Revelation, given November, 1831.[[19]]

1. Behold, and hearken, O ye inhabitants of Zion, and all ye people of my Church who are afar off, and hear the word of the Lord which I give unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and also unto my servant Martin Harris, and also unto my servant Oliver Cowdery, and also unto my servant John Whitmer, and also unto my servant Sidney Rigdon, and also unto my servant William W. Phelps, by the way of commandment unto them.

2. For I give unto them a commandment; wherefore hearken and hear, for thus saith the Lord unto them—

3. I, the Lord, have appointed them, and ordained them to be stewards over the revelations and commandments which I have given unto them, and which I shall hereafter give unto them;

4. And an account of this stewardship will I require of them in the day of judgment.

5. Wherefore I have appointed unto them, and this is their business in the Church of God, to manage them and the concerns thereof; yea, the benefits thereof.

6. Wherefore, a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not give these things unto the Church, neither unto the world;

7. Nevertheless, inasmuch as they receive more than is needful for their necessities and their wants, it shall be given into my storehouse,

8. And the benefits shall be consecrated unto the inhabitants of Zion, and unto their generations, inasmuch as they become heirs according to the laws of the kingdom.

9. Behold, this is what the lord requires of every man in his stewardship, even as I, the Lord, have appointed, or shall hereafter appoint unto any man.

10. And behold, none are exempt from this law who belong to the Church of the living God;

11. Yea, neither the Bishop, neither the agent who keepeth the Lord's storehouse, neither he who is appointed in a stewardship over temporal things;

12. He who is appointed to administer spiritual things, the same is worthy of his hire, even as those who are appointed to a stewardship, to administer in temporal things;

13. Yea, even more abundantly, which abundance is multiplied unto them through the manifestation of the Spirit;

14. Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.

15. Now this commandment I give unto my servants for their benefit while they remain, for a manifestation of my blessings upon their heads, and for a reward of their diligence and for their security;

16. For food and for raiment; for an inheritance; for houses and for lands, in whatsoever circumstances I, the Lord, shall place them, and whithersoever I, the Lord, shall send them;

17. For they have been faithful over many things; and have done well inasmuch as they have not sinned.

18. Behold, I, the Lord, am merciful and will bless them, and they shall enter into the joy of these things. Even so. Amen.

Footnotes

[1]. It would be more proper to say "revision of the Bible" than "translation" of it; as the Prophet did not at any time pretend to a knowledge of the ancient languages that would enable him to translate from the Hebrew or the Greek as "translation" is commonly understood. But what he did was to revise the English text of the Bible under the inspiration of God; and that led him not only to give different renderings of various passages, but also to supply missing parts.

[2]. The miracle here referred to is thus related in Hayden's History of the Disciples (a Campbellite work), pp. 250-1. "Ezra Booth, of Mantua, a Methodist preacher of much more than ordinary culture, and with strong natural abilities, in company with his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and some other citizens of this place [Hiram], visited Smith at his home in Kirtland, in 1831. Mrs. Johnson had been afflicted for some time with a lame arm, and was not at the time of the visit able to lift her hand to her head. The party visited Smith partly out of curiosity, and partly to see for themselves what there might be in the new doctrine. During the interview the conversation turned on the subject of supernatural gifts, such as were conferred in the days of the apostles. Some one said, 'Here is Mrs. Johnson with a lame arm; has God given any power to man now on the earth to cure her?' A few moments later, when the conversation had turned in another direction, Smith rose, and walking across the room, taking Mrs. Johnson by the hand, said in the most solemn and impressive manner: 'Woman, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command thee to be whole,' and immediately left the room. The company were awe-stricken at the infinite presumption of the man, and the calm assurance with which he spoke. The sudden mental and moral shock—I know not how better to explain the well-attested fact—electrified the rheumatic arm—Mrs. Johnson at once lifted it up with ease, and on her return home the next day she was able to do her washing without difficulty or pain."

[3]. See page 212, verses 15, 16.

[4]. It is generally supposed that Ezra Booth was the first to turn away from the faith; but this is an error. Others denied the faith before him, but he was the first apostate, I think, to publish anything against the Church. That he was not the first apostate, however, is evident from the fact that John Whitmer in his history makes mention of others turning from the faith even before the journey of the Elders to Missouri was undertaken; whereas Booth did not announce his apostasy until his return from that journey in the month of September. Writing of a time previous to the assembling of the conference of June 3rd-6th, 1831, John Whitmer remarks: "About these days the disciples arrived from the state of New York to this place, Kirtland, Ohio. They had some difficulty between themselves because of some that did not continue faithful—who denied the truth and turned to fables." (Ch. 8.) Again in chapter 8 he says: "After some of the Elders had left [i. e., for Missouri], and the time for Joseph Smith, Jun., and others to leave [had come]—some of those who had been commanded to take their journey speedily, had denied the faith and turned from the truth." And still speaking of a time previous to the apostasy of Booth, and before detailing the events which happened on the land of Zion among the Elders who went there, he says: "There was much trouble and unbelief among those who called themselves disciples of Christ; some apostatized and became enemies to the cause of God, and persecuted the Saints." (Chapter 9.) All this was before Booth's apostasy. In the minutes of a conference held on the 6th of September, 1831, and signed by Oliver Cowdery, it is recorded: "Upon testimony satisfactory to this conference, it was voted that Ezra Booth be silenced from preaching as an Elder in this Church."

[5]. The series of letters referred to in the text above were nine in number, and first appeared in the Ohio Star, published at Ravenna, the county seat of Portage county. Afterwards they were published in E. D. Howe's Book, Mormonism Unveiled, pp. 175-221.

[6]. Orson Hyde was born January 8th, 1805, at Oxford, New Haven county, Connecticut. He was the son of Nathan and Sally Hyde. His father served in the United States army in the war of 1812. When Orson was seven years old his mother died, and the large family of Nathan Hyde, consisting of nine sons and three daughters, were scattered. Orson was taken in charge by a man of the name of Nathan Wheeler. Seven years later, or when young Hyde was fourteen years of age, Mr. Wheeler moved from the state of Connecticut to Ohio, settling in the vicinity of Kirtland. Orson accompanied him and continued to live with him in Ohio for about four years, after which he engaged in various occupations on his own account, at last becoming a clerk in the firm of Gilbert & Whitney, merchants. In the year 1827 a religious revival of unusual fervor occurred in Kirtland and vicinity, and under its influence Orson Hyde became a convert to the Methodist faith; and shortly afterwards was made a class leader. "At about the same time," writes Edward Tullidge, in a biographical sketch of him, "he heard that a 'golden Bible' had been dug out of a rock in the state of New York. It was treated, however, as a hoax; but, on reading the report, Hyde remarked: 'Who knows but that this 'golden Bible' may break up our religion and change its whole features and bearing." (Utah and her Founders, Biographical Sketches, p. 70). Some time subsequent to his becoming a Methodist he heard Sidney Rigdon preach the Campbellite faith, and being convinced that the doctrine Rigdon advocated was more scriptural than that which he had embraced, he accepted it and was baptized into the Campbellite church. He also became a theological student under his new teacher's instruction, with a view of becoming a minister of the new church; and, in fact, began to preach and had already assisted in founding several Campbellite congregations in Lorain and Huron counties. In 1830, he was made pastor over these congregations. In the fall of that year the Lamanite mission of the Church of Jesus Christ arrived in the northeast part of Ohio, and soon the whole country was agitated by the presentation of the Book of Mormon and its attendant message, the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. At first Orson Hyde, at the request of members of the Campbellite faith, opposed the Book of Mormon in public addresses; but feeling reproved by the Spirit for this course, he suspended his opposition in order to make further inquiry, with the result that after much prayer and some hesitancy he accepted the great latter-day message, and was baptized, as related in the text.

[7]. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 65.

[8]. This was a very important conference, and continued through two days, the 25th and 26th of October—Tuesday and Wednesday. The minutes of it are contained in the Far West Record, pp. 10-15. Very many of the brethren holding the Priesthood addressed the conference, and each one expressed his willingness to consecrate all he possessed to God and His cause. The minutes of the Prophets remarks upon this subject, as relating to his own willingness to consecrate all to the Lord, are of particular interest. It stands as follows in the record: "Brother Joseph Smith. Jun., said that he had nothing to consecrate to the Lord of the things of the earth, yet he felt to consecrate himself and family. Was thankful that God had given him a place among His Saints; felt willing to labor for their good" (p. 13). It appears at this time that the Prophet and other leading Elders of the Church were much embarrassed in the work of translating the Scriptures and preaching the Gospel, in consequence of the difficulty they encountered to do this work of the ministry and at the same time provide for their families. It appears also that the Saints were somewhat backward in providing means for the support of the ministry of the Church. Referring to the subject the Prophet, according to the minutes above referred to, said: "The Lord held the Church bound to provide for the families of the absent Elders while proclaiming the Gospel. Further said that God had often sealed up the heavens because of covetousness in the Church" (p. 13).