims of the book it would be if the peculiarity of Mormon's abridgment were found in that part of the book which claims to be a verbatim translation of the "smaller plates" of Nephi. There will be found, however, in this translation direct from the "smaller plates" of Nephi, as also in Mormon's abridgment, extracts from the old Jewish Scriptures--especially from the writings of Isaiah--this is accounted for by the fact that when Lehi's colony left Jerusalem, they took with them copies of the books of Moses and the writings of the prophets, and the record of the Jews down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, all of which were engraven on plates of brass (see I Nephi v: 10-13), and the Nephite historians transcribed passages from these sacred records into their own writings.