Four generations should not pass
Until they'd turn from righteousness,
The Nephite nation be destroyed!
The Lamanites reject his word,
The gospel taken from their midst,
The record of their fathers hid,
They dwindle long in unbelief,
And ages pass without relief,
Until the Gentiles from afar,
Should smite them in a dreadful war,
And take possession of their land,
And they should have no power to stand.
But as their remnants wander far,
In darkness, sorrow and despair,
Lo! from the earth their record comes
To gather Israel to their homes.
First to the Gentiles 'tis revealed,
The prophecy must be fulfilled;
That they may know and understand
His gospel, and no more contend.
Hear! O ye Gentiles, and repent,
To you is this salvation sent;
God to the Gentiles lifts his hand,
To gather Israel to their land.
THE NEPHITES, LAMANITES AND GENTILES.
O who that has search'd in the records of old,
And read the last scenes of distress;
Four and twenty were left who with Mormon beheld,
While their nation lay mouldering to dust.
The Nephites destroyed, the Lamanites dwelt,
For ages in sorrow unknown;
Generations have pass'd, till the Gentiles at last,
Have divided their lands as their own.
O, who that has seen o'er the wide spreading plain
The Lamanites wander forlorn,
While the Gentiles in pride and oppression divide
The land they could once call their own.