{
    "name": "intro",
    "lang": "eng",
    "title": "Introduction",
    "description": "",
    "sample-verse": "0.",
    "books": [
        {
            "sections": [
                {
                    "paragraphs": [
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "1.",
                                    "translation": "God loves eve­ry­one and wants each of us to find joy and sat­is­fac­tion."
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "2.",
                                    "translation": "To help us to­wards that goal, God gave us rea­son, con­science, and the abil­i­ty to choose."
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "3.",
                                    "translation": "Our re­spon­si­bil­i­ty is to sin­cere­ly fol­low the dictates of our con­science, guid­ed by rea­son, while re­spect­ing the e­qual priv­i­lege of others to do the same."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "4.",
                                    "translation": "Weʼre ac­count­a­ble to God for our choices."
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "5.",
                                    "translation": "Each of us can have a per­son­al re­la­tion­ship with God."
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "6.",
                                    "translation": "God com­mu­ni­cates with each of us as needed,"
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "7.",
                                    "translation": "and sends messengers to dif­fer­ent times, places, and cul­tures to guide us. Study­ing the messages that are in­tend­ed for us can en­light­en our un­der­stand­ing."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "8.",
                                    "translation": "God knows the vast­ness of hu­man di­ver­si­ty. Just as a skilled op­tom­e­trist prescribes eye­glass­es to com­pen­sate for a patientʼs short­com­ings, God guides us to a pre­scrip­tion thatʼs op­ti­mized for our spir­it­u­al growth. Our pre­scrip­tion may dif­fer from, or co­in­cide with, that of our peers."
                                },
                                {
                                    "ref": "9.",
                                    "translation": "Be­cause of this di­ver­si­ty, a com­mu­ni­ty of be­liev­ers can strength­en and in­spire one an­oth­er."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "10.",
                                    "translation": "Details about Godʼs na­ture and methods are large­ly a dis­trac­tion from the prop­er fo­cus of our lives: a life­long mi­gra­tion to­wards joy through our per­son­al choices."
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "paragraphs": [
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "11.",
                                    "translation": "While striving to live the principles de­scribed above, I felt guid­ed to prayer­ful­ly un­der­take the actions be­low. The results are for my own ben­e­fit and may not ben­e­fit others in the same way."
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "paragraphs": [
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "12.",
                                    "translation": "Cre­ate a pri­or­i­tized list of es­sen­tial com­mand­ments to help me fo­cus on what matters most and to re­solve conflicts that may a­rise be­tween those com­mand­ments. This be­came the Di­gest of Priorities."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "13.",
                                    "translation": "Write pairs of es­sen­tial vir­tues whose opposing demands I must bal­ance in my own life. This be­came the Di­gest of Vir­tues."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "14.",
                                    "translation": "Try dif­fer­ent methods of pray­er, listening care­ful­ly to un­der­stand which are most ef­fec­tive at strength­en­ing my re­la­tion­ship with God. Cod­i­fy those practices and ob­serve them regularly. This be­came the Di­gest of Pray­er."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "15.",
                                    "translation": "Rec­ord short stories that God has used to clar­i­fy my un­der­stand­ing of cer­tain principles. This be­came the Di­gest of Parables."
                                }
                            ]
                        },
                        {
                            "verses": [
                                {
                                    "ref": "16.",
                                    "translation": "Study the teachings of those who are wide­ly con­sid­ered to be messengers of God. Abridge those messages by selecting the most prac­ti­cal and im­por­tant teachings for guid­ing my life. This be­came the Messages. I re­fer to them as The Mes­sage of Solomon, The Mes­sage of Jesus, etc."
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}