When my son started high school, I was most excited that he would be able to start attending Seminary. I knew that getting to have an hour of spiritual instruction each school day would help him to make correct choices and help him to stay close to his Father in Heaven.

I was not surprised to have him love attending each school day and love the whole Seminary experience. What did surprise me was that though they have Scripture Mastery, they don't have quite as many to master as I did back in the day. Where I had 40 scriptures to master and learn each year, the kids now have 25 to learn.

I am one of those people that likes to know exactly what is different and make comparisons. So I made myself a chart and compared the list from back when I was in Seminary to the new list that my son is learning. I thought perhaps you might enjoy seeing the difference in each year and maybe you'll want to take the personal challenge to learn ALL of the scriptures from each list.

This week, I will post the scriptures for the Book of Mormon course, since that is what the kids will be studying this year. I'll post the other lists over the next few weeks. For the Book of Mormon, I learned that there are 15 scriptures that are on both of the lists. That leaves 25 from the old scripture mastery list and then there are 10 new scriptures to learn on the new list. If you are now a bit lost, there are a total of 50 scriptures between the two lists that you can learn and study and master.

Here is the NEW list of Scripture Mastery that the kids will be learning in Seminary:

1 Nephi 3:7
2 Nephi 2:25
2 Nephi 2:27
2 Nephi 9:28–29
2 Nephi 25:23, 26
2 Nephi 28:7–9
2 Nephi 31:19–20
2 Nephi 32:3
2 Nephi 32:8–9
Mosiah 2:17
Mosiah 3:19
Mosiah 4:30
Alma 7:11–13
Alma 32:21
Alma 37:35
Alma 39:9
Alma 41:10
Helaman 5:12
3 Nephi 12:48
3 Nephi 18:15, 20–21
Ether 12:6
Ether 12:27
Moroni 7:41
Moroni 7:45, 47–48
Moroni 10:4–5

Now, if you want to compare and add in the older Scripture Mastery scriptures, here is the list that I learned when we were learning 40 each year:

1 Nephi 3:7
1 Nephi 15:34
1 Nephi 19:23
2 Nephi 2:11
2 Nephi 2:25
2 Nephi 2:27
2 Nephi 9:28-29
2 Nephi 28:8
2 Nephi 31:13
2 Nephi 31:20
2 Nephi 32:8-9
Jacob 2:18-19
Mosiah 2:17
Mosiah 3:19
Mosiah 4:30
Mosiah 4:27
Alma 4:10
Alma 5:14
Alma 11:40
Alma 11:43
Alma 22:18
Alma 30:60
Alma 32:21
Alma 34:32-34
Alma 36:18-19
Alma 37:6-7
Alma 37:35
Alma 41:10
Alma 46:12
Helamen 5:12
3 Nephi 11:14-15
3 Nephi 11:29
3 Nephi 12:48
3 Nephi 27:8
Ether 12:6
Ether 12:27
Ether 12:41
Moroni 7:16-17
Moroni 8:12
Moroni 10:4

Now, if you don't want to take the time to compare the two lists, and just want to know all 50 scriptures, I have that figured out for you too.

Here are the 15 scriptures that are on both lists:

1 Nephi 3:7
2 Nephi 2:25
2 Nephi 2:27
2 Nephi 9:28–29
2 Nephi 32:8–9
Mosiah 2:17
Mosiah 3:19
Mosiah 4:30
Alma 32:21
Alma 37:35
Alma 41:10
Helaman 5:12
3 Nephi 12:48
Ether 12:6
Ether 12:27

Here are the 25 from the old list that are not on the new list:

1 Nephi 15:34
1 Nephi 19:23
2 Nephi 2:11
2 Nephi 28:8
2 Nephi 31:13
2 Nephi 31:20
Jacob 2:18-19
Mosiah 4:27
Alma 4:10
Alma 5:14
Alma 11:40
Alma 11:43
Alma 22:18
Alma 30:60
Alma 34:32-34
Alma 36:18-19
Alma 37:6-7
Alma 46:12
3 Nephi 11:14-15
3 Nephi 11:29
3 Nephi 27:8
Ether 12:41
Moroni 7:16-17
Moroni 8:12
Moroni 10:4

And finally, here are the 10 scriptures that are on the new list, but not the old list:

2 Nephi 25:23, 26
2 Nephi 28:7–9
2 Nephi 31:19–20
2 Nephi 32:3
Alma 7:11–13
Alma 39:9
3 Nephi 18:15, 20–21
Moroni 7:41
Moroni 7:45, 47–48
Moroni 10:4–5

Yes, Moroni 10:4 is on both lists, but the addition of verse 5 made it different, so I counted them as different scripture mastery scriptures.

So what does all of this information get you? Not much except for some personal blessings of mastering more scriptures. Oh, and when your kids say they have so many scriptures to master in Seminary, if you were one who had the longer list, you can tell them how it was in the "old" days. In any case, it might just make for an interesting conversation around the dinner table or in Family Home Evening.