Illustration: an unrolled parchment scroll and a closed block of brass plates with three rings, side by side on a carved stone table, joined by a beam of light.
Two records, one witness

The stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph

The Bible, the record of Judah, and the Book of Mormon, the record of Joseph, testify of the same Jesus Christ. Watch them come together, then see how each completes the other, doctrine by doctrine.

Illustration, not a photograph · the scroll and plates are imagined
Ezekiel 37:15–19 · about 592–570 B.C.

Foretold on both sides

“They shall grow together”

Book of Mormon prophets saw the same joining from the other side: the writings of Joseph and of Judah, “established in one.”

Doctrine by doctrine

Taught on both continents

The same Lord taught the same truths in Jerusalem and in the ancient Americas. Each card puts the Old World beside the New World. In the middle is a plain line on what the two together add.

Scripture is quoted exactly from churchofjesuschrist.org; tap any reference to read it in context. The plain lines in the middle are our short summaries in the Church’s language, not scripture.

Two lands, one Lord

Prophets on both continents

While prophets taught in the Old World, the Lord spoke to His people in the New World too, in the same years.

Illustration: ancient walled Jerusalem at sunrise with a tall stone temple on the ridge and olive trees in the foreground, no people.
Illustration, not a photograph. Jerusalem around 600 B.C., imagined. Buildings are not a reconstruction.
Illustration: the risen Christ, robed in white and glowing, with no wings, descends from parted clouds toward a great multitude gathered at a stone temple in a green land.
Illustration, not a photograph. The risen Christ at the temple in Bountiful (3 Nephi 11), imagined: robed, glowing, no wings; faces are not portraits. The Church takes no position on the specific location (Gospel Topics).
Old WorldNew World

Old World dates: Bible Dictionary and Bible Chronology. New World dates: the chapter headings of the Book of Mormon on churchofjesuschrist.org. “About” means approximate.

How the Bible came to us → The Book of Mormon around the world →

How the records came to us

An unbroken chain of prophets

Elder Neal A. Maxwell compared how the Bible and the Book of Mormon reached us. Both are the word of God. They came by different roads.

The Book of Mormon: one line of record keepers

From Nephi to Moroni, each keeper names the next. Each step quotes the verse.

The Bible: many hands over many centuries

Prophets, kings, apostles and scribes wrote; later, believers gathered, copied, printed and translated the books. From our Bible page.

Illustration: at dusk, Elder Neal A. Maxwell in a navy suit stands in a dim, firelit stone-and-timber great hall, one hand resting on a table, gazing toward an open doorway with jungle and a distant temple beyond. Tables on each side hold Book of Mormon relics.
Illustration, not a photograph. Inspired by Elder Maxwell’s closing words. The architecture is imagined; the Church takes no position on Book of Mormon geography.
On the tables
  1. Liahona the brass ball opened to show its two spindles, left table 1 Nephi 16:10
  2. Sword of Laban gold hilt and steel blade 1 Nephi 4:9
  3. Brass plates the engraved sheets beside the sword 1 Nephi 5:10–11
  4. Gold plates bound by three rings, right table Joseph Smith, 1842
  5. Shining stones the glowing stone on the right table, like those the Lord made shine for the Jaredite barges Ether 6:2–3
  6. Title of liberty the worn coat draped over the right table, for Moroni’s rent coat Alma 46:12–13
  7. Shepherd’s staff for Ammon watching King Lamoni’s flocks; scripture does not describe a staff Alma 17:25

Small plates (Nephi to Amaleki) and the kings’ large plates came together under King Benjamin (Words of Mormon 1:10). Book of Mormon dates are from its chapter headings; Bible dates are from the Bible Dictionary, Bible Chronology and the sources linked on each step. “About” means approximate. BYU Speeches has this talk as audio only; the words are quoted from the text published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.