Revelations published in Evening and Morning Star (, OH), vol. 1, nos. 1–10 and 12, and vol. 2, no. 13; edited by . The copy used for this transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL; includes marginalia and archival notations.
Evening and Morning Star, an edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star, presents revelations throughout its first thirteen issues, except for the April 1833 issue, which was printed in June 1836. When printing Evening and Morning Star, the editors revised the revelations found in The Evening and the Morning Star, changing wording and sometimes order and position on the page. One revelation printed in the earlier newspaper was not reprinted in this edition of the paper. The page size of Evening and Morning Star was smaller than that of its predecessor. Each issue has eight leaves (sixteen pages), with two columns on each page, each page measuring 9¼ × 5¾ inches (23 × 15 cm). Because Evening and Morning Star was a reprint, its issues maintained the dating of the original issues; thus, the first issue of Evening and Morning Star is dated June 1832, though it was printed in January 1835, as indicated by a publisher’s notice on the last page of the issue.
The original owner of the volume used for this transcription is unknown. The upper right corner of the second free endsheet is cut away, and based on a residual ink flourish on the recto near the cut, it appears that a signature was removed from the book at some point. This volume is held at the Church History Library, but its provenance is unknown.
Revelation,16 Apr. 1830, in “The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star,June 1832, [1]–[2] [D&C 22].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Historical Introduction
In December 1833, six months after the in , Missouri, was and publication efforts there were permanently halted, printing commenced on a newly acquired press in , Ohio. That press, operated by , continued printing The Evening and the Morning Star, the newspaper begun in , through September 1834. The September 1834 issue of that paper contained a prospectus announcing that the paper’s two volumes would be reprinted.
The first issue of the reprinted newspaper, which appeared under the slightly modified title Evening and Morning Star, was published in January 1835. Though touted as a reprint that would correct typographical and other errors, Evening and Morning Star actually contained significant changes to the revelation texts. In the first issue, editor explained the revisions he was making in the reprinted versions of the revelations:
On the revelations we merely say, that we were not a little surprised to find the previous print so different from the original. We have given them a careful comparison, assisted by individuals whose known integrity and ability is uncensurable. Thus saying we cast no reflections upon those who were entrusted with the responsibility of publishing them in , as our own labors were included in that important service to the church, and it was our unceasing endeavor to have them correspond with the copy furnished us. We believe they are now correct. If not in every word, at least in principle.
Despite the implications of ’s statement, very few of the changes in the reprint represent a restoration back to the earliest text, though Cowdery consulted early manuscript sources when reprinting some of the revelations. Because the revelations were meant to be used as a guide for the current operations of the church, they were edited in 1835 to reflect current organization, doctrine, and practice, which had continued to develop since the revelations were first dictated. For example, the version of a 9 February 1831 revelation printed in Evening and Morning Star includes discussion of the duties of elders, priests, teachers, bishops, high priests, and the high council. Early versions of the revelation, however, make no mention of the office of high priest, which did not exist until June 1831, or of the high council, a body that was not organized until February 1834. The revelation was revised in 1835 to reflect these additional roles. Most of the changes made to revelations in the early issues of Evening and Morning Star are also reflected in the same revelations as published in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (1835), and the editing work on that volume, in turn, influenced the presentation of revelations in later issues of Evening and Morning Star.
The table that follows lists each of the revelatory items printed in the Star and its reprint, along with its bibliographic information. See Revelations Printed in The Evening and the Morning Star for a side-by-side comparison of the revelations printed in the Star and its reprint.
Key to column titles
Vol: Issue:
Volume and issue number
Star Print Date:
Month in which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Star Pages:
Pages on which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Reprint Print Date:
Month in which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Reprint Pages:
Pages on which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Date:
Date of item, followed by section number in Doctrine and Covenants, 1981 edition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The title that appears in the newspaper’s nameplate was likely shortened because of a reduction in the newspaper’s size. The longer original title, The Evening and the Morning Star, is printed at the middle and end of each issue with other publication information. For the sake of clarity, the reprinted paper is referred to by its shortened title for all references in The Joseph Smith Papers.
Notice, Evening and Morning Star, June 1832 (Jan. 1835), 16. The prospectus to Evening and Morning Star also states “that in the first 14 numbers, in the Revelations, are many errors, typographical, and others, occasioned by transcribing manuscript; but as we shall have access to originals, we shall endeavor to make proper corrections.” (“Prospectus,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Sept. 1834, 192.)
Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
On 4 February 1835, Cowdery wrote to Newel K. Whitney requesting that the latter send “the original copy of the Revelation given to 12 elders Feb. 1831 called ‘The Law of the Church.’” Cowdery explained, “We are preparing the old Star for re-printing, and have no copy from which to correct, and kno[w] of no other beside yours.” (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to Newel K. Whitney, 4 Feb. 1835, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)
Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in “Extract of Covenants for the Church of the Latter Day Saints,” Evening and Morning Star, July 1832 (Feb. 1835), 30–31 [D&C 42].
Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Behold I the Lord in the beginning, blessed the waters, but in the last days by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters: wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters, and it shall be said in days to come, that none is able to go up to the land of , upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart. And, as I the Lord in the begininng cursed the land, even so in the last days have I blessed it, in its time, for the use of my saints, that they may partake the fatness thereof. And now I give unto you a , and what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall forewarn your brethren concerning these waters, that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught in her snares: I the Lord have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree: I the Lord was angry with you yesterday, but to-day mine anger is turned away. Wherefore let those concerning whom I have spoken, that should take their journey in haste, again I say unto you, let them take their journey in haste, and it mattereth not to me, after a little, if it so be that they fill their mission, whether they go by water or by land: let this be as it is made known unto them according to their judgments, hereafter.
And now, concerning my servants , and Joseph Smith, jr. and , let them come not again upon the waters, save it be upon the canal, while journeying unto their homes, or in other words, they shall not come upon the waters to journey, save upon the canal. Behold I the Lord have appointed a way for the journeying of my saints, and behold this is the way: that after they leave the canal, they shall journey by land, inasmuch as they are commanded to journey and go up unto the land of Zion; and they shall do like unto the children of Israel, pitching their tents by the way.
And behold this commandment you shall give unto all your brethren: nevertheless unto whom it is given power to command the waters, unto him it is given by the Spirit to know all his ways: wherefore let him do as the Spirit of the living God commandeth him, whether upon the land or upon the waters, as it remaineth with me to do hereafter; and unto you it is given the course for the saints, or the way for the saints of the camp of the Lord, to journey. And again, verily I say unto you, my servants , and Joseph Smith, jr. and , shall not open their mouths in the congregations of the wicked, until they arrive at ; and in that place they shall lift up their voices unto God against that people: yea, unto him whose anger is kindled against their wickedness; a people who is well nigh ripened for destruction; and from thence let them journey for the congregations of their brethren, for their labors, even now, are wanted more abundantly among them, than among the congregations of the wicked.
And now concerning the residue, let them journey and declare the word among the congregations of the wicked, inasmuch as it is given, and inasmuch as they do this they shall rid their garments, and they shall be spotless before me; and let them journey together, or two by two, as seemeth them good, only let my servant , and my servant , with whom I am well pleased, be not separated until they return to their homes, and this for a wise purpose in me. And now verily I say unto you, and what I say unto one I say unto all, be of good cheer little children, for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you, and inasmuch as you have humbled yourselves before me, the blessings of the kingdom are yours. Gird up your loins and be watchful, and be sober, looking forth for the coming of the Son of man, for he cometh in an hour you think not. Pray always that you enter not into temptation, that you may abide the day of his coming, whether in life or in death; even so. Amen.
Hearken and listen to the voice of the Lord, O ye who have assembled yourselves together, who are the of my church, to whom the kingdom and power has been given. For verily thus saith the Lord, it is expedient in me, for a to be appointed unto you, or of you unto the church in this part of the Lord’s vineyard: and verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his , both in time and in eternity. For he who is faithful and wise in time, is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for them of my Father. Verily I say unto you, the elders of the church in this part of my vineyard, shall render an account of their stewardship, unto the bishop which shall be appointed of me, in this part of my vineyard. These things shall be had on record to be handed over unto the bishop in ; and the duty of the bishop shall be made known by the which have been given, and the voice of the .
And now, verily I say unto you, my servant is the man who shall be appointed, and unto this power: this is the will of the Lord your God, your Redeemer; even so. Amen.
The word of the Lord, in addition to the law which has been given, making known the duty of the bishop, which has been ordained unto the church in this part of the vineyard; which is verily this: to keep the Lord’s ; to receive the funds of the church in this part of the vineyard; to take an account of the as before has been commanded, and to administer to their wants, who shall pay for that which they receive, inasmuch as they have wherewith to pay; that this also may be to the good of the church, to the poor and needy: and he who hath not wherewith to pay, an account shall be taken and handed over to the bishop in Zion, who shall pay the debt out of that which the Lord shall put into his hands: and the labors of the faithful who labor in spiritual things, in administering the gospel and the things of the kingdom, unto the church, and unto the world, shall answer the debt unto the bishop in Zion: thus it cometh out of the church, for according to the law every man that cometh up to Zion, must lay all things before the bishop in Zion.
And now, verily I say unto you, that as every elder in this part of the vineyard, must give an account of his stewardship unto the bishop in this part of the vineyard, a certifi [p. 106]
Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831, in “Revelation Given December, 1831,” Evening and Morning Star, Dec. 1832 (Apr. 1836), 106–107 [D&C 72]. This version closely corresponds to the version in section 89 of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, suggesting that the latter was used as a source text for the former.
Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.