32 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;
33 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.
34 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.
35 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;
36 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.
37 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;
38 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;
39 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;
40 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.
41 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me, therefore I shall forbear;
42 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.