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Revelation, circa 7 March 1831 [D&C 45]

Source Note

Revelation, , OH, ca. 7 Mar. 1831. Featured version, titled “47 A prophecy March 7th. 1831,” copied [between ca. Mar. and June 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 71–76; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.

Historical Introduction

JS dictated this revelation, which Revelation Book 1 titles a “prophecy,” sometime around 7 March 1831, during a period when, according to JS’s history, “many false reports, lies, and fo[o]lish stories were published in the newspapers, and circulated in every direction, to prevent people from investigating the work, or embracing the faith.” JS’s history reported that the revelation was the “joy of the saints who had to struggle against every thing that prejudice and wickedness could invent.”
The revelation describes the and Christ’s second coming, both of which had been prophesied in JS’s of the Book of Mormon, his previous revelations, and his revision of the Old Testament. In particular, it connects the text of Matthew 24, in which Jesus prophesied concerning the last days and the Second Coming, with JS’s 9 February 1831 revelation about the New Jerusalem; as the revelation featured here states, “I will shew it plainly as I shewed it unto my Deciples as I stood before them in the flesh.” The revelation also uses Jesus’s New Testament prophecies to explain and reinforce the command to gather to : “Not many years hence ye Shall hear of wars in your own lands wherefore I the Lord have said gether ye out from the Eastern lands [and] assemble ye yourselves together.”
Parts of this text also found in Matthew 24 were among those included in JS’s later work of revising the New Testament, a project that began the day after JS dictated this revelation. Though JS’s inspired Bible revision had focused only on the Old Testament before this time, the revelation instructed him to shift his immediate efforts to the New Testament: “Now behold I say unto you it shall not be given unto you to know any farther then this until the New Testament be & in it all things shall be made known Wherefore I give unto you that ye may now Translate it that ye may be prepared for the things to come.”
Three early copies of this revelation are extant. The version in Revelation Book 1 (featured here) and a copy in ’s handwriting were created around the same time, likely in spring 1831, and there are no significant differences to indicate which is earlier. An additional copy created by later in 1831 largely corresponds with the other two versions. Differences between all three versions are noted in the footnotes.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    John Whitmer copied the text into Revelation Book 1, where it is designated “A prophecy March 7th. 1831.” Edward Partridge and William E. McLellin also made copies in 1831, but they assigned the date of 6 March 1831. The 1833 Book of Commandments dates this revelation to March 1831 and locates it at Kirtland, Ohio, while the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants specifies the date as 7 March but gives no location. (Revelations Collection, CHL; McLellin, Copies of Revelations, [1]–7; Book of Commandments 48; Doctrine and Covenants 15, 1835 ed.)

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

    McLellin, William E. Copies of Revelations, early Nov. 1831. In “W. E. Mc.Lellan Jan— 1877,” 1877, William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 7.

  2. [2]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 104.

  3. [3]

    See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 501 [3 Nephi 21:23–25]; and Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:9, 35, 62, 67]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 566 [Ether 13:3–5]. One revelation foretold the destruction to come and urged the gathering of “mine Elect” to a designated place of safety. Another indicated that the sacred city was to be built “among the Lamanites,” or the American Indians. Two months later, in December 1830, JS dictated a passage that described the founding of the city of Zion by the patriarch Enoch and prophesied that there would be another Zion. In that text, God declared that he would “gether out mine own elect from the four quarters of the earth unto a place which I shall prepare an holy City that my people may gird up their loins and be looking fourth for the time of my coming for there shall be my tabernicle and it shall be called Zion a New Jerusalem.” (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:7]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:9]; Old Testament Revision 1, p. 19 [Moses 7:62].)

  4. [4]

    Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:8–9].

  5. [5]

    Compare Matthew 24:6.

  6. [6]

    Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831, in Revelations Collection, CHL.

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

  7. [7]

    McLellin, Copies of Revelations, [1]–7.

    McLellin, William E. Copies of Revelations, early Nov. 1831. In “W. E. Mc.Lellan Jan— 1877,” 1877, William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 7.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, circa 7 March 1831 [D&C 45] Revelation Book 1 Revelation, circa 7 March 1831, Edward Partridge Copy [D&C 45] Revelation, circa 7 March 1831, as Recorded in McLellin, Copies of Revelations [D&C 45] Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833 Book of Commandments, 1833 Revelations printed in Evening and Morning Star, January 1835–June 1836 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 75

With which I was wounded in the house of my friends I am he that was lifted up I am Jesus which was crusified I am the Son of God & then shall they weep because of their iniquities then shall they lament because they persecuted their King & then shall the heathen Nations be redeemed & they which knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection & it shall be tolerable for them & Satan shall be bound that he shall have no place in the hearts of the children of men & at that day when I shall come in my glory, Shall the palable [parable] be fulfilled of which I spoke concerning the ten virgins for he that is wise & hath received the truth & has taken the Holy Spirit for their guide & have not been deceived Verily I say unto you they shall not be hewn down & cast into the fire but shall abide the day & the Earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance & they shall multiply & wax strong & their children shall g◊◊◊ [grow] up without Sin unto salvation for the Lord shall be in their midst & his glory shall be upon them & he shall be their King & their law giver & now behold I say unto you it shall not be given unto you to know any farther then this until the New Testament be translated & it in it all things shall be made known Wherefore I give unto you that ye may now it that ye may be prepared for the things to come for Verily I say unto you that great things await you ye hear of wars in foreign lands but behold I say unto you they are nigh even unto your doors & not many years hence ye Shall hear of wars in your own lands wherefore I the Lord have said gether ye out from the Eastern lands assemble ye yourselves together ye of my ge [go] ye forth into the western countries call upon the inhabitants to repent & in as much as they do repent build up Churches unto me & with one heart & with one mind gether up your riches that you may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed you & it shall be called the a land of peace a City of refuge a place of safety for the saints of [p. 75]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, circa 7 March 1831 [D&C 45]
ID #
6504
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:274–280
Handwriting on This Page
  • John Whitmer

Footnotes

  1. [33]

    See Zechariah 13:6.

  2. [34]

    The Partridge and McLellin copies have “& they which knew no law[.] they shall . . .” (Revelations Collection, CHL; McLellin, Copies of Revelations, 5 [D&C 45:54].)

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

    McLellin, William E. Copies of Revelations, early Nov. 1831. In “W. E. Mc.Lellan Jan— 1877,” 1877, William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 7.

  3. [35]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 582 [Moroni 8:22].

  4. [36]

    See Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:31].

  5. [37]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 70 [2 Nephi 4:28].

  6. [38]

    See Matthew 25:1–13.

  7. [39]

    TEXT: Deletion on facing page created an ink blot over this word. Text supplied based on Partridge’s copy.

  8. [40]

    See Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:22].

  9. [41]

    Almost immediately, on 8 March 1831, JS stopped working on the Old Testament and turned to the New Testament. His scribe, Sidney Rigdon, wrote this heading on the manuscript: “A Translation of the New Testament translated by the power of God.” (New Testament Revision 1, p. 1.)

    New Testament Revision 1 / “A Translation of the New Testament Translated by the Power of God,” 1831. CHL. Also available in Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 153–228.

  10. [42]

    A January 1831 revelation stated, “Ye hear of wars in far Countries & you say in your hearts there will soon be great wars in far Countries but ye know not the hearts of they in your own Land.” (Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:29].)

  11. [43]

    See Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:3]; Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:31–32]; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:8].

  12. [44]

    See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:8]; and Revelation, Feb. 1831–B [D&C 44:4].

  13. [45]

    See Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:18].

  14. [46]

    The recently revealed “Laws of the Church of Christ” called for members to consecrate their property to the church, in part for “the purpose of purchaseing Land & building up of the New Jerusalem which is here after to be revealed.” (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:35].)

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