What Did Angels Teach?
Updated: March 8, 2024
Chiasm
Chiasm, Chiastic Parallelism in the Book of Mormon
Chiasm
Chiasms are a type of Book of Mormon Hebrew Parallelism that some are familiar with, but it is only one type.
Chiasm states ideas to make a point, then repeats the ideas in reverse order. The word Chiasm comes from the Greek letter 'Chi' which resembles 'X.' The ideas are reflected around a central point as an X bends inward to a point, then outward.
Chiasm occurs in the Bible, but more seems to occur in the Book of Mormon.
Hundreds of beautiful and complex Chiasms occur in the Book of Mormon.
The words Jesus speaks when he visits the Nephite/Lamanites form multiple chiasms that are chapters long. Jesus words form chiasms in the Book of Mormon much longer than any found in the Bible.
Many chiasms overlap with other parallelisms forming complex presentations. The writers of these chiasms were profound, displaying depth of thought well beyond Gentile understanding.
(Many Book of Mormon Chiasms below, formatting soon to come).
And if it so be that we are faithful in Him, we shall obtain the Land of Promise;
And ye shall know at some future period that
The word of the Lord
Shall be fulfilled
Concerning the destruction
of Jerusalem,
For all things which the Lord hath spoken
Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem
must be fulfilled.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 7:13)
And he saith unto me: "
Knowest thou the
Condescension of God?"
And I said unto him: "I know that He loveth His children,
Nevertheless, I do not
know the meaning of all things."
And he said unto me: "Behold, the virgin which thou seest
is the mother
of God, after the manner of the flesh."
And it came to pass that I beheld that
she
was carried away in the Spirit;
And after that she had been carried away in the
Spirit a time,
for the
space of a time, the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!"
And I looked and beheld the virgin again,
bearing a Child
in her arms;
And the angel said unto me: "
Behold the Lamb of God,
yea, even the Eternal Father!
(LDS: 1 Nephi 11:21)
1 Nephi 3:183
And after that the Gentiles do stumble
exceedingly
because of the most plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church which is the mother of harlots, ' saith the Lamb,
'Wherefore, I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, ' saith the Lamb,
'Insomuch that I will bring forth unto them in Mine own power much of My gospel, which shall be plain and most precious,
saith
the Lamb.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 13:34)
1 Nephi
5:169-1 Nephi 5:171
And the Lord did show me from time to time
after what
manner I should work the timbers of the ship.
Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers
after the manner which was learned by men,
Neither
did I build the ship after the manner of man,
But I did build it after the manner
which the Lord had shown unto me;
Wherefore, it was
not after the manner of men.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 18:2)
And now it came to pass
that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold, they
said unto me: "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than that
which we are able to bear."
And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard
things against the wicked, according to the truth; And the righteous have I
justified and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day;
Wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the
very center.
"And now my brethren, if ye were righteous, and were willing to hearken to
the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, Then
ye would not murmur because of the truth and say, 'Thou speakest hard things
against us.'"
(LDS: 1 Nephi 16:3)
And the Lord did show me from time to time
after what manner I should
work the timbers of the ship.
Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers
after the manner which was learned by men,
Neither did
I build the ship after the manner of man,
But I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown
unto me;
Wherefore,
it was not after the manner of men.
And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft and I did pray oft unto the Lord;
Wherefore, the Lord
showed unto me great things.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 18:3)
"And the blood of that great and abominable church,
which is the whore of all the earth,
shall
turn upon their own heads,
For they shall war among themselves; And the sword of
their own hands
shall fall upon their own heads,
And they shall be drunken
with their own blood.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 22:13)
"And after that Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit,
they
were driven out from the garden of Eden to till the earth;
And they have brought forth children,
yea,
even the family of all the earth;
And the days of the children of men were prolonged according to the will
of God,
that they might repent while in the flesh;
Wherefore, their state became a state of probation,
And their
time was lengthened according to the commandments which the Lord God gave
unto the children of men,
For He gave commandment that all men must repent,
For He showed unto all men that they were lost because of the
transgression of their parents.
"And now behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have
fallen,
but
he would have remained in the garden of Eden;
ChatGPT: And after that Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit,
they were driven out from the garden of Eden to till the earth;
And they have brought forth children,
yea, even the family of all the earth;
And the days of the children of men were prolonged according to the will of God,
that they might repent while in the flesh;
Wherefore, their state became a state of probation,
And their time was lengthened according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men,
For He gave commandment that all men must repent,
For He showed unto all men that they were lost because of the transgression of their parents.
"And now behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen,
but he would have remained in the garden of Eden;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 2:22)
Wherefore, redemption
cometh in and through the Holy Messiah, For He is full of grace and truth;
Behold, He offereth Himself a sacrifice for sin to answer the ends of the law
unto all those which have a broken heart and a contrite spirit, And unto none
else can the ends of the law be answered.
"Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the
inhabitants of the earth, That they may know that there is no flesh that can
dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits and mercy and grace
of the Holy Messiah,
Which layeth down His life, according to the flesh, and taketh it again, by the
power of the Spirit,
(LDS: 2 Nephi 2:8)
Wherefore, it must needs
have been created for a thing of naught;
Wherefore, there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 2:12)
2 Nephi 1:72
Behold, He offereth Himself a sacrifice for sin
to answer the ends of the law unto all those which have a broken heart and a
contrite spirit, And unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 2:7)
2 Nephi 2:40-2
Nephi 2:41
And they shall cry from
the dust, yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even that after many
generations have gone by them.
'And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the
simpleness of their words;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 3:20)
2 Nephi 6:44
O how great the holiness of our God! For He
knoweth all things and there is not anything save He knows it;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 9:20)
2 Nephi 11:1-2
Nephi 11:10
Now I, Nephi, do speak
somewhat concerning the words which I have written, which have been spoken by
the mouth of Isaiah;
For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to
understand, For they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the
Jews,
For I, Nephi, have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the
Jews, For their works were works of darkness and their doings were doings of
abomination.
Wherefore, I write unto my people, unto all they that shall receive hereafter
these things which I write, That they may know the judgments of God, that they
come upon all nations according to the word which He hath spoken.
Wherefore, hearken O my people which are of the house of Israel and give ear to
my words! For because that the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you,
Nevertheless, they are plain unto all they that are filled with the spirit of
prophecy;
But I give unto you a prophecy according to the Spirit which is in me;
Wherefore, I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me
from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father.
For behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may
learn;
Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, For I came out from
Jerusalem and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews; And I know that the
Jews do understand the things of the prophets, And there is none other people
that understand the things of the prophets which were spoken unto the Jews,
like unto them, Save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things
of the Jews.
But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews;
But behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore, I know concerning
the regions round about;
And I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God which
hath come to pass among the Jews - unto my children, according to all that
which Isaiah hath spoken; And I do not write them;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:6)
Wherefore, hearken O my
people which are of the house of Israel and give ear to my words! For because
that the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, Nevertheless, they are plain
unto all they that are filled with the spirit of prophecy;
But I give unto you a prophecy according to the Spirit which is in me;
Wherefore, I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me
from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:4)
For behold, my soul
delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn;
Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, For I came out from
Jerusalem and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews; And I know that the
Jews do understand the things of the prophets, And there is none other people
that understand the things of the prophets which were spoken unto the Jews,
like unto them, Save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things
of the Jews.
But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews;
But behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore, I know concerning
the regions round about;
And I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God which
hath come to pass among the Jews - unto my children, according to all that
which Isaiah hath spoken; And I do not write them;
But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness, in the
which I know that no man can err.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:7)
Nevertheless, in the days
that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled, men shall know of a surety at
the times when they shall come to pass;
Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men; And he that supposeth
that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly and confine the words
unto mine own people,
For I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days, for in
that day shall they understand them; Wherefore, for their good have I written
them.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:8)
And after that the law is
fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against Him when
the law had ought to be done away.
And now behold, my people, ye are a stiff-necked people; Wherefore, I have
spoken plain unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand;
And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you, For
they are sufficient to teach any man the right way;
For the right way is to believe in Christ and deny Him not, For by denying Him
ye also deny the prophets and the law.
And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ and
deny Him not; And Christ is the Holy One of Israel.
Wherefore, ye must bow down before Him and worship Him with all your might,
mind and strength and your whole soul; And if ye do this, ye shall in no wise be
cast out;
And inasmuch as it shall be expedient, ye must keep the performances and
ordinances of God until the law shall be fulfilled which was given unto Moses.
And after that Christ shall have risen from the dead, He shall show Himself
unto you, my children and my beloved brethren,
(LDS: 2 Nephi 26:1)
But behold, I prophesy
unto you concerning the last days, Concerning the days when the Lord God shall
bring these things forth unto the children of men,
After that my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief
and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles,
Yea, after that the Lord God shall have camped against them round about and
shall have laid siege against them with a mount and raised forts against them;
And after that they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that
they are not, Yet the words of the righteous shall be written, And the prayers
of the faithful shall be heard, And all they which have dwindled in unbelief
shall not be forgotten.
For they which shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, And
their speech shall be low, out of the dust, And their voice shall be as one
that hath a familiar spirit,
For the Lord God will give unto him power that he may whisper concerning them,
even as it were out of the ground; And their speech shall whisper out of the
dust.
For thus saith the Lord God: "They shall write the things which shall be
done among them, And they shall be written and sealed up in a book; And they
that have dwindled in unbelief shall not have them, for they seek to destroy
the things of God;
Wherefore, as they which have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily, And
the multitude of their terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away,
Yea, " thus saith the Lord God, "it shall be at an instant,
suddenly!"
And it shall come to pass that they which have dwindled in unbelief shall be
smitten by the hand of the Gentiles;
And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes and have stumbled
because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many
churches;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 26:20)
And notwithstanding we
believe in Christ, We keep the law of Moses and look forward with steadfastness
unto Christ until the law shall be fulfilled, For, for this end was the law
given;
Wherefore, the law hath become dead unto us, And we are made alive in Christ
because of our faith;
Yet we keep the law because of the commandments;
And we talk of Christ, We rejoice in Christ, We preach of Christ, We prophesy
of Christ, And we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know
to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
Wherefore, we speak concerning the law, that our children may know the deadness
of the law;
And they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life
which is in Christ and know for what end the law was given;
And after that the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their
hearts against Him when the law had ought to be done away.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:27)
And the nations which
shall possess them shall be judged of them, according to the words which are
written;
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children and also our
brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God,
For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all that we can do.
And notwithstanding we believe in Christ, We keep the law of Moses and look
forward with steadfastness unto Christ until the law shall be fulfilled, For,
for this end was the law given;
Wherefore, the law hath become dead unto us, And we are made alive in Christ
because of our faith;
Yet we keep the law because of the commandments;
And we talk of Christ, We rejoice in Christ, We preach of Christ, We prophesy
of Christ, And we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know
to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
Wherefore, we speak concerning the law, that our children may know the deadness
of the law;
And they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life
which is in Christ and know for what end the law was given;
And after that the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their
hearts against Him when the law had ought to be done away.
And now behold, my people, ye are a stiff-necked people; Wherefore, I have
spoken plain unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand;
And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you, For
they are sufficient to teach any man the right way;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:28)
2 Nephi 11:154
"But behold, " saith the Lord of
Hosts, "I will show unto the children of men that it is not yet a very
little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; And the
fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 27:28)
2 Nephi
12:32-2 Nephi 12:35
Yea, wo be unto him that
saith, "We have received and we need no more"!
And in fine, wo unto all they that tremble and are angry because of the truth
of God!
For behold, he that is built upon the Rock, receiveth it with gladness; And he
that is built upon a sandy foundation, trembleth lest he shall fall.
Wo be unto him that shall say, "We have received the word of God and we
need no more of the word of God, for we have enough"!
(LDS: 2 Nephi 28:29)
"Thou fool that shall
say, ' A Bible, we have got a Bible and we need no more Bible '!
Have ye obtained a Bible, save it were by the Jews?
Know ye not that there are more nations than one?
Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men? And that I
remember they which are upon the isles of the sea? And that I rule in the
heavens above and in the earth beneath?
And I bring forth My word unto the children of men, Yea, even upon all the
nations of the earth?
"Wherefore murmur ye because that ye shall receive more of My word?
Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I Am
God? That I remember one nation like unto another?
"Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.
And when the two nations shall run together, The testimony of the two nations
shall run together also;
And I do this that I may prove unto many that I Am the same yesterday, today
and forever, And that I speak forth My words according to Mine own pleasure.
"And because that I have spoken one word, Ye need not suppose that I
cannot speak another; For My work is not yet finished; Neither shall it be
until the end of man; Neither from that time henceforth and forever.
"Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible, Ye need not suppose that it contains
all My words; Neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be
written;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 29:10)
And thus the devil
cheateth their souls and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
And behold, others he flattereth away and telleth them there is no hell, And he
saith unto them: "I am no devil, for there is none."
(LDS: 2 Nephi 28:22)
And others will he pacify
and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: "All is well
in Zion; Yea, Zion prospereth, all is well."
And thus the devil cheateth their souls and leadeth them away carefully down to
hell.
And behold, others he flattereth away and telleth them there is no hell, And he
saith unto them: "I am no devil, for there is none."
And thus he whispereth in their ears until he grasps them with his awful chains
from whence there is no deliverance;
Yea, they are grasped with death and hell; And death and hell and the devil and
all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God and be
judged according to their works, From whence they must go into the place
prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
Wo be unto him that crieth, "All is well"! Yea, wo be unto him that
hearkeneth unto the precepts of men and denieth the power of God and the gift
of the Holy Ghost!
(LDS: 2 Nephi 28:26)
2 Nephi 12:25
And others will he pacify and lull them away
into carnal security, that they will say: "All is well in Zion; Yea, Zion
prospereth, all is well."
(LDS: 2 Nephi 28:21)
2 Nephi 13:7-2
Nephi 13:23
And now if the Lamb of
God, He being holy, should have need to be baptized by water to fulfill all
righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be
baptized, yea, even by water!
And now I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did
fulfill all righteousness in being baptized by water - Know ye not that He was
holy?
But notwithstanding He being holy, He showeth unto the children of men that
according to the flesh He humbleth Himself before the Father, And witnesseth
unto the Father that He would be obedient unto Him in keeping His commandments;
Wherefore, after that He was baptized with water, the Holy Ghost descended upon
Him in the form of a dove.
And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path and
the narrowness of the gate by which they should enter, He having set the
example before them;
And He saith unto the children of men: "Follow thou Me."
Wherefore my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to
keep the commandments of the Father?
And the Father saith: "Repent ye! Repent ye! And be baptized in the name
of My beloved Son!"
And also the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: "He that is baptized
in My name, To him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto Me;
Wherefore, follow Me and do the things which ye have seen Me do."
Wherefore my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son with full
purpose of heart, Acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with
real intent, repenting of your sins, Witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing
to take upon you the name of Christ by baptism, Yea, by following your Lord and
Savior down into the water according to His word, Behold, then shall ye receive
the Holy Ghost;
Yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, And then can ye
speak with the tongue of angels and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
But behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me,
saying: "After that ye have repented of your sins, And witnessed unto the
Father that ye are willing to keep My commandments by the baptism of water, And
have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, And can speak with a
new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels - And after this should deny
Me, It would have been better for you that ye had not known Me."
And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: "Yea, the words of My Beloved
are true and faithful;
He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."
And now my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to
the end in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be
saved.
Wherefore, do the things which I have told you that I have seen that your Lord
and your Redeemer should do;
For, for this cause have they been shown unto me: That ye might know the gate
by which ye should enter.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 31:17)
But behold, why do ye
ponder these things in your hearts? Do ye not remember that I said unto you
that after that ye have received the Holy Ghost, ye could speak with the tongue
of angels?
And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy
Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore, they speak the
words of Christ.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 32:3)
But I, Nephi, have written
what I have written; And I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my
people,
For I pray for them continually by day, And mine eyes water my pillow by night
because of them; And I cry unto my God in faith and I know that He will hear my
cry; And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my
people;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 33:4)
2 Nephi 15:11
And now my beloved brethren, and also Jew and
all ye ends of the earth, Hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; And
if ye believe not in these words, believe in Christ;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 33:10)
Jacob
2:19-Jacob 2:28
O that He would show you
that He can pierce you and with one glance of His eye He can smite you to the
dust!
O that He would rid you from this iniquity and abomination!
And O that ye would listen unto the word of His commands and let not this pride
of your hearts destroy your souls!
Think of your brethren like unto yourselves and be familiar with all and free
with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you;
But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God;
And after that ye have obtained a hope in Christ, ye shall obtain riches - if
ye seek them, And ye will seek them for the intent to do good: to clothe the
naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer
relief to the sick and the afflicted.
And now my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; And those of you
which have afflicted your neighbor and persecuted him because that ye were
proud in your hearts of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?
Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto Him who created all
flesh?
And the one being is as precious in His sight as the other;
And all flesh is of the dust; And for the selfsame end hath He created them,
that they should keep His commandments and glorify Him forever.
(LDS: Jacob 2:21)
Behold, their husbands
love their wives and their wives love their husbands, And their husbands and
their wives love their children;
And their unbelief and their hatred toward you is because of the iniquity of
their fathers; Wherefore, how much better are you than they in the sight of
your great Creator?
O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins, that their
skins will be whiter than yours when ye shall be brought with them before the
throne of God.
Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you which is the word of God, That ye
revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skin, Neither
shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness,
But ye shall remember your own filthiness and remember that their filthiness
came because of their fathers;
Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their
hearts because of the example that ye have set before them,
And also remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children
unto destruction and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.
(LDS: Jacob 3:10)
For behold, as yet ye have
been obedient unto the word of the Lord which I have given unto you -
But behold, hearken ye unto me and know that by the help of the all-powerful
Creator of heaven and earth, I can tell you concerning your thoughts, How that
ye are beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me,
yea, and abominable unto God.
Yea, and it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the
presence of my Maker that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of
your hearts;
(LDS: Jacob 2:6)
Jacob 2:57
Behold, their husbands love their wives and
their wives love their husbands, And their husbands and their wives love their
children;
(LDS: Jacob 3:7)
Jacob
3:148-Jacob 3:150
'For behold, for a long
time will I lay up of the fruit of My vineyard unto Mine own self against the
season which speedily cometh;
And for the last time have I nourished My vineyard and pruned it and dug about
it and dunged it;
Wherefore, I will lay up unto Mine own self of the fruit for a long time, according
to that which I have spoken.
(LDS: Jacob 5:76)
And because that I have
preserved the natural branches and the roots thereof, And that I have grafted
in the natural branches again into their mother tree and have preserved the
roots of their mother tree, That perhaps the trees of My vineyard may bring
forth again good fruit,
And that I may have joy again in the fruit of My vineyard, And perhaps that I
may rejoice exceedingly that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the
first fruit.
'Wherefore, go to and call servants that we may labor diligently with our
mights in the vineyard, That we may prepare the way that I may bring forth
again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious
above all other fruit.
'Wherefore, let Us go to and labor with Our mights this last time, For behold,
the end draweth nigh, And this is for the last time that I shall prune My
vineyard;
Graft in the branches; Begin at the last, that they may be first, and that the
first may be last; And dig about the trees - both old and young, the first and
the last, and the last and the first - That all may be nourished once again for
the last time.
'Wherefore, dig about them and prune them and dung them once more for the last
time, For the end draweth nigh;
And if it so be that these last grafts shall grow and bring forth the natural
fruit, then shall Ye prepare the way for them that they may grow;
And as they begin to grow, Ye shall clear away the branches which bring forth
bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof;
And Ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof
should be too strong for the graft, And the graft thereof shall perish and I
lose the trees of My vineyard;
For it grieveth Me that I should lose the trees of My vineyard. 'Wherefore, Ye
shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, That the root and
the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, And
the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of
My vineyard; And thus will I sweep away the bad out of My vineyard.
'And the branches of the natural tree will I graft in again into the natural
tree; And the branches of the natural tree will I graft into the natural
branches of the tree;
And thus will I bring them together again, that they shall bring forth the
natural fruit and they shall be one;
And the bad shall be cast away, yea, even out of all the land of My vineyard;
For behold, only this once will I prune My vineyard.'
"And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent His Servant, And
the Servant went and did as the Lord had commanded Him and brought other
servants, and they were few;
And the Lord of the vineyard saith unto them: 'Go to and labor in the vineyard
with your mights,
For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish My vineyard, For the end
is nigh at hand and the season speedily cometh;
And if ye labor with your mights with Me, ye shall have joy in the fruit which
I shall lay up unto Myself against the time which will soon come.
"And it came to pass that the servants did go to it and labor with their
mights, And the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them, And they did obey
the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things;
And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard, And the natural
branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly,
(LDS: Jacob 5:73)
Jacob 3:12
For behold, by the power of His word man came
upon the face of the earth, Which earth was created by the power of His word;
(LDS: Jacob 4:9)
Jacob
4:4-Jacob 4:7
And how blessed are they
who have labored diligently in His vineyard! And how cursed are they which
shall be cast out into their own place!
And the world shall be burned with fire;
And how merciful is our God unto us! for He remembereth the house of Israel,
both roots and branches, And He stretches forth His hands unto them all the day
long;
And they are a stiff-necked and a gainsaying people, But as many as will not
harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
(LDS: Jacob 6:4)
For behold, he being
warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the Land of Nephi, And as many as
would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also depart out of the land
with him into the wilderness.
And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him,
And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken
unto the voice of the Lord; And they were led by many preachings and
prophesyings,
And they were admonished continually by the word of God; And they were led by
the power of His arm through the wilderness, until they came down into the land
which is called the Land of Zarahemla,
(LDS: Omni 1:13)
And behold, the record of
this people is engraven upon plates which is had by the kings, according to the
generations;
And I know of no revelation, save that which has been written, neither
prophecy; Wherefore, that which is sufficient is written; And I make an end.
Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom;
Behold, I will speak unto you somewhat concerning Mosiah, which was made king
over the Land of Zarahemla;
For behold, he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the Land of
Nephi, And as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also
depart out of the land with him into the wilderness.
And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him,
And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken
unto the voice of the Lord; And they were led by many preachings and
prophesyings,
And they were admonished continually by the word of God; And they were led by
the power of His arm through the wilderness, until they came down into the land
which is called the Land of Zarahemla,
And they discovered a people which were called the people of Zarahemla.
Now there was great rejoicing among the people of Zarahemla, And also Zarahemla
did rejoice exceedingly because that the Lord had sent the people of Mosiah
with the plates of brass which contained the record of the Jews.
(LDS: Omni 1:14)
"And behold, all that
He requires of you is to keep His commandments; And He hath promised you that
if ye would keep His commandments, ye should prosper in the land;
And He never doth vary from that which He hath said; Therefore, if ye do keep
His commandments, He doth bless you and prosper you.
(LDS: Mosiah 2:22)
And behold also, they
spake that which was commanded them of the Lord, Therefore, they are just and
true.
"And now I say unto you my brethren, that after ye have known and have
been taught all these things, If ye should transgress and go contrary to that
which hath been spoken, That ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the
Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths, that ye
may be blessed, prospered and preserved -
I say unto you, that the man that doeth these things, the same cometh out in
open rebellion against God;
Therefore, he listeth to obey the evil spirit and becometh an enemy to all
righteousness;
Therefore, the Lord hath no place in him, for He dwelleth not in unholy temples.
"Therefore, if that man repenteth not and remaineth and dieth an enemy to
God, the demands of divine justice doth awaken his immortal soul to a lively
sense of his own guilt,
Which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, And doth fill his
breast with guilt and pain and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire
whose flames ascendeth up forever and ever.
"And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; Therefore,
his final doom is to endure a never - ending torment.
"O all ye old men, and also ye young men and you little children which can
understand my words, for I have spoken plain unto you that ye might understand,
I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those
that have fallen into transgression.
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and
happy state of those that keep the commandments of God,
For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual;
And if they hold out faithful to the end, they are received into heaven, that
thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never - ending happiness.
"O remember, remember that these things are true, for the Lord God hath
spoken it!
(LDS: Mosiah 2:41)
"And behold, all that
He requires of you is to keep His commandments; And He hath promised you that
if ye would keep His commandments, ye should prosper in the land;
And He never doth vary from that which He hath said; Therefore, if ye do keep
His commandments, He doth bless you and prosper you.
"And now in the first place, He hath created you and granted unto you your
lives, for which ye are indebted unto Him.
"And secondly, He doth require that ye should do as He hath commanded you,
for which, if ye do, He doth immediately bless you, And therefore, He hath paid
you,
And ye are still indebted unto Him and art and will be forever and ever;
Therefore, of what have ye to boast?
"And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay,
Ye cannot say that thou art even as much as the dust of the earth, yet thou
wast created of the dust of the earth; But behold, it belongeth to Him who
created you;
And I, even I whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are, for
I am also of the dust.
"And thou beholdest that I am old and am about to yield up this mortal
frame to its mother earth;
Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear
conscience before God, Even so, I at this time have caused that ye should
assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, And that your
blood should not come upon me when I shall stand to be judged of God of the
things whereof He hath commanded me concerning you.
"I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves
together, that I might rid my garments of your blood at this period of time
when I am about to go down to my grave,
that I might go down in peace, And my immortal spirit may join the choirs above
in singing the praises of a just God.
"And moreover, I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble
yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your
teacher nor your king,
For even at this time my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting
to speak unto you;
But the Lord God doth support me and hath suffered me that I should speak unto
you, And hath commanded me that I should declare unto you this day that my son
Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you.
"And now my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye hath hitherto done,
As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my father, and
have prospered and have been kept from falling into the hands of your enemies;
Even so, if ye shall keep the commandments of my son - or the commandments of
God which shall be delivered unto you by him - Ye shall prosper in the land and
your enemies shall have no power over you.
(LDS: Mosiah 2:31)
I say that this is the man
that receiveth salvation through the atonement which was prepared from the
foundation of the world for all mankind, Which ever was, ever since the fall of
Adam, or which is or which ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; Neither
are there any conditions whereby man can be saved, except the conditions which
I have told you:
(LDS: Mosiah 4:8)
"Believe in God;
Believe that He is and that He created all things, both in heaven and in earth;
Believe that He hath all wisdom and all power, both in heaven and in earth;
Believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can
comprehend.
"And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, And
humble yourselves before God and ask in sincerity of heart that He would
forgive you;
And now if you believe all these things, see that ye do them!
(LDS: Mosiah 4:10)
"And I would that ye
should remember also that this is the name that I said I should give unto you
that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression;
Therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted
out of your hearts.
(LDS: Mosiah 5:11)
"And it shall come to
pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, For he
shall know the name by which he is called, For he shall be called by the name
of Christ.
"And now it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not take upon them the
name of Christ must be called by some other name; Therefore, he findeth himself
on the left hand of God.
"And I would that ye should remember also that this is the name that I
said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be
through transgression;
Therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted
out of your hearts.
"I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name
written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God,
But that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also the
name by which He shall call you.
(LDS: Mosiah 5:12)
And we are willing to
enter into a covenant with our God, to do His will and to be obedient to His
commandments in all things that He shall command us all the remainder of our
days, That we may not bring upon ourselves a never - ending torment as has been
spoken by the angel, That we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of
God."
And now, these are the words which King Benjamin desired of them and therefore
he said unto them: "Ye have spoken the words that I desired, And the
covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant.
"And now, because of the covenant which ye have made, ye shall be called
the children of Christ, His sons and His daughters;
For behold, this day He hath spiritually begotten you, for ye say that your
hearts are changed through faith on His name; Therefore, ye are born of Him and
have become His sons and His daughters.
"And under this head ye are made free, And there is no other head whereby
ye can be made free;
There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; Therefore, I would that
ye should take upon you the name of Christ - all you that have entered into the
covenant with God - that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
"And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the
right hand of God, For he shall know the name by which he is called, For he
shall be called by the name of Christ.
"And now it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not take upon them the
name of Christ must be called by some other name; Therefore, he findeth himself
on the left hand of God.
"And I would that ye should remember also that this is the name that I
said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be
through transgression;
Therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted
out of your hearts.
"I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name
written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God,
But that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also the
name by which He shall call you.
"For how knoweth a man the master which he hath not served and which is a
stranger unto him and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
"And again, doth a man take an ass which belongeth to his neighbor and
keep him?
I say unto you, Nay, He will not even suffer that he shall feed among his
flocks, but will drive him away and cast him out;
I say unto you, that even so shall it be among you if ye know not the name by
which ye are called.
"Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always
abounding in good works, That Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you
His, That you may be brought to heaven, That ye may have everlasting salvation
and eternal life through the wisdom and power and justice and mercy of Him who
created all things in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen."
(LDS: Mosiah 5:15)
And by them shall all
things be revealed, or rather, shall secret things be made manifest and hidden
things shall come to light, And things which are not known shall be made known
by them;
And also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known;
(LDS: Mosiah 8:17)
"And now, if Christ
had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had
already come, there could have been no redemption;
And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death
that the grave should have no victory and that death should have no sting, there
could have been no resurrection.
"But there is a resurrection; Therefore, the grave hath no victory, And
the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.
"He is the light and the life of the world; Yea, a light that is endless,
that can never be darkened; Yea, and also a life which is endless, that there
can be no more death.
(LDS: Mosiah 16:9)
And now Abinadi saith unto
them: "I would that ye should understand that God Himself shall come down
among the children of men and shall redeem His people;
And because He dwelleth in flesh, He shall be called the Son of God;
And having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and
the Son - The Father, because He was conceived by the power of God, and the
Son, because of the flesh, thus becoming the Father and Son,
And They are one God, yea, the Very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth -
And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father,
being one God, suffereth temptation and yieldeth not to the temptation, But
suffereth Himself to be mocked and scourged and cast out and disowned by His
people.
"And after all this, and after working many mighty miracles among the
children of men, He shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said - ' As a sheep
before the shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth ' -
Yea, even so He shall be led, crucified and slain, the flesh becoming subject
even unto death, The will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the
Father.
"And thus God breaketh the bands of death, Having gained the victory over
death, giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men,
Having ascended into heaven, Having the bowels of mercy being filled with
compassion toward the children of men,
standing betwixt them and justice, Having broken the bands of death, taken upon
Himself their iniquity and their transgressions, Having redeemed them and
satisfied the demands of justice.
(LDS: Mosiah 15:9)
Having gone according to
their own carnal wills and desires, Having never called upon the Lord while the
arms of mercy were extended toward them;
For the arms of mercy were extended toward them and they would not, They being
warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them,
(LDS: Mosiah 16:12)
"But behold and fear
and tremble before God, for ye had ought to tremble, For the Lord redeemeth
none such that rebelleth against Him and dieth in their sins,
Yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world
began, that have willfully rebelled against God, that have known the
commandments of God and would not keep them; These are they that have no part
in the first resurrection.
"Therefore, had ye not ought to tremble?
For salvation cometh to none such, for the Lord hath redeemed none such;
(LDS: Mosiah 15:27)
"And then shall the
wicked be cast out, And they shall have cause to howl and weep and wail and
gnash their teeth,
And this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; Therefore,
the Lord redeemeth them not, for they are carnal and devilish; And the devil
hath power over them,
Yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the
cause of their fall,
Which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing
evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil;
Thus all mankind were lost; And behold, they would have been endlessly lost
were it not that God redeemed His people from their lost and fallen state.
"But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature and goes on
in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, He remaineth in his fallen state
and the devil hath all power over him;
Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God;
And also is the devil an enemy to God.
(LDS: Mosiah 16:5)
And it came to pass that
King Limhi caused that his people should gather their flocks together; And he
sent the tribute of wine to the Lamanites, and he also sent more wine as a
present unto them, And they did drink freely of the wine which King Limhi did
send unto them.
And it came to pass that the people of King Limhi did depart by night into the
wilderness with their flocks and their herds, And they went round about the
Land of Shilom in the wilderness and bent their course toward the Land of
Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren;
(LDS: Mosiah 22:11)
And it came to pass that
after Alma had taught the people many things and had made an end of speaking to
them, that King Limhi was desirous that he might be baptized, And all his
people were desirous that they might be baptized also;
Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize them, Yea, he did
baptize them after the manner he did his brethren in the Waters of Mormon;
Yea, and as many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God, And this
because of their belief on the words of Alma.
(LDS: Mosiah 25:18)
And now it came to pass
that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, And those which
were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them,
Traveling round about through all the land, Publishing to all the people the
things which they had heard and seen, And preaching the word of God in much
tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those which were unbelievers, being
smitten by many of them.
But notwithstanding all this, they did impart much consolation to the church,
confirming their faith, And exhorting them with longsuffering and much travail
to keep the commandments of God.
And four of them were the sons of Mosiah, And their names were Ammon and Aaron
and Omner and Himni; These were the names of the sons of Mosiah.
And after they had traveled throughout all the Land of Zarahemla and among all
the people which were under the reign of King Mosiah, Zealously striving to
repair all the injuries which they had done to the church,
Confessing all their sins, And publishing all the things which they had seen,
And explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear
them -
And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the
knowledge of the truth, Yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.
(LDS: Mosiah 27:36)
Mosiah 11:203
And four of them were the sons of Mosiah, And
their names were Ammon and Aaron and Omner and Himni; These were the names of
the sons of Mosiah.
(LDS: Mosiah 27:34)
Mosiah
13:58-Mosiah 13:61
And they did wax strong in
love toward Mosiah; Yea, they did esteem him more than any other man,
For they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for
that lucre which doth corrupt the soul,
For he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding
of blood, But he had established peace in the land and he had granted unto his
people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage;
Therefore, they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly beyond measure.
(LDS: Mosiah 29:40)
And now it came to pass
that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfill
the commandments of God.
And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his
reign, being sixty and three years old, Making in the whole five hundred and
nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.
And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; And thus ended
the days of Alma who was the founder of their church.
(LDS: Mosiah 29:47)
Alma 1:37
And when their priests left their labor to
impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to
hear the word of God;
(LDS: Alma 1:26)
Alma 1:101
And now as many of the Lamanites and the
Amlicites which had been slain upon the bank of the River Sidon were cast into
the waters of Sidon; And behold, their bones are in the depths of the sea, and
they are many.
(LDS: Alma 3:3)
Alma 3:32-Alma
3:33
"I say unto you, can
you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord saying unto you in
that day: ' Come unto Me, ye blessed, For behold, your works have been the
works of righteousness upon the face of the earth '?
"Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord at that day
and say: 'Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth,
' And that He will save you?
(LDS: Alma 5:17)
Alma 5:22
And He will take upon Him their infirmities,
that His bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, That He may
know, according to the flesh, how to succor His people according to their
infirmities.
(LDS: Alma 7:12)
Alma 8:14
"And the angel said unto me: ' He is a holy
man '; Wherefore, I know he is a holy man because it was said by an angel of
God.
(LDS: Alma 10:9)
Alma 9:17-Alma
9:19
"And therefore, he
that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word,
And he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of
the word until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God, until they
know them in full;
And he that will harden his heart, to him is given the lesser portion of the
word until they know nothing concerning His mysteries;
(LDS: Alma 12:11)
"Therefore they,
having chosen good and exercising exceeding great faith, are called with a holy
calling, Yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to,
a preparatory redemption for such,
And thus they having been called to this holy calling on account of their faith
- "While others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness
of their hearts and blindness of their minds, While, if it had not been for
this, they might have had as great privilege as their brethren;
(LDS: Alma 13:4)
And I would that ye should
remember that the Lord God ordained priests after His holy order which was
after the order of His Son, to teach these things unto the people;
And those priests were ordained after the order of His Son in a manner that
thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to His Son for
redemption.
"And this is the manner after which they were ordained, being called and
prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of
God, On account of their exceeding faith and good works, in the first place
being left to choose good or evil -
"Therefore they, having chosen good and exercising exceeding great faith,
are called with a holy calling, Yea, with that holy calling which was prepared
with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such,
And thus they having been called to this holy calling on account of their faith
- "While others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness
of their hearts and blindness of their minds, While, if it had not been for
this, they might have had as great privilege as their brethren;
Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their
brethren - "Thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of
the world for such as would not harden their hearts, Being in and through the
atonement of the Only Begotten Son which was prepared;
And thus being called by this holy calling and ordained unto the high
priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach His commandments unto the
children of men, that they also might enter into His rest,
This high priesthood being after the order of His Son, which order was from the
foundation of the world,
Or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being
prepared from eternity to all eternity according to His foreknowledge of all
things -
"Now they were ordained after this manner, being called with a holy
calling and ordained with a holy ordinance, And taking upon themselves the high
priesthood of the holy order, which calling and ordinance and high priesthood
is without beginning or end.
"Thus they become high priests forever after the order of the Son of - the
Only Begotten of - the Father, which is without beginning of days or end of
years, which is full of grace, equity and truth."And thus it is.
Amen."
(LDS: Alma 13:9)
Nevertheless, they are
laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the
portion of His word which He doth grant unto the children of men, according to
the heed and diligence which they give unto Him.
"And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the
lesser portion of the word,
And he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of
the word until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God, until they
know them in full;
And he that will harden his heart, to him is given the lesser portion of the
word until they know nothing concerning His mysteries;
(LDS: Alma 12:11)
Alma 9:21
Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
"And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, And being raised from
this mortality to a state of immortality, And being brought before the bar of
God to be judged according to our works.
(LDS: Alma 12:12)
Alma 9:47
"And after God had appointed that these
things should come unto man, Behold, then He saw that it was expedient that man
should know concerning the things whereof He had appointed unto them.
(LDS: Alma 12:28)
Alma 10:1-Alma
10:17
"Now as I said
concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many which were
ordained and became high priests of God;
And it was on account of the exceeding faith and repentance and their
righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather
than to perish,
Therefore, they were called after this holy order and were sanctified, And
their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
"Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments
made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it
were with abhorrence.
"And there were many, an exceeding great many, which were made pure and
entered into the rest of the Lord their God.
"And now my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God
and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that
rest;
Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was
also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took
upon him the high priesthood forever;
And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes, Yea, even our
father Abraham paid tithes of one tenth part of all he possessed.
"Now these ordinances were given after this manner, that thereby the
people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a type of His order, or
it being His order;
And this that they might look forward to Him for a remission of their sins,
that they might enter into the rest of the Lord.
"Now this Melchizedek was a king over the Land of Salem; And his people
had waxed strong in iniquity and abominations, yea, they had all gone astray -
they were full of all manner of wickedness;
But Melchizedek, having exercised mighty faith and received the office of the
high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto
his people,
And behold, they did repent; And Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in
his days,
Therefore, he was called the prince of peace, For he was the king of Salem and
he did reign under his father.
"Now there were many before him and also there were many afterward, but
none were greater, Therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention;
Now I need not rehearse the matter; What I have said may suffice;
Behold, the scriptures are before you; If ye will wrest them, it shall be to
your own destruction."
(LDS: Alma 13:20)
"Yea, and the voice
of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations, Yea,
doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy.
"Yea, and He doth sound these glad tidings among all His people, yea, even
to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; Wherefore, they
have come unto us
and they are made known unto us in plain terms that we may understand, that we
cannot err, And this because of our being wanderers in a strange land;
Therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared
unto us in all parts of our vineyard.
"For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land,
And this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men for
to receive His word at the time of His coming in His glory.
"And now we only wait to hear the joyful news - declared unto us by the
mouth of angels of His coming, for the time cometh, we know not how soon;
(LDS: Alma 13:25)
And thus they departed
into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the
Land of Nephi to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.
And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness; And they
fasted much and prayed much, that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of
His Spirit to go with them and abide with them,
That they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were
possible, their brethren the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth,
To the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were
not correct.
And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with His Spirit and said unto
them: "Be comforted"; And they were comforted.
And the Lord said unto them also: "Go forth among the Lamanites, thy
brethren, and establish My word;
Yet ye shall be patient in longsuffering and afflictions, that ye may show
forth good examples unto them in Me, And I will make an instrument of thee in
My hands unto the salvation of many souls."
And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those which
were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto
them the word of God.
(LDS: Alma 17:12)
Alma 12:120
And he also made known unto them
Concerning the coming of Christ;
And all the works of the Lord
Did he
make known unto them.
(LDS: Alma 18:39)
Alma
14:99-Alma 14:101
Behold, we went forth,
even in wrath, with mighty threatenings, to destroy His church; O then, why did
He not consign us to an awful destruction? Yea, why did He not let the sword of
His justice fall upon us and doom us to eternal despair?
O my soul almost, as it were, fleeth at the thought!
Behold, He did not exercise His justice upon us, But in His great mercy hath
brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the
salvation of our souls.
(LDS: Alma 26:20)
And thus we see the great
call of the diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; And thus we
see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing - Sorrow, because of
death and destruction among men, And joy, because of the light of Christ unto
life.
O that I were an angel and could have the wish of mine heart! That I might go
forth and speak with the trump of God, With a voice to shake the earth and cry
repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul as with the voice of thunder, repentance
and the plan of redemption, That they should repent and come unto our God, That
there might be no more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
But behold, I am a man and do sin in my wish, For I had ought to be content
with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me;
I had not ought to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, For I
know that He granteth unto men according to their desires, whether it be unto
death or unto life, Yea, I know that He allotteth unto man, yea, decreeth unto
them decrees which are unalterable according to their wills, whether it be unto
salvation or unto destruction.
Yea, and I know that good and evil hath come before all men - Or he that
knoweth not good from evil is blameless, But he that knoweth good and evil, to
him it is given according to his desires, Whether he desireth good or evil,
life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.
Now seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform
the work to which I have been called?
Why should I desire that I was an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends
of the earth?
For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and
tongue, to teach His word, yea, in wisdom all that He seeth fit that they
should have; Therefore, we see that the Lord doth counsel in His wisdom
according to that which is just and true.
I know that which the Lord hath commanded me and I glory in it; I do not glory
of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me;
Yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of
God to bring some soul to repentance; And this is my joy.
(LDS: Alma 29:9)
And from the first year to
the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives, yea,
it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed;
And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of
many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth;
Yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred because they
have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are
consigned to a state of endless wo;
While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet
they rejoice and exult in the hope, yea, and even know, according to the
promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God in
a state of never - ending happiness.
And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and
transgression, And the power of the devil which comes by the cunning plans
which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men;
And thus we see the great call of the diligence of men to labor in the
vineyards of the Lord; And thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of
rejoicing - Sorrow, because of death and destruction among men, And joy,
because of the light of Christ unto life.
O that I were an angel and could have the wish of mine heart! That I might go
forth and speak with the trump of God, With a voice to shake the earth and cry
repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul as with the voice of thunder, repentance
and the plan of redemption, That they should repent and come unto our God, That
there might be no more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
But behold, I am a man and do sin in my wish, For I had ought to be content
with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me;
I had not ought to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, For I
know that He granteth unto men according to their desires, whether it be unto
death or unto life, Yea, I know that He allotteth unto man, yea, decreeth unto
them decrees which are unalterable according to their wills, whether it be unto
salvation or unto destruction.
Yea, and I know that good and evil hath come before all men - Or he that
knoweth not good from evil is blameless, But he that knoweth good and evil, to
him it is given according to his desires, Whether he desireth good or evil,
life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.
Now seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform
the work to which I have been called?
Why should I desire that I was an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends
of the earth?
For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and
tongue, to teach His word, yea, in wisdom all that He seeth fit that they
should have; Therefore, we see that the Lord doth counsel in His wisdom
according to that which is just and true.
I know that which the Lord hath commanded me and I glory in it; I do not glory
of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me;
Yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of
God to bring some soul to repentance; And this is my joy.
And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent and coming to the
Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy, Then do I remember what the
Lord has done for me, yea, even that He hath heard my prayer, Yea, then do I
remember His merciful arm which He extended toward me.
(LDS: Alma 29:10)
Alma 15:65
Yea, and that same God hath called me by a holy
calling to preach the word unto this people, And hath given me much success, in
the which my joy is full; But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy
is more full because of the success of my brethren which have been up to the
Land of Nephi;
(LDS: Alma 29:14)
Alma
16:195-Alma 16:198
"O my brethren, if ye
could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might behold, would
ye not behold quickly? Or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief and be
slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes that ye might perish?
If so, wo shall come upon you; But if not so, then cast about your eyes and
begin to believe in the Son of God, that He will come to redeem His people, And
that He shall suffer and die to atone for their sins,
And that He shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the
resurrection, That all men shall stand before Him to be judged at the last and
judgment day, according to their works.
"And now my brethren, I desire that ye should plant this word in your
hearts, And as it beginneth to swell, even so nourish it by your faith;
(LDS: Alma 33:23)
"For it is expedient
that an atonement should be made; For according to the great plans of the
Eternal God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must
unavoidably perish -
Yea, all are hardened, Yea, all are fallen and are lost and must perish, except
it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
"For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, Yea,
not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl, For it
shall not be a human sacrifice, But it must be an infinite and an eternal
sacrifice.
(LDS: Alma 34:10)
"And because of your
diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that
it may take root in you, Behold, by and by, ye shall pluck the fruit thereof,
which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white
above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure,
And ye shall feast upon this fruit, even until ye are filled that ye hunger
not, neither shall ye thirst;
Then my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith and your diligence
and patience and longsuffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto
you."
(LDS: Alma 32:43)
Behold, He was spoken of
by Moses; Yea, and behold, a type was raised up in the wilderness that
whosoever would look upon it might live, And many did look and live;
But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the
hardness of their hearts;
But there were many which were so hardened that they would not look, therefore
they perished;
(LDS: Alma 33:20)
Now if a man desired to
serve God, it was his privilege, or rather if he believed in God, it was his
privilege to serve Him, But if he did not believe in Him, there was no law to
punish him;
But if he murdered, he was punished unto death, And if he robbed, he was also
punished, And if he stole, he was also punished, And if he committed adultery,
he was also punished; Yea, for all this wickedness they were punished, for
there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes;
(LDS: Alma 30:11)
"But behold, as the
seed swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to grow - And then ye must needs say
that the seed is good, For behold, it swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to
grow -
And now behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen
your faith, For ye will say, 'I know that this is a good seed, For behold, it
sprouteth and beginneth to grow.'
(LDS: Alma 32:30)
"Holy God, we believe
that Thou hast separated us from our brethren; And we do not believe in the
traditions of our brethren which was handed down to them by the childishness of
their fathers, But we believe that Thou hast elected us to be Thy holy children;
And also, Thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ, But
Thou art the same yesterday, today and forever; And Thou hast elected us that
we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by Thy wrath
down to hell, For the which holiness, O God, we thank Thee.
"And we also thank Thee that Thou hast elected us that we may not be led
away after the foolish traditions of our brethren which doth bind them down to
a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from Thee our
God;
(LDS: Alma 31:17)
And again, we thank Thee,
O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen."
Now it came to pass that after Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard
these prayers, they were astonished beyond all measure,
For behold, every man did go forth and offer up these same prayers.
Now the place was called by them "rameumptom, " which, being
interpreted, is the "holy stand."
Now from this stand they did offer up, every man, the selfsame prayer unto God,
Thanking their God that they were chosen of Him, And that He had not led them
away after the tradition of their brethren, And that their hearts were not
stolen away to believe in things to come which they knew nothing about.
(LDS: Alma 31:22)
Now there was no law
against a man's belief, for it was strictly contrary to the commandments of God
that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds,
For thus saith the scripture, "Choose ye this day whom ye will
serve."
Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege, or rather if he
believed in God, it was his privilege to serve Him, But if he did not believe
in Him, there was no law to punish him;
But if he murdered, he was punished unto death, And if he robbed, he was also
punished, And if he stole, he was also punished, And if he committed adultery,
he was also punished; Yea, for all this wickedness they were punished, for
there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes;
Nevertheless, there was no law against a man's belief, Therefore, a man was
punished only for the crimes which he had done, Therefore, all men were on
equal grounds.
(LDS: Alma 30:11)
Alma 16:184
'And it is because of Thy Son that Thou hast
been thus merciful unto me; Therefore, I will cry unto Thee in all mine
afflictions, for in Thee is my joy, For Thou hast turned Thy judgments away
from me because of Thy Son.'"
(LDS: Alma 33:11)
Alma 16:195
"O my brethren, if ye could be healed by
merely casting about your eyes that ye might behold, would ye not behold
quickly? Or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief and be slothful,
that ye would not cast about your eyes that ye might perish?
(LDS: Alma 33:21)
Alma 17:1-Alma
17:84
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My son, give ear to my words, |
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For I swear unto you that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God, |
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ye shall prosper in the
land; |
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And He surely did
deliver them in their afflictions. |
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And, therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; |
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For I do know that
whomsoever shall put his trust in God shall be supported in their trials and
their troubles and their afflictions and shall be lifted up at the last day; |
And now my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been
entrusted with me, And I also command you that ye shall keep a record of this
people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi; And keep all these
things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them - for it is for a
wise purpose that they are kept -
And these plates of brass which contain these engravings, which have the
records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our forefathers,
even from the beginning;
And behold, it hath been prophesied by our fathers that they should be kept and
handed down from one generation to another and be kept and preserved by the
hand of the Lord, Until they shall go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue
and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon.
And now behold, if they are kept, they must retain their brightness, Yea, and
they will retain their brightness, Yea, and also shall all the plates which do
contain that which is holy writ.
Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; But behold, I say unto you
that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass, And small
means, in many instances, doth confound the wise;
And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about His great and eternal
purposes, And by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth
about the salvation of many souls.
And now, it hath hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be
preserved; For behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, Yea, and
convinced many of the error of their ways, And brought them to the knowledge of
their God, unto the salvation of their souls;
Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do
contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have
convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of
their fathers;
Yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance, That is, they
brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God and to rejoice in Jesus
Christ their Redeemer;
And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of
them - yea, and also many thousands of our stiff - necked brethren the
Nephites, which are now hardening their hearts in sins and iniquities - to the
knowledge of their Redeemer.
Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me, therefore I shall
forbear;
And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which
purpose is known unto God, For He doth counsel in wisdom over all His works,
And His paths are strait, And His course is one eternal round.
O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God!
And He saith, "If ye will keep My commandments, ye shall prosper in the
land, " But if ye keep not His commandments, ye shall be cut off from His
presence.
And now remember, my son, that God hath entrusted you with these things which
are sacred, which He hath kept sacred, And also which He will keep and preserve
for a wise purpose in Him, that He may show forth His power unto future
generations.
And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy that if ye trangress the
commandments of God, Behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away
from you by the power of God, And ye shall be delivered up unto Satan that he
may sift you as chaff before the wind;
But if ye keep the commandments of God and do with these things which are
sacred, according to that which the Lord doth command you - for you must appeal
unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them - Behold, no power
of earth or hell can take them from you; For God is powerful to the fulfilling
of all His words,
For He will fulfill all His promises which He shall make unto you, For He hath
fulfilled His promise which He hath made unto our fathers,
For He promised unto them that He would preserve these things for a wise
purpose in Him, that He might show forth His power unto future generations.
And now behold, one purpose hath He fulfilled, even to the restoration of many
thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; And He hath shown
forth His power in them, And He will also still show forth His power in them
unto future generations, Therefore, they shall be preserved;
Therefore, I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all
my words, And that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they
are written.
And now, I will speak unto you concerning those twenty - four plates, that ye
keep them, That the mysteries and the works of darkness and their secret works
- or the secret works of those people which have been destroyed - may be made
manifest unto this people -
Yea, all their murders and robbings and their plunderings, and all their
wickedness and abominations may be made manifest unto this people - Yea, and
that ye preserve these directors.
For, behold, the Lord saw that His people began to work in darkness, yea, work
secret murders and abominations; Therefore, the Lord said if they did not repent,
they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth.
And the Lord said: "I will prepare unto My servant Gazelem a stone which
shall shine forth in darkness unto light, That I may discover unto My people
which serve Me - That I may discover unto them the works of their brethren -
Yea, their secret works, their works of darkness and their wickedness and
abominations."
And now, my son, these directors were prepared that the word of God might be
fulfilled which He spake, saying: "I will bring forth out of darkness unto
light all their secret works and their abominations;
And, except they repent, I will destroy them from off the face of the earth;
And I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations unto every nation
that shall hereafter possess the land."
And now my son, we see that they did not repent, Therefore, they have been
destroyed; And thus far the word of God hath been fulfilled, Yea, their secret
abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us.
And now my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths and their
covenants and their agreements in their secret abominations; Yea, and all their
signs and their wonders ye shall retain from this people, that they know them
not, Lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed;
For behold, there is a curse upon all this land that destruction shall come
upon all those workers of darkness - according to the power of God - when they
are fully ripe. Therefore, I desire that this people might not be destroyed;
Therefore, ye shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants
from this people, And only their wickedness and their murders and their
abominations shall ye make known unto them,
And ye shall teach them to abhor such wickedness and abominations and murders,
And ye shall also teach them that these people were destroyed on account of
their wickedness and abominations and their murders;
For behold, they murdered all the prophets of the Lord which came among them to
declare unto them concerning their iniquities, And the blood of those which
they murdered did cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those which
were their murderers.
And thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and
secret combinations; Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those
workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they
repent before they are fully ripe.
And now my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; Trust not
those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting hatred
against sin and iniquity,
Preach unto them repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, Teach them to
humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart, Teach them to withstand
every temptation of the devil with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ,
Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart;
For such shall find rest to their souls.
O remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth, Yea, learn in thy youth to
keep the commandments of God, Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support,
Yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, And whithersoever thou goest, let it
be in the Lord, Yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord, Yea, let
the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever, Counsel the Lord
in all thy doings and He will direct thee for good,
Yea, when thou liest down at night, lie down unto the Lord that He may watch
over you in your sleep, And when thou risest in the morning, let thy heart be full
of thanks unto God; And if ye always do these things, ye shall be lifted up at
the last day.
And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers
call a ball or director, Or our fathers called it "liahona, " which
is, being interpreted, a "compass, " And the Lord prepared it;
And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a
workmanship,
And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they
should travel in the wilderness. And it did work for them according to their
faith in God;
Therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those
spindles should point the way they should go, Behold, it was done; Therefore,
they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of
God, day by day;
Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means, nevertheless
it did show unto them marvelous works.
They were slothful and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence, And then
those marvelous works ceased and they did not progress in their journey;
Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course,
and were afflicted with hunger and thirst because of their transgression.
And now my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not
without a shadow; For as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass
- now these things were temporal - they did not prosper, Even so it is with
things which are spiritual;
For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point
to you a strait course to eternal bliss, As it was for our fathers to give heed
to this compass, which would point unto them a strait course to the Promised
Land.
And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just assuredly as this
director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the Promised Land,
Shall the word of Christ, if we follow its course, carry us beyond this vale of
sorrow into a far better Land of Promise.
O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way, for so
was it with our fathers; For so was it prepared for them - that if they would
look, they might live - even so it is with us.
The way is prepared - And if we will look, we may live forever.
And now my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, Yea, see that ye
look to God and live;
Go unto this people and declare the word and be sober. My son, farewell.
(LDS: Alma 37:47)
And He saith, "If ye
will keep My commandments, ye shall prosper in the land, " But if ye keep
not His commandments, ye shall be cut off from His presence.
And now remember, my son, that God hath entrusted you with these things which
are sacred, which He hath kept sacred, And also which He will keep and preserve
for a wise purpose in Him, that He may show forth His power unto future
generations.
And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy that if ye trangress the
commandments of God, Behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away
from you by the power of God, And ye shall be delivered up unto Satan that he
may sift you as chaff before the wind;
But if ye keep the commandments of God and do with these things which are
sacred, according to that which the Lord doth command you - for you must appeal
unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them - Behold, no power
of earth or hell can take them from you; For God is powerful to the fulfilling
of all His words,
For He will fulfill all His promises which He shall make unto you, For He hath
fulfilled His promise which He hath made unto our fathers,
For He promised unto them that He would preserve these things for a wise
purpose in Him, that He might show forth His power unto future generations.
And now behold, one purpose hath He fulfilled, even to the restoration of many
thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; And He hath shown
forth His power in them, And He will also still show forth His power in them
unto future generations, Therefore, they shall be preserved;
Therefore, I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all
my words, And that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they
are written.
(LDS: Alma 37:20)
Yea, I say unto you, were
it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these
plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of
the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers;
Yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance, That is, they
brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God and to rejoice in Jesus
Christ their Redeemer;
And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of
them - yea, and also many thousands of our stiff - necked brethren the
Nephites, which are now hardening their hearts in sins and iniquities - to the
knowledge of their Redeemer.
Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me, therefore I shall
forbear;
And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which
purpose is known unto God, For He doth counsel in wisdom over all His works,
And His paths are strait, And His course is one eternal round.
O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God!
And He saith, "If ye will keep My commandments, ye shall prosper in the
land, " But if ye keep not His commandments, ye shall be cut off from His
presence.
And now remember, my son, that God hath entrusted you with these things which
are sacred, which He hath kept sacred, And also which He will keep and preserve
for a wise purpose in Him, that He may show forth His power unto future
generations.
And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy that if ye trangress the
commandments of God, Behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away
from you by the power of God, And ye shall be delivered up unto Satan that he
may sift you as chaff before the wind;
But if ye keep the commandments of God and do with these things which are
sacred, according to that which the Lord doth command you - for you must appeal
unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them - Behold, no power
of earth or hell can take them from you; For God is powerful to the fulfilling
of all His words,
For He will fulfill all His promises which He shall make unto you, For He hath
fulfilled His promise which He hath made unto our fathers,
For He promised unto them that He would preserve these things for a wise
purpose in Him, that He might show forth His power unto future generations.
And now behold, one purpose hath He fulfilled, even to the restoration of many
thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; And He hath shown
forth His power in them, And He will also still show forth His power in them
unto future generations, Therefore, they shall be preserved;
Therefore, I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all
my words, And that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they
are written.
And now, I will speak unto you concerning those twenty - four plates, that ye
keep them, That the mysteries and the works of darkness and their secret works
- or the secret works of those people which have been destroyed - may be made
manifest unto this people -
(LDS: Alma 37:21)
And now my son, I would
that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; For as
our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass - now these things were
temporal - they did not prosper, Even so it is with things which are spiritual;
For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point
to you a strait course to eternal bliss, As it was for our fathers to give heed
to this compass, which would point unto them a strait course to the Promised
Land.
(LDS: Alma 37:44)
Now there was a punishment
affixed and a just law given which brought remorse of conscience unto man.
Now if there was no law given, if a man murdered, he should die, Would he be
afraid he should die if he should murder?
And also, if there was no law given against sin, men would not be afraid to
sin;
And if there was no law given, if men sinned, what could justice do? or mercy
either? For they would have no claim upon the creature.
But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and repentance granted,
which repentance mercy claimeth; Otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and
executeth the law, And the law inflicteth the punishment; If not so, the works
of justice would be destroyed and God would cease to be God.
(LDS: Alma 42:22)
O my son, this is not the
case, But the meaning of the word "restoration" is to bring back
again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish, good for
that which is good, righteous for that which is righteous, just for that which
is just, merciful for that which is merciful.
Therefore, my son, see that ye are merciful unto your brethren, Deal justly,
judge righteously and do good continually; And if ye do all these things, then
shall ye receive your reward -
Yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again, Ye shall have justice
restored unto you again, Ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you
again,
And ye shall have good rewarded unto you again; For that which ye doth send out
shall return unto you again and be restored; Therefore, the word
"restoration" more fully condemneth the sinner and justifieth him not
at all.
(LDS: Alma 41:15)
Behold, there is a time
appointed that all shall come forth from the dead,
Now when this time cometh, no one knows, But God knoweth the time which is
appointed;
Now whether there shall be one time or a second time or a third time that men
shall come forth from the dead, it mattereth not, For God knoweth all these
things; And it sufficeth me to know that this is the case, that there is a time
appointed that all shall rise from the dead.
(LDS: Alma 40:5)
Yea, this bringeth about
the restoration of those things of which have been spoken by the mouths of the
prophets -
The soul shall be restored to the body and the body to the soul, Yea, and every
limb and joint shall be restored to its body, Yea, even a hair of their heads
shall not be lost; But all things shall be restored to its proper and perfect
frame.
And now my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths
of the prophets, And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of
God.
(LDS: Alma 40:25)
I say unto thee, my son,
that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God, For it is
requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order;
Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of
Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, And that every
part of the body should be restored to itself.
And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according
to their works; And if their works were good in this life and the desires of
their hearts were good, that they should also at the last day be restored unto
that which is good;
And if his works are evil, they shall be restored unto him for evil. Therefore,
all things shall be restored to its proper order - everything to its natural
frame, mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption, Raised to
endless happiness, to inherit the kingdom of God, Or, to endless misery, to
inherit the kingdom of the devil;
(LDS: Alma 41:4)
Alma 19:58
The soul shall be restored to the body and the
body to the soul, Yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body,
Yea, even a hair of their heads shall not be lost; But all things shall be
restored to its proper and perfect frame.
(LDS: Alma 40:23)
Alma 19:114
Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least
point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God, But do you let the
justice of God and His mercy and His longsuffering have full sway in your heart,
But let it bring you down to the dust in humility.
(LDS: Alma 42:30)
Alma
21:74-Alma 21:77
And it came to pass that
there were many who died, firmly believing that their souls were redeemed by
the Lord Jesus Christ; Thus they went out of the world rejoicing.
And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year was
very frequent in the land -
But not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many
plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases to
which man was susceptible by the nature of the climate -
But there were many who died with old age. And those who died in the faith of
Christ are happy in Him, as we must needs suppose.
(LDS: Alma 46:41)
Yea, and more than a
thousand of the Lamanites were slain, While on the other hand there was not a
single soul of the Nephites which were slain -
There were about fifty which were wounded, which had been exposed to the arrows
of the Lamanites through the pass, But they were shielded by their shields and
their breastplates and their headplates, insomuch that their wounds were upon
their legs, many of which were very severe.
And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that their chief captains were
all slain, they fled into the wilderness.
(LDS: Alma 49:25)
Yea, and he was a man who
was firm in the faith of Christ - And he had sworn with an oath to defend his
people, his rights and his country and his religion, even to the loss of his
blood.
Now the Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even
to the shedding of blood if it were necessary;
Yea, and they were also taught never to give an offense, Yea, and never to
raise the sword, except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve
their lives.
And this was their faith - That by so doing, God would prosper them in the
land, Or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of
God, that He would prosper them in the land, Yea, warn them to flee or to
prepare for war, according to their danger,
And also that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to
defend themselves against their enemies, And by so doing the Lord would deliver
them. And this was the faith of Moroni,
And his heart did glory in it - Not in the shedding of blood, but in doing good
- in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and
resisting iniquity.
(LDS: Alma 48:16)
And these are the words:
"Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the
spirit of revelation which is in me, In four hundred years from the time that
Jesus Christ shall manifest Himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief.
"Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and
bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct;
Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of
darkness and lasciviousness and all manner of iniquities.
(LDS: Alma 45:12)
And these are the words:
"Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the
spirit of revelation which is in me, In four hundred years from the time that
Jesus Christ shall manifest Himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief.
"Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and
bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct;
Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of
darkness and lasciviousness and all manner of iniquities.
"Yea, I say unto you that because they shall sin against so great light
and knowledge, Yea, I say unto you that from that day, even the fourth
generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.
"And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that
those which are now - Or the seed of those which are now numbered among the
people of the Nephites - shall no more be numbered among the people of Nephi;
But whosoever remaineth and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day
shall be numbered among the Lamanites and shall become like unto them - All,
save it be a few which shall be called the disciples of the Lord,
And them shall the Lamanites pursue, even until they shall become extinct; And
now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled."
(LDS: Alma 45:14)
Moroni saith unto them:
"Behold, we are a remnant of the seed of Jacob, Yea, we are a remnant of
the seed of Joseph whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces;
Yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, Or our
garments shall be rent by our brethren and we be cast into prison or be sold or
be slain; Yea, let us preserve our liberty, as a remnant of Joseph;
Yea, let us remember the words of Jacob before his death, For behold, he saw
that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not
decayed.
(LDS: Alma 46:24)
"Behold, I have given
unto you the names of our first parents which came out of the Land of
Jerusalem; And this I have done that when you remember your names, that ye may
remember them; And when ye remember them, ye may remember their works; And when
ye remember their works, ye may know how that it is said, and also written,
that they were good.
"Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it
may be said of you, and also written, Even as it has been said and written of
them.
(LDS: Helaman 5:7)
"And now my sons,
remember, remember that it is upon the Rock of our Redeemer, which is Christ,
the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; That when the devil shall
send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind,
Yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, It shall have
no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo,
Because of the Rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a
foundation whereon if men buildeth, they cannot fall."
(LDS: Helaman 5:12)
And it came to pass that
they became exceeding rich, both the Lamanites and the Nephites; And they did
have an exceeding plenty of gold and of silver and of all manner of precious
metals, Both in the Land South and in the Land North.
Now the Land South was called Lehi, And the Land North was called Mulek, which
was after the son of Zedekiah; For the Lord did bring Mulek into the Land North
and Lehi into the Land South.
And behold, there was all manner of gold in both these lands, and of silver and
of precious ore of every kind; And there were also curious workmen which did
work all kinds of ore and did refine it; And thus they did become rich.
(LDS: Helaman 6:11)
And now there are many
records kept of the proceedings of this people - by many of this people - Which
are particular and very large concerning them.
But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people - Yea, the
account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, And their wars and contentions
and dissensions, And their preaching and their prophecies, And their shipping
and their building of ships, And their building of temples and of synagogues
and their sanctuaries, And their righteousness and their wickedness and their
murders and their robbings and their plunderings, And all manner of
abominations and whoredoms - Cannot be contained in this work.
But behold, there are many books and many records of every kind, And they have
been kept chiefly by the Nephites; And they have been handed down from one
generation to another by the Nephites, even until they have fallen into
transgression, And have been murdered, plundered and hunted, And driven forth
and slain and scattered upon the face of the earth, And mixed with the
Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites, becoming wicked and wild
and ferocious, Yea, even becoming Lamanites.
(LDS: Helaman 3:16)
Helaman 2:64
For as their laws and their governments were
established by the voice of the people, And they which chose evil were more
numerous than they which chose good, Therefore, they were ripening for
destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.
(LDS: Helaman 5:2)
Helaman 2:80
And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did
preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority - For they had
power and authority given unto them that they might speak, And they also had
what they should speak given unto them -
(LDS: Helaman 5:18)
Helaman
3:5-Helaman 3:9
Now this great iniquity
had come upon the Nephites in the space of not many years - And when Nephi saw
it, his heart was swollen with sorrow within his breast;
And he did exclaim in the agony of his soul: "O that I could have had my
days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the Land of Jerusalem!
That I could have joyed with him in the Promised Land!
Then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God
and slow to be led to do iniquity; And they were quick to hearken unto the
words of the Lord;
Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy
in the righteousness of my brethren.
"But behold, I am consigned that these are my days, and that my soul shall
be filled with sorrow because of this, the wickedness of my brethren."
(LDS: Helaman 7:9)
Helaman 3:115
"Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things
which thou hast done; For I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness
declared the word which I have given unto thee unto this people;
(LDS: Helaman 10:4)
Helaman
4:68-Helaman 4:70
And if the Lord shall say,
"Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be cut off from My
presence!" - And He will cause that it shall be so.
And wo unto whom He shall say this! for it shall be unto him that will do
iniquity and he cannot be saved; Therefore, for this cause - that men might be
saved - hath repentance been declared.
Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the
Lord their God, For these are they that shall be saved;
(LDS: Helaman 12:23)
Yea, even if they should
dwindle in unbelief, the Lord shall prolong their days until the time shall
come which hath been spoken of by our fathers - And also by the prophet Zenos,
and many other prophets - Concerning the restoration of our brethren the
Lamanites again, to the knowledge of the truth.
"Yea, I say unto you that in the latter times, the promises of the Lord
hath been extended to our brethren the Lamanites;
And notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, And
notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth and
be hunted and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for
refuge, The Lord shall be merciful unto them;
And this is according to the prophecy that they shall again be brought to the
true knowledge - Which is knowledge of their Redeemer and their great and their
true Shepherd - And be numbered among His sheep.
(LDS: Helaman 15:13)
"But behold, the
resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind - yea, even all mankind - and bringeth
them back into the presence of the Lord;
Yea, and it bringeth to pass the conditions of repentance, That whosoever
repenteth, the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire;
But whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire, And there
cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, For they are cut
off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.
(LDS: Helaman 14:18)
Yea, behold, this death
bringeth to pass the resurrection and redeemeth all mankind from the first
death - that spiritual death, For all mankind - by the fall of Adam, being cut
off from the presence of the Lord - are considered as dead, both as to things
temporal and to things spiritual.
"But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind - yea, even all
mankind - and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord;
Yea, and it bringeth to pass the conditions of repentance, That whosoever
repenteth, the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire;
But whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire, And there
cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, For they are cut
off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.
"Therefore, repent ye, repent ye! Lest by knowing these things and not
doing them, ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation and ye are
brought down unto this second death.
(LDS: Helaman 14:19)
Helaman 5:79
"And behold, there shall be great tempests,
And there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, And there shall
be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose
height thereof is great;
(LDS: Helaman 14:23)
Helaman 5:85
"And now remember, remember, my brethren,
That whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; And whosoever doeth iniquity,
doeth it unto himself; For behold, ye are free - ye are permitted to act for
yourselves; For behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and He hath made
you free -
(LDS: Helaman 14:30)
3 Nephi
2:106-3 Nephi 2:109
Yea, and surely shall He
again bring a remnant of the seed of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their
God;
And as surely as the Lord liveth will He gather in from the four quarters of
the earth all the remnant of the seed of Jacob which are scattered abroad upon
all the face of the earth.
And as He hath covenanted with all the house of Jacob, Even so shall the
covenant wherewith He hath covenanted with the house of Jacob be fulfilled in
His own due time, Unto the restoring all the house of Jacob unto the knowledge
of the covenant that He hath covenanted with them.
And then shall they know their Redeemer, which is Jesus Christ the Son of God;
And then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto
their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed. Yea, as the Lord liveth,
so shall it be! Amen.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 5:26)
3 Nephi 2:103
I have reason to bless my God and my Savior
Jesus Christ - That He brought our fathers out of the Land of Jerusalem - and
no one knew it, save it were Himself and those which He brought out of that
land - And that He hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the
salvation of our souls.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 5:20)
3 Nephi 3:11-3
Nephi 3:18
And some were lifted up
unto pride and boastings because of their exceeding great riches, yea, even
unto great persecutions, For there were many merchants in the land, and also
many lawyers and many officers.
And the people began to be distinguished by ranks according to their riches and
their chance for learning -
Yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great
learning because of their riches;
Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceeding humble; Some did return
railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all
manner of afflictions and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and
penitent before God.
And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church
began to be broken up; Yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was
broken up in all the land, save it were among a few of the Lamanites which were
converted unto the true faith;
And they would not depart from it, for they were firm and steadfast and
immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commands of the Lord.
Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this: Satan had great power
unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, And to the
puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power and authority and
riches and the vain things of the world.
And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of
iniquity; Therefore, they had not enjoyed peace but a few years.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 6:16)
Now there were many of the
people which were exceeding angry because of those which testified of these
things;
And those which were angry were chiefly the chief judges and they which had
been high priests and lawyers;
Yea, all they which were lawyers were angry with those which testified of these
things.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 6:21)
"And again - How oft
would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, Yea,
O ye people of the house of Israel which have fallen,
Yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that
have fallen; Yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her
chickens, And ye would not.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 10:5)
"O all ye that are
spared because ye were more righteous than they! Will ye not now return unto Me
and repent of your sins and be converted, that I may heal you?
"Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto Me, ye shall have
eternal life;
Behold, Mine arm of mercy is extended toward you, And whosoever will come, him
will I receive, And blessed are they which cometh unto Me.
"Behold, I Am Jesus Christ, the Son of God; I created the heavens and the
earth and all things that in them is;
I was with the Father from the beginning; I Am in the Father and the Father in
Me, And in Me hath the Father glorified His name.
"I came unto My own and My own received Me not, And the scriptures
concerning My coming are fulfilled;
And as many as have received Me, to them have I given to become the sons of
God, And even so will I to as many as shall believe on My name. "For
behold, by Me redemption cometh, And in Me is the law of Moses fulfilled.
"I Am the light and the life of the world; I Am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end.
"And ye shall offer up unto Me no more the shedding of blood; Yea, your
sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, For I will accept none
of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings; And ye shall offer for a sacrifice
unto Me a broken heart and a contrite spirit;
And whoso cometh unto Me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I
baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, Even as the Lamanites, because of
their faith in Me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and
with the Holy Ghost, And they knew it not.
"Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world -
to save the world from sin; Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto Me as a
little child, him will I receive, For of such is the kingdom of God.
"Behold, for such I have laid down My life and have taken it up again;
Therefore, repent and come unto Me, ye ends of the earth, and be saved!"
(LDS: 3 Nephi 9:22)
"And again I say unto
you, Ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in My name,
Or ye can in no wise receive these things!
"And again I say unto you, Ye must repent, and be baptized in My name, and
become as a little child, Or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God!
(LDS: 3 Nephi 11:38)
And behold, I Am the light
and the life of the world; And I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the
Father hath given Me, And have glorified the Father in taking upon Me the sins
of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things
from the beginning."
And it came to pass that when Jesus had spake these words, the whole multitude
fell to the earth, For they remembered that it had been prophesied among them
that Christ should show Himself unto them after His ascension into heaven.
And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them, saying: "Arise and come
forth unto Me, That ye may thrust your hands into My side, And also that ye may
feel the prints of the nails in My hands and in My feet, That ye may know that
I Am the God of Israel and the God of the whole earth and have been slain for
the sins of the world."
And it came to pass that the multitude went forth and did thrust their hands
into His side and did feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His
feet;
And this they did do, going forth one by one, Until they had all gone forth,
and did see with their eyes, and did feel with their hands, and did know of a
surety, and did bear record, That it was He of whom it was written by the
prophets that should come.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 11:15)
And it came to pass that
when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out
with one accord, saying: "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High
God!" And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus and did worship Him.
And it came to pass that He spake unto Nephi - for Nephi was among the
multitude - and commanded him that he should come forth;
And Nephi arose and went forth and bowed himself before the Lord and he did
kiss His feet;
And the Lord commanded him that he should arise, And he arose and stood before
Him.
And the Lord said unto him: "I give unto you power that ye shall baptize
this people when I am again ascended into heaven."
And again the Lord called others and said unto them likewise; And He gave unto
them power to baptize.
And He saith unto them: "On this wise shall ye baptize - and there shall
be no disputations among you -
Verily I say unto you, that whosoever repenteth of his sins through your words
and desireth to be baptized in My name, On this wise shall ye baptize them:
Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water and in My name shall ye baptize
them.
"And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by
name, saying, 'Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'
"And then shall ye immerse them in the water and come forth again out of
the water.
"And after this manner shall ye baptize in My name. "For behold,
verily I say unto you that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are one;
And I Am in the Father and the Father in Me and the Father and I are one;
And according as I have commanded you, thus shall ye baptize;
And there shall be no disputations among you as there hath hitherto been,
Neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of My
doctrine as there hath hitherto been;
(LDS: 3 Nephi 11:28)
"Verily, verily I say
unto you that this is My doctrine; And whoso buildeth upon this, buildeth upon
My rock, And the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
"And whoso shall declare more or less than this and establish it for My
doctrine, The same cometh of evil and is not built upon My rock; But he
buildeth upon a sandy foundation, And the gates of hell standeth open to
receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them;
(LDS: 3 Nephi 11:40)
And now it came to pass
that when Jesus had ended these sayings, He cast His eyes round about on the
multitude and saith unto them: "Behold, ye have heard the things which I
have taught before I ascended to My Father;
Therefore, whoso remembereth these sayings of Mine and doeth them, him will I
raise up at the last day."
And it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words, He perceived that
there were some among them which marveled and wondered what He would concerning
the law of Moses, For they understood not the saying that old things had passed
away and that all things had become new;
And He saith unto them: "Marvel not that I said unto you that old things
had passed away and that all things had become new -
"Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto
Moses;
Behold, I Am He that gave the law, And I Am He which covenanted with My people
Israel; Therefore, the law in Me is fulfilled, For I have come to fulfill the
law, Therefore, it hath an end.
"Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, For as many as have not been
fulfilled in Me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled;
And because I said unto you that old things hath passed away, I do not destroy
that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come;
For behold, the covenants which I have made with My people is not all
fulfilled, But the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in Me.
"Behold, I Am the law and the light; Look unto Me and endure to the end
and ye shall live, For unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal
life.
"Behold, I have given unto you the commandments, Therefore, keep My
commandments -
(LDS: 3 Nephi 15:10)
'But wo, ' saith the Father,
'unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles! ' For notwithstanding that they have
come forth upon the face of this land and have scattered My people which are of
the house of Israel, And My people which are of the house of Israel have been
cast out from among them and have been trodden under feet by them,
And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the
judgments of the Father upon My people which are of the house of Israel -
Verily, verily I say unto you that after all this - And I have caused My people
which are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be
slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to
become a hiss and a byword among them -
"And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: ' At that day
when the Gentiles shall sin against My gospel, And shall reject the fullness of
My gospel, And shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all
nations and above all the people of the whole earth, And shall be filled with
all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of
hypocrisy and murders, and priestcrafts and whoredoms, and of secret
abominations -
(LDS: 3 Nephi 16:10)
And He saith unto them:
"Behold, My bowels are filled with compassion toward you - Have ye any
that are sick among you? Bring them hither.
"Have ye any that are lame or blind or halt or maimed or leprous? Or that
are withered? Or that are deaf? Or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them
hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you.
"My bowels are filled with mercy, For I perceive that ye desire that I
should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, For I
see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you."
(LDS: 3 Nephi 17:8)
And it came to pass that
He went again a little way off and prayed unto the Father; And tongue cannot
speak the words which He prayed, Neither can be written by man the words which
He prayed;
And the multitude did hear and do bear record, And their hearts were open, And
they did understand in their hearts the words which He prayed;
Nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which He prayed, that they
cannot be written, Neither can they be uttered by man.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying, He came again
to the disciples and saith unto them: "So great faith have I never seen
among all the Jews, Wherefore, I could not show unto them so great miracles
because of their unbelief;
(LDS: 3 Nephi 19:35)
And behold, they began to
pray, And they did pray unto Jesus, calling Him their Lord and their God.
And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them and went a
little way off from them and bowed Himself to the earth, And He saith:
"Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom
I have chosen, And it is because of their belief in Me that I have chosen them
out of the world;
Father, I pray Thee that Thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall
believe in their words;
Father, Thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believed in Me, And
Thou seest that they believe in Me because Thou hearest them and they pray unto
Me; And they pray unto Me because I am with them;
And now Father, I pray unto Thee for them, And also for all they which shall
believe on their words, that they may believe in Me, that I may be in them as
Thou, Father, art in Me, that we may be one."
And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, He came
unto His disciples, And behold, they did still continue without ceasing to pray
unto Him; And they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what
they should pray, And they were filled with desire.
And it came to pass that Jesus beheld them as they did pray unto Him, And His
countenance did smile upon them, And the light of His countenance did shine
upon them; And behold, they were as white as the countenance and also the
garments of Jesus;
(LDS: 3 Nephi 19:25)
And now behold I say unto
you, that when the Lord shall see fit in His wisdom that these sayings shall
come unto the Gentiles according to His word, Then ye may know that the
covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel concerning
their restoration to the lands of their inheritance is already beginning to be
fulfilled,
And ye may know that the words of the Lord which have been spoken by the holy
prophets shall all be fulfilled; And ye need not say that the Lord delays His
coming unto the children of Israel,
And ye need not imagine in your hearts that the words which have been spoken
are vain; For behold, the Lord will remember His covenant which He hath made
unto His people of the house of Israel.
And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, Then ye need not
any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord; For the sword of His justice is in
His right hand, And behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at His doings, He
will cause it that it shall soon overtake you.
Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord! Yea, wo unto him that
shall deny the Christ and His works!
Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord! And that shall
say: "The Lord no longer worketh by revelations, or by prophecy, or by
gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost";
Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that day that there can be no miracle
wrought by Jesus Christ, for to get gain! For he that doeth this shall become
like unto the son of perdition for whom there was no mercy, according to the
words of Christ.
Yea, and ye need not any longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor
of any of the remnant of the house of Israel; For behold, the Lord remembereth
His covenant unto them, And He will do unto them according to that which He
hath sworn;
Therefore, ye need not suppose that ye can turn the right hand of the Lord unto
the left, That He may not execute judgment unto the fulfilling of the covenant
which He hath made unto the house of Israel.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 29:9)
And now behold I say unto
you, that when the Lord shall see fit in His wisdom that these sayings shall
come unto the Gentiles according to His word, Then ye may know that the
covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel concerning
their restoration to the lands of their inheritance is already beginning to be
fulfilled,
And ye may know that the words of the Lord which have been spoken by the holy
prophets shall all be fulfilled; And ye need not say that the Lord delays His
coming unto the children of Israel,
And ye need not imagine in your hearts that the words which have been spoken
are vain; For behold, the Lord will remember His covenant which He hath made
unto His people of the house of Israel.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 29:3)
But behold, since I wrote
I have inquired of the Lord, And He hath made it manifest unto me that there
must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies or else it needs be that they
must taste of death;
Therefore, that they might not taste of death, there was a change wrought upon
their bodies that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow, save it were for the
sins of the world.
(LDS: 3 Nephi 28:38)
And it came to pass that
the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth; And
behold, the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands
round about,
And as many as did come unto them and did truly repent of their sins were
baptized in the name of Jesus; And they did also receive the Holy Ghost.
And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted
unto the Lord upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, And
there were no contentions and no disputations among them, And every man did
deal justly one with another;
(LDS: 4 Nephi 1:2)
4 Nephi 1:37
And they did smite upon the people of Jesus, but
the people of Jesus did not smite again;
(LDS: 4 Nephi 1:34)
Mormon
3:18-Mormon 3:20
And my soul was rent with
anguish because of the slain of my people, And I cried: "O ye fair ones,
how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could
ye have rejected that Jesus who stood with open arms to receive you!
"Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen; But behold, ye
are fallen and I mourn your loss;
O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye
fair ones, How is it that ye could have fallen!
(LDS: Mormon 6:19)
Know ye that ye must come
to the knowledge of your fathers and repent of all your sins and iniquities and
believe in Jesus Christ, That He is the Son of God and that He was slain by the
Jews, And by the power of the Father He hath risen again, Whereby He hath
gained the victory over the grave. And also in Him is the sting of death
swallowed up;
And He bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, Whereby man must be
raised to stand before His judgment seat.
And He hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, Whereby he that is
found guiltless before Him at the judgment day hath it given unto them to dwell
in the presence of God in His kingdom, To sing ceaseless praises with the
choirs above unto the Father and unto the Son and unto the Holy Ghost, which is
one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.
Therefore, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus and lay hold upon the
gospel of Christ which shall be set before you, Not only in this record, but
also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which
record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
(LDS: Mormon 7:8)
Know ye that ye must come
to the knowledge of your fathers and repent of all your sins and iniquities and
believe in Jesus Christ, That He is the Son of God and that He was slain by the
Jews, And by the power of the Father He hath risen again, Whereby He hath
gained the victory over the grave. And also in Him is the sting of death
swallowed up;
And He bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, Whereby man must be
raised to stand before His judgment seat.
And He hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, Whereby he that is
found guiltless before Him at the judgment day hath it given unto them to dwell
in the presence of God in His kingdom, To sing ceaseless praises with the
choirs above unto the Father and unto the Son and unto the Holy Ghost, which is
one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.
Therefore, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus and lay hold upon the
gospel of Christ which shall be set before you, Not only in this record, but
also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which
record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that; And if ye
believe that, ye will believe this also; And if ye believe this, ye will know
concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the
power of God among them.
And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; Therefore, ye
are numbered among the people of the first covenant;
And if it so be that ye believe in Christ and are baptized - First with water,
then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior
according to that which He hath commanded us - It shall be well with you in the
day of judgment. Amen.
(LDS: Mormon 7:10)
And whoso receiveth this
record and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it,
the same shall know of greater things than these;
Behold, I am Moroni, And were it possible I would make all things known unto
you.
Behold, I make an end of speaking concerning this people;
I am the son of Mormon and my father was a descendant of Nephi, And I am the
same which hide up this record unto the Lord; The plates thereof are of no
worth because of the commandment of the Lord,
For He truly saith that none shall have them to get gain; But the record
thereof is of great worth, And whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord
bless.
For no one can have power to bring it to light, save it be given him of God;
For God will that it shall be done with an eye single to His glory, or the
welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord.
And blessed be him that shall bring this thing to light; For it shall be
brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God,
Yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, And it shall shine forth out of
darkness and come unto the knowledge of the people, And it shall be done by the
power of God; And if there be faults, they be faults of a man.
But behold, we know no fault; Nevertheless, God knoweth all things; Therefore,
he that condemneth, let him beware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire.
(LDS: Mormon 8:17)
Mormon 4:100
But the Lord knoweth the things which we have
written, And also that none other people knoweth our language; And because that
none other people knoweth our language, Therefore, He hath prepared means for
the interpretation thereof.
(LDS: Mormon 9:34)
Ether
1:18-Ether 1:20
And there will I meet
thee, And I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land
of the earth;
And there will I bless thee and thy seed and raise up unto Me - of thy seed and
of the seed of thy brother and they which shall go with thee - a great nation,
And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto Me
of thy seed upon all the face of the earth;
(LDS: Ether 1:43)
And it came to pass that
the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, according to that which had been
spoken by the mouth of Jared.
And it came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of Jared and had
compassion upon him and said unto him: "Go to and gather together thy
flocks - both male and female of every kind, And also of the seed of the earth
of every kind, And thy family, and also Jared thy brother and his family, and
also thy friends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their
families;
And when thou hast done this, thou shalt go at the head of them down into the
valley which is northward,
And there will I meet thee, And I will go before thee into a land which is
choice above all the land of the earth;
And there will I bless thee and thy seed and raise up unto Me - of thy seed and
of the seed of thy brother and they which shall go with thee - a great nation,
And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto Me
of thy seed upon all the face of the earth;
And this will I do unto thee because of this long time which ye have cried unto
Me."
(LDS: Ether 1:43)
"And blessed is he
that is found faithful unto My name at the last day, For they shall be lifted
up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world;
And behold, it is I that hath spoken it. Amen."
(LDS: Ether 4:19)
"And he that
believeth not My words, believeth not My disciples; And if it so be that I do
not speak, judge ye; For ye shall know that it is I that speaketh, at the last
day.
"But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit
with the manifestations of My Spirit, And he shall know and bear record;
(LDS: Ether 4:11)
And when the Lord had said
these words, the Lord showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of
the earth which had been, and also all that would be; And the Lord withheld
them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth;
For the Lord had said unto him in times before that if he would believe in Him
that He could show unto him all things, it should be shown unto him; Therefore,
the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could
show him all things.
(LDS: Ether 3:26)
And behold, these two
stones will I give unto thee, And ye shall seal them up also with the things
which ye shall write;
For behold, the language which ye shall write, I have confounded; Wherefore, I
will cause in Mine own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of
men these things which ye shall write."
And when the Lord had said these words, the Lord showed unto the brother of
Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would
be; And the Lord withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the
earth;
For the Lord had said unto him in times before that if he would believe in Him
that He could show unto him all things, it should be shown unto him; Therefore,
the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could
show him all things.
And the Lord said unto him: "Write these things and seal them up, And I
will show them in Mine own due time unto the children of men."
And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two
stones which he had received and show them not until the Lord should show them
unto the children of men.
(LDS: Ether 3:28)
Ether 1:98
Behold, I have written upon these plates the
very things which the brother of Jared saw; And there never was greater things
made manifest than that which was made manifest unto the brother of Jared;
Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to write them, And I have written them.
(LDS: Ether 4:5)
Ether
2:1-Ether 2:5
And now I, Moroni, have
written the words which were commanded me, according to my memory; And I have
told you the things which I have sealed up; Therefore, touch them not in order
that ye may translate; For that thing is forbidden you, except by and by it
shall be wisdom in God.
And behold, ye may be privileged that ye may show the plates unto those who
shall assist to bring forth this work; And unto three shall they be shown by
the power of God; Wherefore, they shall know of a surety that these things are
true.
And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; And the
testimony of three and this work - in the which shall be shown forth the power
of God, and also His word, of which the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost
beareth record - And all this shall stand as a testimony against the world at
the last day;
And if it so be that they repent and come unto the Father in the name of Jesus,
they shall be received into the kingdom of God.
And now, if I have no authority for these things, judge ye, For ye shall know
that I have authority when ye shall see me, And we shall stand before God at
the last day. Amen.
(LDS: Ether 5:6)
And it is by faith that my
fathers have obtained the promise that these things should come unto their
brethren through the Gentiles; Therefore, the Lord hath commanded me, yea, even
Jesus Christ.
And I said unto Him: "Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things because
of our weakness in writing, For Lord, Thou hast made us mighty in word by
faith, Whereunto Thou hast not made us mighty in writing;
For Thou hast made all this people that they could speak much because of the
Holy Ghost which Thou hast given them; And Thou hast made us that we could
write but little because of the awkwardness of our hands.
"Behold, Thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of
Jared, For Thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty, even as
Thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them;
Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write
them; Wherefore, when we write, we behold our weakness and stumble because of
the placing of our words; And I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our
words."
(LDS: Ether 12:25)
And I said unto Him:
"Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things because of our weakness in
writing, For Lord, Thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, Whereunto Thou
hast not made us mighty in writing;
For Thou hast made all this people that they could speak much because of the
Holy Ghost which Thou hast given them; And Thou hast made us that we could
write but little because of the awkwardness of our hands.
"Behold, Thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of
Jared, For Thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty, even as
Thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them;
Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write
them; Wherefore, when we write, we behold our weakness and stumble because of
the placing of our words; And I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our
words."
(LDS: Ether 12:25)
Wherefore, dispute not
because ye see not, For ye receive no witness - not until after the trial of
your faith. For it was by faith that Christ showed Himself unto our fathers
after that He had risen from the dead;
And He showed not Himself unto them until after they had faith in Him;
Wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in Him, For He showed Himself
not unto the world;
But because of the faith of men, He has shown Himself unto the world and
glorified the name of the Father, And prepared the way that thereby others
might be partakers of the heavenly gift, That they might hope for those things
which they have not seen;
Wherefore, ye may also have hope and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but
have faith.
(LDS: Ether 12:9)
Ether 5:32
For after that they had faith and did speak in
Thy name, Thou didst show Thyself unto them in great power; And I also
rememberest that Thou hast said that Thou hast prepared a house for man, yea,
even among the mansions of Thy Father, in the which man might have a more
excellent hope; Wherefore, man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance
in the place which Thou hast prepared.
(LDS: Ether 12:32)
Moroni
7:5-Moroni 7:8
For behold, God hath said:
"A man being evil cannot do that which is good." For if he offereth a
gift or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent, it profiteth
him nothing;
For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly;
Wherefore, it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift;
Wherefore, he is counted evil before God.
And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man if he shall pray, and not with
real intent of heart; Yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none
such; Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; Neither will he
give a good gift.
(LDS: Moroni 7:10)
Wherefore, take heed, my
beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, Or that
which is good and of God to be of the devil.
For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good
from evil; And the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect
knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night;
For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that they may know good
from evil. Wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge: For everything which
inviteth to do good and to persuade to believe in Christ is sent forth by the
power and gift of Christ;
(LDS: Moroni 7:16)
Moroni 7:9
For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth
good water; Neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; Wherefore, a
man being the servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; And if he follow
Christ, he cannot be a servant of the devil.
(LDS: Moroni 7:11)
Moroni
10:8-Moroni 10:12
And again I exhort you, my
brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many and they come
from the same God;
And there are different ways that these gifts are administered, But it is the
same God which worketh all in all; And they are given by the manifestations of
the Spirit of God unto men to profit them.
For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of
wisdom; And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit; And to another, exceeding great faith; And to another, the gifts of
healing by the same Spirit;
And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles; And again, to another,
that he may prophesy concerning all things; And again, to another, the
beholding of angels and ministering spirits; And again, to another, all kinds
of tongues; And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of
divers kinds of tongues.
And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; And they come unto every man
severally, according as He will.
(LDS: Moroni 10:17)
Moroni 10:5
And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with
real intent, having faith in Christ, And He will manifest the truth of it unto
you by the power of the Holy Ghost; And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may
know the truth of all things;
(LDS: Moroni 10:5)