DC 108 Intro: SECTION 108
Revelation received through Joseph Smith, Jr., prophet and seer to the church, November 3, 1831, at Hiram, Ohio. The revelation, originally given as the "Preface" to the "Book of Commandments,"* given November 1, 1831, is now Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The following revelation was to constitute the "close" or "appendix" to the "Book of Commandments." The "Book of Commandments" was never completed; the printing press was destroyed by a mob while the book was in the process of being printed, and the printed material was scattered in the street. This revelation was not included in the incomplete copy. However, it was included in the revelations contained in the 1835 edition as the "appendix." It will be better understood if read in connection with the revelations given prior to November 1831. To follow the precedent of previous editions, it is retained in this place as Section 108.
*A number of bound copies of the "Book of Commandments" are in the Historian's Library of the Reorganized Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.
1a Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord concerning you; the Lord who shall suddenly come to his temple; the Lord who shall come down upon the world with a curse to judgment; yea, upon all the nations that forget God, and upon all the ungodly among you.
1b For he shall make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God.
2a Wherefore prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; sanctify yourselves; gather ye together, O ye people of my church, upon the land of Zion, all you that have not been commanded to tarry.
2b Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another.
2c And let every man call upon the name of the Lord; yea, verily I say unto you again, The time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you, Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
3a Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations; firstly, upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews.
3b And, behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people:
3c Go ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about; yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom.
3d Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord.
4a Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour. Let them, therefore, who are among the Gentiles, flee unto Zion.
4b And let them who be of Judah, flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord's house. Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.
4c But verily thus saith the Lord, Let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back, lest sudden destruction shall come upon him.
5a Hearken and hear O ye inhabitants of the earth.
5b Listen, ye elders of my church together, and hear the voice of the Lord, for he calleth upon all men and he commandeth all men everywhere to repent; for, behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel, crying through the midst of heaven, saying:
5c Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths strait, for the hour of his coming is nigh, when the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads;
5d wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him, for, behold, he shall stand upon the Mount of Olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion;
5e and he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem, and his voice shall be heard among all people, and it shall be a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be found;
5f he shall command the great deep and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land, and the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.
5g And the Lord even the Savior shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.
6a And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
6b And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them, and in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
6c And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
6d And then shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim; and they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
6e Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.
6f And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord to dwell in his presence day and night for ever and ever.
7a And now verily saith the Lord, That these things might be known among you, O inhabitants of the earth, I have sent forth mine angel, flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, who hath appeared unto some, and hath committed it unto man, who shall appear unto many that dwell on the earth;
7b and this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, and the servants of God shall go forth, saying, with a loud voice:
7c Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountain of waters, calling upon the name of the Lord day and night, saying: O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.
7d And it shall be answered upon their heads, for the presence of the Lord shall be as the melting fire that burneth, and as the fire which causeth the waters to boil.
8a O Lord, thou shalt come down to make thy name known to thine adversaries, and all nations shall tremble at thy presence.
8b When thou doeth terrible things, things they look not for; yea, when thou comest down and the mountains flow down at thy presence, thou shalt meet him who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, who remembereth thee in thy ways;
8c for since the beginning of the world have not men heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath any eye seen, O God, besides thee, how great things thou hast prepared for him that waiteth for thee.
9a And it shall be said, Who is this that cometh down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not known, clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
9b And he shall say, I am he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save.
9c And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth the wine vat, and so great shall be the glory of his presence, that the sun shall hide his face in shame; and the moon shall withhold its light; and the stars shall be hurled from their places;
9d and his voice shall be heard, I have trodden the winepress alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none was with me;
9e and I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart.
10a And now the year of my redeemed is come, and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord, and all that he has bestowed upon them, according to his goodness, and according to his loving kindness, for ever and ever.
10b In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them; and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old;
10c yea, and Enoch also, and they who were with him; the prophets who were before him, and Noah also, and they who were before him, and Moses also, and they who were before him, and from Moses to Elijah, and from Elijah to John, who were with Christ in his resurrection, and the holy apostles, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be in the presence of the Lamb.
10d And the graves of the saints shall be opened, and they shall come forth and stand on the right hand of the Lamb, when he shall stand upon Mount Zion, and upon the holy city, the New Jerusalem, and they shall sing the song of the Lamb day and night for ever and ever.
11a And for this cause, that men might be made partakers of the glories which were to be revealed, the Lord sent forth the fullness of his gospel, his everlasting covenant, reasoning in plainness and simplicity, to prepare the weak for those things which are coming on the earth;
11b and for the Lord's errand in the day when the weak shall confound the wise, and the little one become a strong nation, and two should put their tens of thousands to flight; and by the weak things of the earth, the Lord should thresh the nations by the power of his Spirit.
11c And for this cause these commandments were given; they were commanded to be kept from the world in the day that they were given, but now are to go forth unto all flesh.
11d And this according to the mind and will of the Lord, who ruleth over all flesh; and unto him that repenteth and sanctifieth himself before the Lord, shall be given eternal life.
11e And upon them that hearken not to the voice of the Lord, shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses, that they should be cut off from among the people.
12a And also that which was written by the prophet Malachi:
12b For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
12c Wherefore this shall be the answer of the Lord unto them:
12d In that day when I came unto my own, no man among you received me, and you were driven out.
12e When I called again, there was none of you to answer, yet my arm was not shortened at all, that I could not redeem, neither my power to deliver.
12f Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stinketh, and dieth for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering. And this shall ye have of my hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.
13a Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you, for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens, ye believed not my servants; and when they were sent unto you ye received them not;
13b wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness; these shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Behold, the Lord your God hath spoken it. Amen.
