Revelation, , Susquehanna Co., PA, to , Apr. 1829. Featured version, titled “Chapter V,” typeset [between 1 Nov. and 31 Dec. 1832] for Book of Commandments, 14–17. copied this revelation [ca. Mar. 1831] into Revelation Book 1, but the page or pages on which it was copied were removed at some point from that volume and are no longer extant. The version found in the Book of Commandments and featured below is the earliest complete, extant version. For more complete source information, see the source note for the Book of Commandments.
This revelation was dictated for soon after he arrived in , Pennsylvania, and began serving as JS’s scribe for the of the . JS’s history stated, “Two days after the arrival of Mr Cowdery (being the seventh of April) I commenced to translate the book of Mormon and he commenced to write for me, which having continued for some time I enquired of the Lord through the and obtained the following revelation.” The exact date this text was dictated is unknown. The revelation apparently answered questions Cowdery had contemplated but not expressed to JS. According to Cowdery’s friend , “Soon after Oliver’s arrival in Harmony, he wrote to me and said that Joseph had envuired [inquired] of the Lord concerning him, and had told him secrets of his life that he knew could not be known to any person but himself, in any other way than by revelation from the Almighty.”
JS’s history recounted, “After we had received this revelation he () stated to me that after he had gone to my ’s to board, and after the family communicated to him concerning my having got the plates, that one night after he had retired to bed, he called upon the Lord to know if these things were so, and that the Lord had manifested to him that they were true.” JS also explained that Cowdery had seen the Lord and the plates in a vision and “was desiorous to come and write” for JS in . The revelation featured below built on that experience by announcing that if Cowdery desired, the Lord would grant him a gift “to translate even as my servant Joseph.”
James H. Hart, “About the Book of Mormon,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 9 Apr. 1884, 190; see also “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” Deseret News, 27 Nov. 1878, 674.
sed are ye, for they can do no more unto you than unto me; and if they do unto you, even as they have done unto me, blessed are ye, for you shall dwell with me in glory: but if they reject not my words, which shall be established by the testimony which shall be given, blessed are they; and then shall ye have joy in the fruit of your labors.
15 Verily, verily I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold there will I be in the midst of them: even so am I in the midst of you. Fear not to do good my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap: therefore, if ye sow good, ye shall also reap good for your reward:
16 Therefore fear not little flock, do good, let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my Rock, they cannot prevail. Behold I do not condemn you, go your ways and sin no more: perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you: look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not: behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet: be faithful; keep my , and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven: Amen. [p. 17]