did I create him, and in one breath can I sweep him from the face of the earth, and leave her without an inhabitant. Therefore, fear the Lord your God, and walk humbly in his presence.

15. As I have before said unto you, so do I now again repeat it; Man's trouble, distress and misery, grow out of his disobedience and rebellion to the will of God, his Creator.

16. But had he been as much engaged to keep my commandments and fulfill my laws, as he has been to pursue his own plans, by carving out ways and means to please and gratify his own wicked propensities, I never should have been compelled to visit the earth in judgment, for the wickedness committed thereon.

17. But man hath never ceased to pervert the record of my sacred word, by framing plans of his own to shun the cross, and wresting the scriptures to his own condemnation. Therefore, by his own tradition, he hath made that which is an abomination in my sight, lawful and commendable among men.

18. And let all remember, that long established habits, customs or practices, [together] with the common usages of men, never alter the nature of my work, or the purity of my word: they change not the times and seasons which I have established; they sanctify not that which I have pronounced unclean, nor in any way make it appear commendable in my sight. They change not the nature of truth into falsehood, nor of corruption and filthiness, into purity.

19. Man's greatness in knowledge and understanding of natural things, purifieth not the heart. His great attainments of knowledge, in learning, arts and sciences, commend him not unto Me: though these he might render useful, if rightly applied; yet, what wickedness is committed thereby.

20. Doth he not, by these means, exalt himself to his own destruction? Doth he not grasp power, and use it to oppress the ignorant and unlearned? And doth he not, in general, feel above putting his own hands to work, and by his meritorious industry gain his own bread? Doth not his great knowledge, as he calls it, if wrongly used, prove in the end a curse, rather than a blessing to his soul?

21. Doth he not, in his self exalted state of greatness and independence of feeling, seek after gain without right, and power without virtue? Is he not continually seeking at heart, to be called of men Rabbi, and to be supported by the hard earnings of others?

22. Do ye consider, O ye inhabitants, that discord, confusion,

wickedness, and every kind of distress and injustice, increase upon the earth, in proportion to the self exaltedness of man, relying upon his own bigoted knowledge and understanding, instead of relying upon the moral principles of justice and equity, having the law of his God planted in his own heart, "Do to others as he would that they should do unto him?" And in this sense, a man is enabled to make a beneficial use of all the knowledge that he can acquire, for the good of his fellow creatures.

23. No one is fitly prepared to rule amongst men, or to stand in the place of decision and judgment, until he has first ruled and controlled the evil passions of his own heart. When he hath done this, he can rule, and the people can prosper; for the blessings of my providence, saith the Lord, do rest upon such rulers.

24. But where difference of opinion, in the house of rulers, is carried so far as to break out into hatred, animosity and revenge, even until they thirst for each other's blood, it proves a curse to themselves, and a curse to their kingdoms and nations; and under this curse, saith the Lord, I will suffer that people and government, to break in pieces.

25. But where equity reigns, and justice pervades the hearts of the rulers, by the providential hand of my blessing, that nation will be supported, and made to stand.

26. And when the inhabitants of the earth, learn to use and apply all their knowledge and understanding to honor and glorify God, their Creator, and deal justly between man and man, they will then learn and know by experience, that which the inhabitants of earth, as a body, have not known, for thousands of years past.

27. But the judgments of my Almighty hand will yet bring them to learn, by the things which they suffer, that there is a God who beareth rule in the kingdoms of men.

28. Thus saith the Lord God of Heaven, to all nations and people; Again I do warn you to hearken to the voice of the Holy One, when it is extended to you in mercy; for I have sent forth no requirements hard to be fulfilled by any honest hearted souls: but you are required to proclaim solemn fasts through your lands, humble yourselves before Me your God, and repent in low humility when this word shall reach your ears.

29. And read this, my sacred word, in your assemblies with awe and with reverence, not unto man, but unto God, your eternal Creator, at whose mercy you daily draw the breath of life.

30. And unto all such as are engaged in spiritual callings, whether at home, or in foreign lands, I do require that they should circulate this sacred Roll and Book, to all quarters of the earth. And whosoever shall do this, in sincerity of heart, and see that it is correctly translated into other languages, shall be blessed in their labors, for so doing. But make it not a theme of speculation for money's sake; but you may make such charges to the buyer, as will fairly compensate you for your trouble, and no more.

31. And that society to which I sent my Holy Angels to read this Roll and Book, for mortal hand to write, I have forbidden that they should make any charges, saith the Lord, or take [any] remuneration for these books; such as I require should be sent out into the world when prepared.

32. The number they are required to print, in their own society, is five hundred copies, for the purpose of giving to the children of men; and it is my requirement, that they be printed before the twenty second of next September. To be bound in yellow paper, with red backs; edges yellow also.

33. And it is my command, saith the Lord, that if any person or persons, shall add aught unto this book, he, or they, shall not prosper in time, nor find rest in eternity. Or if any shall erase

aught of that which is contained in this book, their names shall be erased from the records of Heaven, and my kingdom they shall not enter. I have not descended to earth, with my Holy Angels, to suffer vain mortals to trifle with my word, nor to make light of my name saith the Lord of Hosts.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE REFERRING TO THE PRESENT WORK OF INSPIRATION IN ZION. SOME GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND WARNINGS.

Sec. 1. Here I am required, saith the Holy Angel, to have those sacred passages of scripture inserted, that more immediately refer to

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the work of the present day, of strange signs, and of the awful judgments that are about to take place in the earth, should man's wickedness continue, as it hath done, for many ages past.

Joel, i. 14. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

15. Alas, for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Chap. ii. 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

10. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

12. Therefore also now, saith the LORD, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18. Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions :

29. And also upon the servants and upon the hand-maids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

Joel, iii. 16. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

17. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Isaiah, i. 25. And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

Chap. ii. 19. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Chap. xiii. 13. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Chap. lii. 2. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

Psalms, xlvi. 3. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

Isaiah, xxiv. 13. When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olivetree, and as the gleaning-grapes when the vintage is done.

14. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

15. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

Chap. xxix. 17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

Ezekiel, xxxviii. 19. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.