RLDS Verse Context

1c and after they have fallen asleep, the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign;

1d behold, he soweth the tares, wherefore the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.

2a But, behold, in the last days, even now, while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender, behold, verily I say unto you,

2b The angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; but the Lord saith unto them,

2c Pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also; therefore let the wheat and tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe;

2d then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold, and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.

3a Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers, for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God:

3b therefore your life and the priesthood hath remained, and must needs remain, through you and your lineage, until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.

4 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savor unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.

Intro: SECTION 85 Revelation given through Joseph Smith, Jr., at Kirtland, Ohio, December 27, 1832. There had been some friction between leaders in Independence and those in Kirtland. Joseph sent a copy of this revelation with a letter to William W. Phelps, who was in Missouri, and referred to it as the "Olive leaf . . . the Lord's message of peace to us." It has since been known as "The Olive Leaf."

1a Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, who have assembled yourselves together to receive his will concerning you.