JOEL - Scriptures are scriptures. We don't promote one over the other. They all contain the word of God and are all equally important. The Book of Mormon contains many of the practices of our church (Baptism, Sacrament, repentence, prayer, performing miracles, charity, etc.) There may be more emphasis placed on the Book of Mormon as we talk to people of other faiths, because it has been designated as a second witness of Jesus Christ, and contains the core beliefs of our church and the basic principles that Jesus wants us to know. The Doctrine and Covenants is scripture that was written mostly to those who are already members of the church. The very first verse of the Doctrine and Covenants states:
"Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high," (D&C 1:1)

PAIGE - I read your answer, and examples to Raychell's Question about "contradtions" in the Bible. Did Joseph Smith "correct" any of the examples you gave in your answer?

JOEL - He corrected some of them; especially for those scriptures that are important in understanding the nature of God or important points of doctrine. For example in the following scripture he changed "tempt" to "try":

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did "tempt" Abraham." (Genesis 22:1)
"AND it came to pass after these things, that God did "try" Abraham ,"(Joseph Smith Translation(JST) of Genesis 22:1)

God would never tempt man. That job belongs to Satan. But God would "try" man, or in other words, test him to measure his faithfulness.

Here are two more contradictory scriptures which Joseph corrected:
Mat 27:5 "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself."
Acts 1:18 "With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out."
He changed the Matthew scripture to read as follows:
"And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went, and hanged himself on a tree. And straightway he fell down, and his bowels gushed out, and he died." (JST Mat 27:6)

And scriptures like the following that say man cannot see God:
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live."(Ex 33:20)
Changed to:
"And no sinful man hath at any time, neither shall there be any sinful man at any time, that shall see my face and live." (JST Ex 33:20)

And these two contradictory scriptures:
Acts 9:7 "And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man."
Acts 22:9 "And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me."
Changed to:
"And they who were journeying with him saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him who spake to him." (JST Acts 9:7)

These are just a few examples where Joseph corrected Bible scripture as inspired by God.

PAIGE - The Bible in Isaiah 2:9 says: "And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not."
The Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 12:9 attempts to correct this: "And the mean man boweth not down and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not."
Please read them in context with verse 8. It is talking about bowing down to idols. Why the change?

JOEL - If you look at it within the context of only verses 8 and 9, I can see where you might think that it is talking about bowing down to those idols. But the larger context of the entire group of scriptures(verses 6-12) is talking about a number of things that characterize these people; being soothsayers(verse 6); worshipping idols(verse 8), and that they won't bow down or humble themselves to God (2 Nep. 12:9, correcting Isa. 2:9). Verse 11 then tells us that those people who would not bow down or humble themselves would eventually do so when the day of the Lord comes:
"The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."(Isa 2:11, 2 Nep. 12:11)
If you look at it in this larger context the change made in the Book of Mormon makes more sense.