In doing a quick google search I was reminded that Joseph after Harris lost the first 116 pages was conveniently directed by god to translate a shorter account.
Joseph Smith was forbidden by the Lord to retranslate that part of the record previously translated because those who had stolen the manuscript planned to publish it in an altered form to discredit his ability to translate accurately (D&C 10:9-13). Instead, he was to translate the Small Plates of Nephi (1 Nephi-Omni) down to that which he had translated (D&C 10:41). Those plates covered approximately the same period as had the lost manuscript, or four centuries from Lehi to Benjamin. Mormon had been so impressed with the choice prophecies and sayings contained in the small plates that he had included them with his own abridgment of Nephite writings when told to by the Spirit for "a wise purpose" known only to the Lord (W of M 1:7).
Source (a LDS site): http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/bom/116_eom.htm
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Joseph's god was sure shrewd to avoid the trap of people who might think Joseph was yankin' their crank!
Knew I should have fact-checked that number before I typed it in. 113, 116, so sue me.
Your #131: Joseph after Harris lost the first 116 pages was conveniently directed by god to translate a shorter account.
That is God with a capital G, Steve, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as you will come to know one day. You really do need to show more reverence and respect.
Joseph translated a longer and more detailed account. The 116 pages was the shorter account, Mormon's abridgment of the same time period.
Because Joseph translated the longer account to replace the lost pages, the Book of Mormon we have today has contributions from more ancient authors, each with his own style of writing and literary devices, much more impossible for a young frontier farmer to fake, having little education and no knowledge beyond the Bible of the ancient Near East or the ancient Americas.
If you are willing to research the matter, Steve, you will find that the only plausible way for the Book of Mormon to come to be is the way Joseph Smith testified that it came to be, by the gift and power of God. And the Holy Spirit so testifies.