You Can't Not Know

I just read “In the Lord’s Own Way” by Elder Russell M. Nelson from the May 1986 Ensign. Interestingly, his talk was the third Welfare talk in a row in this conference and was followed by another talk on Welfare. What was going on in 1986 to cause such emphasis on Welfare? (I was only 11 years old at the time; I was only interested in baseball and getting into trouble, so I probably wasn’t too aware of the current events…)

During this talk, Elder Nelson quotes a scripture from Proverbs 29:7, which reads, “The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.” I read that as "the wicked pretend that there are no poor" so they don't have to assist them.

As I read this, the first thing that came to my mind was the Parable of the Good Samaritan. While I was in college, I took an Institute course on Parables, and learned that this parable in the Inspired Version of the Bible has some additional insight. The Inspired Version, which I believe is still used today by the RLDS Church, was the culmination of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible, although it was never published during his lifetime.

Compare these verses from the King James Version of the Bible and Joseph Smith's Inspired Version.

King James Version:
Luke 10
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

Joseph Smith Translation – Inspired Version:
Luke 10
32 And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side of the way.
33 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked upon him, and passed by on the other side of the way; for they desired in their hearts that it might not be known that they had seen him.
(Emphasis mine; unfortunately, these verses are not included in the LDS JST, only the full Inspired Version).

This addition: “for they desired in their hearts that it might not be known that they had seen him” seems to corroborate the scripture in Proverbs. In other words, the Priest and the Levite, while fully knowing the suffering of the “poor” man who had been beaten, “regardeth not to know it”.

I believe this means that the “wicked” just don’t want to acknowledge poor people or that there is a problem. It really is impossible to "not know" about the poor among us, especially those who are "temporally" poor. To not want to acknowledge it is a shameful thing. Kind of a sobering set of scriptures when used together and should cause each of us to reflect on our own efforts in assisting the poor among us.