History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Vol. 1-7). Joseph F. Smith
and the laws of God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men;
7. For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God, although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise His works;
8. Yet you should have been faithful and He would have extended His arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and He would have been with you in every time of trouble.
9. Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall.
10. But remember God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work;
11. Except thou do this, thou shalt be delivered up and become as other men and have no more gift.
12. And when thou deliveredst up that which God had given thee sight and power to translate, thou deliveredst up that which was sacred into the hands of a wicked man,
13. Who has set at naught the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgment and boasted in his own wisdom;
14. And this is the reason that thou hast lost thy privileges for a season;
15. For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy director to be trampled upon from the beginning.
16. Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come into the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people,
17. And to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—
18. And this testimony shall come to the knowledge of the Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their brethren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and their abominations;
19. And for this very purpose are these plates preserved which contain these records, that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which He made to His people;
20. And that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the promises of the Lord, and that they may believe the Gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.
Interpreters and Plates Returned to the Prophet.
After I had obtained the above revelation, both the plates and the Urim and Thummim were taken from me again; but in a few days they were returned to me, when I inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said thus unto me:5
Revelation, given to Joseph Smith, Jun., informing him of the alteration of the manuscript of the fore part of the Book of Mormon. 6
1. Now, behold, I say unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.
2. And you also lost your gift at the same time, and your mind became darkened.
3. Nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of translation as you have begun;
4. Do not run faster, or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end:
5. Pray always that you may come off conqueror: yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.
6. Behold, they have sought to destroy you; yea, even the man in whom you have trusted has sought to destroy you.
7. And for this cause I said that he is a wicked man, for he has sought to take away the things wherewith you have been entrusted; and he has also sought to destroy your gift;
8. And because you have delivered the writings into his hands, behold wicked men have taken them from you:
9. Therefore, you have delivered them up, yea, that which was sacred, unto wickedness.
10. And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands.
11. And behold, I say unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from that which you translated and caused to be written;
12. And, on this wise, the devil has sought to lay a cunning plan, that he may destroy this work;
13. For he hath put it into their hearts to do this, that by lying they may say they have caught you in the words which you have pretended to translate.
14. Verily, I say unto you, that I will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing.
15. For, behold, he has put it into their hearts to get thee to tempt the Lord thy God in asking to translate it over again;
16. And then, behold, they say and think in their hearts, We will see if God has given him power to translate; if so, he will also give him power again;
17. And if God giveth him power again, or if he translates again, or, in other words, if he bringeth forth the same words, behold, we have the same with us, and we have altered them:
18. Therefore, they will not agree, and we will say that he has lied in his words, and that he has no gift, and that he has no power:
19. Therefore we will destroy him, and also the work, and we will do this that we may not be ashamed in the end, and that we may get glory of the world.
20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that Satan has great hold upon their hearts; he stirreth them up to iniquity against that which is good,
21. And their hearts are corrupt, and full of wickedness and abominations, and they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil: therefore they will not ask of me.
22. Satan stirreth them up, that he may lead their souls to destruction.
23. And thus he has laid a cunning plan, thinking to destroy the work of God; but I will require this at their hands, and it shall turn to their shame and condemnation in the day of judgment.
24. Yea, he stirreth up their hearts to anger against this work;
25. Yea, he saith unto them, Deceive and lie in wait to catch, that ye may destroy—behold, this is no harm; And thus he flattereth them, and telleth them that it is no sin to lie, that they may catch a man in a lie, that they may destroy him;
26. And thus he flattereth them, and leadeth them along until he draggeth their souls down to hell; and thus he causeth them to catch themselves in their own snare;
27. And thus he goeth up and down, to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men.
28. Verily, verily, I say unto you, woe be unto him that lieth to deceive, because he supposeth that another lieth to deceive, for such are not exempt from the justice of God.
29. Now, behold, they have altered these words, because Satan saith unto them, He hath deceived you, and thus he flattereth them away to do iniquity, to get thee to tempt the Lord thy God.
30. Behold, I say unto you, that you shall not translate again those words which have gone forth out of your hands;
31. For, behold, they shall not accomplish their evil designs in lying against those words. For, behold, if you should bring forth the same words, they will say that you have lied, and that you have pretended to translate, but that you have contradicted yourself:
32. And, behold they will publish this, and Satan will harden the hearts of