Due to the age of these publications, the content is now in public domain and may be used without restriction.
The historical context of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants can be very important in understanding their meanings. These can be found in the chapter headings available on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng. Cross-references and study aids can also be found there.
From the earliest years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there was an effort to make the revelations of the Lord to Joseph Smith available to church members. In 1833, the first collection of revelations, called the Book of Commandments began to be printed by William W. Phelps in Independence, Missouri. However, when about 2/3 of the revelations had been printed, a mob destroyed the press and most of the printed pages awaiting compilation and binding.
In 1835, the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed in Kirtland, Ohio. The first part of the volume consisted of the “doctrine” portion of the book, a collection of seven “Lectures on Faith,” prepared for the School of the Prophets in Kirtland. We believe these were largely the work of Sidney Rigdon, but Joseph Smith must certainly have contributed substantially to the project. These are found on a separate webpage, Darlithiau ar Fydd. The second portion was labeled “Covenants and Commandments” ("Cyfammodau a Gorchymynion"). It consisted primarily of revelations to Joseph Smith, including those initially intended for the Book of Commandments along with several additional sections. This constituted the Covenants section of the original Doctrine and Covenants.
A second edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was being prepared in Nauvoo at the time of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith in 1844. It was competed later that year and ended with the report of the martyrdom that we now know as Section 135. A number of other sections (current section numbers 103, 105, 112, 119, 124, 127, and 128) were added to the 1835 edition.
The first European edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was published in Liverpool in 1845. It was essentially the same as the 1844 Nauvoo edition. Because of demand, a second European edition was printed in 1849. This edition corrected a small number of errors in the earlier edition, but was essentially identical to it. It is this edition that was translated into Welsh by John Davies and published in Merthyt Tydfil in 1851.
Since it was difficult for me to access the second European edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, I have used the first edition in this bilingual version.
The Doctrine and Covenants continued to evolve after 1851 as well. In 1876 a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed in Salt Lake City. Sections 2, 13, 77, 85, 87, 108–111, 113–118, 120–123, 125, 126, 129–132, and 136 were added. Sections 2, 13, 77, 87, and 136 were published in the Welsh edition of the Pearl of Great Price (Y Perl o Fawr Bris, Merthyr Tydfil, 1852) and are included in this work. In the present bilingual version, I have chosen to include the remaining new sections in English only. I have not included later additions to the Doctrine and Covenants (sections 137 and 138 and Official Declarations 1 and 2).
Also, whereas the earlier editions were organized with longer sections and sections with instructions for church governance at the beginning, the 1876 edition arranged the sections mostly chronologically. The original verses were very long, so the verses were revised as well. I have used modern section and verse numbers. I have also included a table in the PDF file that relates the older section numbers to modern section numbers to make comparison with the original documents easier.
Photographic copies of the original files can be found at
Athrawiaeth a Chyfammodau, 1851
Doctrine and Covenants, Liverpool 1845
The Pearl of Great Price, Liverpool, 1851