tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight, like unto a dish. 18. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying, O Lord I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me. 19. And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light, whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish. 20. And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top thereof, and also in the bottom thereof; and when thou shalt suffer for air, thou shalt unstop the hole thereof, and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold ye shall stop the hole thereof, that ye may not perish in the flood. 21. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded. 22. And he cried again unto the Lord saying, O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness? 23. And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire; 24. For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth. 25. And behold, I prepare you against these things; for howbeit, ye cannot cross this great deep, save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea? CHAPTER 3. 1. AND it came to pass that the brother of Jared, (now the number of the vessels which had been prepared was eight,) went forth unto the mount,' which they called the q, vers. 24, 25. Both of these air-holes, when stopped, were water-tight. Sometimes the vessels were under water; sometimes they may have turned bottom upwards; when riding upon the surface, the uppermost airhole, at times, could, with safety, be opened. Ether 6: 6,7, 10. r, ver. 25. Ether 6: 6, 7, 10. mount Shelem, because of its exceeding height, and did moulten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as "transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the Lord, saying, 2. O Lord, thou hast said 'that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy, and dwellest in the heavens; and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall, our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires. 3. Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hath driven us forth, and for this many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness, but behold these things which I have moulten out of the rock. 4. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea. 5. Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to shew forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men. 6. And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones, one by one with his finger; and the frail was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear. 7. And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him, Arise, why hast thou fallen? 8. And he saith unto the Lord, I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood. 9. And the Lord said unto him, Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith a, from this it is evident that the art of making glass was known at that. early period. b, Ether 2: 24, 25. Ether 6:2, 3, 10. e, vers. 6-9, 19. 9. see e. c, see f, Mor. 9. Ether 12: 19-21. d, vers. 1, 4, 6. ƒ, ver. 19, 20. as thou hast; for were it not so, ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this? 10. And he answered, Nay; Lord, shew thyself unto me. 11. And the Lord said unto him, Believest thou the words which I shall speak? 12. And he answered, Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie. 13. And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord shewed himself unto him, and said, Because thou knowest these things, ye are redeemed "from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I shew myself unto you. 14. Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters. 15. And never have I shewed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even mall men were created in the beginning, after mine own image. 16. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the "body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit, will I appear unto my people in the flesh. 17. And now, as I Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say, that Jesus shewed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body, even as he shewed himself unto the Nephites; 18. And he ministered unto him, even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had shewed unto him. 19. And because of the knowledge of this man, he could not be kept from beholding "within the vail; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting; 20. Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he h, Ether 12: 19, 21. i, see d, Mos. 4. j, see c, Mos. 15. k, see b, Mos. 3. 7, When the Lord appeared unto Adam and the righteous, and unto Enoch and the people of ancient Zion, it was probably by vision, and not by a full view of his personage, as was given to the brother of Jared. See Doc. and Cov. 107: 54. m, ver. 16. Mos. 7: 27. Alma 18: 34. n, I. Nep. 11: 11. The brother of Jared saw the pre-existent spirit of Jesus, which afterwards was enclosed in a tabernacle of flesh and bones. o, see m. P, see e, Ether 1. q, the spiritual body being in the likeness of the temporal body. r, see f. 8, see e. t, ver. 6. could not be kept "from within the vail; therefore he saw Jesus, and he did "minister unto him. 21. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard, to go forth unto the world, until the "time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and shew it to no man. 22. And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read. 23. And behold, these "two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also, with the things which ye shall write. 24. For behold, the language which ye shall write I have 2 "confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall 20magnify to the eyes of men, these things which ye shall write. 25. And when the Lord had said these words, he 2cshewed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth; 26. For he had said unto him in times before, That if he would believe in him, that he could shew unto him all things-it should be shewn unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could shew him all things. 27. And the Lord said unto him, Write these things and seal them up, and I will shew them in mine own due time unto the children of men. 28. And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should 2 seal up the two stones which he had received, and shew them not, until the Lord should shew them unto the children of men. CHAPTER 4. 1. AND the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the "mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were 'forbidden to come unto the children of men, until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should shew himself unto his people. 2. And after Christ truly had shewed himself unto his people, he commanded that they should be made manifest. 3. And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief, and there is none, save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth. 4. Behold, I have written upon these plates the "very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never was greater things made manifest, than that which was made manifest unto the brother of Jared; 5. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord. 6. For the Lord said unto me, They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord; 7. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are. 8. And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed: for unto them will I shew no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who speaketh; 9. And at my command the heavens are opened and are shut; and at my word, 'the earth shall shake; and at my command, the inhabitants thereof shall pass away, even so as mby fire; 10. And he that believeth not my words, believeth not my disciples; and if it so be that I do not speak, judge ye; for ye shall know that it is I that speaketh, at the last day. 11. But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the "manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit, he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good: c, Mos. 28: 11-20. d, see s, 1. Nep. 13. Mor. 8: e, vers. 5-7, 13-16. II. Nep. 27: 6--11, 15, 17, 21, 22. n, Mos. 8. g, vers. 7-16. II. Nep. 27: 7, 8, 11, 21. a, Mos. 3. 28: 29, 30. Mos. 3: 8. 4:2. 33: 11-15. 7 27. Hela. 16: 18. f, see i, see 14. Moro. 10: 1, 2. Ether 5: 1. h, Ether 3. j, 11. Nep. 27: 14. 1, Hela. m, see a, u. Nep. 25. k, vers. 13-16. III. Nep. 26: 6-12. III. Nep. 26 3. Mor. 5: 23. 9: 2. 12: 8-18. n, Ether 5: 4. Moro. 10: 4, 5 |