3:1 And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last-born.
Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions;
yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother
bear thee. |
|
3:2 And may the Lord consecrate also unto thee this
land, which is a most precious land, for thine
inheritance and the inheritance of thy seed with thy
brethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye
shall keep the commandments of the Holy One of Israel. |
|
3:3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have
brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, may
the Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall not
utterly be destroyed. |
|
3:4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and
I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into
Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he
made unto Joseph. |
|
3:5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he
obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of
his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch
unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off,
nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the
Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them
in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the
bringing of them out of darkness unto light--yea, out of
hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. |
|
3:6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer
shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice
seer unto the fruit of my loins. |
|
3:7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord
unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit
of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the
fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment
that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his
brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even
to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants
which I have made with thy fathers. |
|
3:8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he
shall do none other work, save the work which I shall
command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for
he shall do my work. |
|
3:9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I
have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my
people, O house of Israel. |
|
3:10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy
people out of the land of Egypt. |
|
3:11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of
thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth
my word unto the seed of thy loins--and not to the
bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the
convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone
forth among them. |
|
3:12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write;
and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that
which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and
also that which shall be written by the fruit of the
loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding
of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and
establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and
bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the
latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants,
saith the Lord. |
|
3:13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in
that day when my work shall commence among all my people,
unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the
Lord. |
|
3:14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold,
that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to
destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which
I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins,
shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling
of this promise; |
|
3:15 And his name shall be called after me; and it
shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be
like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring
forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring
my people unto salvation. |
Apparently, Joseph Smith was
not above creating prophecies of his own life. Note the
phrases that he uses to describe himself in this and the
preceeding verses. |
3:16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this
thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the
Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.
|
|
3:17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a
Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I
will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not
loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will
not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto
him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will
make a spokesman for him. |
|
3:18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up
unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a
spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he
shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto
the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins
shall declare it. |
|
3:19 And the words which he shall write shall be the
words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth
unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the
fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for
I know their faith. |
|
3:20 And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even
repentance unto their brethren, even after many
generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass
that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness
of their words. |
|
3:21 Because of their faith their words shall
proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are
the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words
will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering
of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers. |
|
3:22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this
manner did my father of old prophesy. |
|
3:23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art
blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they
shall hearken unto the words of the book. |
|
3:24 And there shall rise up one mighty among them,
who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being
an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith,
to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great
in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much
restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed
of thy brethren. |
|
3:25 And now, blessed art thou, Joseph. Behold, thou
art little; wherefore hearken unto the words of thy
brother, Nephi, and it shall be done unto thee even
according to the words which I have spoken. Remember the
words of thy dying father. Amen. |
|