Revelation, , Susquehanna Co., PA, to JS, , and , [July] 1830. Featured version, titled “26th Commandment AD 1830,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, p. 34; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
Historical Introduction
From the time that JS took possession of the in September 1827, his days were increasingly filled with work relating to the . After the publication of the Book of Mormon in March 1830, he spent much of his time building up the church and ministering to its members. He traveled back and forth between , Pennsylvania, and the three of the church in , leaving him less time to work on his farm and care for his material needs. Around mid-July 1830, a revelation addressed these matters, instructing him to “magnify thy office & after that thou hast sowed thy fields & Secured them then go speedily unto the Church which is in & & they shall support thee.” Shortly thereafter, this revelation called JS, , and to study the , preach, the Colesville believers, and work on JS’s farm until the next .
From April to June of both 1828 and 1829, JS was almost completely consumed by translation work; between June and October 1829 he was away from home completing the translation and negotiating the printing of the Book of Mormon; and from late March to late June 1830 he was traveling back and forth between Manchester, Fayette, and Colesville, New York. Once he returned home to Harmony, he traveled multiple times to Colesville, attempting to confirm believers notwithstanding significant opposition there. (See JS History, vol. A-1, 9, 13, 15, 37–42; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, 1; Letter to Oliver Cowdery, 22 Oct. 1829; Knight, Reminiscences, 6; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24].)
Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
A Revelation to Joseph & given at Susquehannah County State of Pennsylvania
Behold I say unto you that ye shall let your time be devoted to the studying the & to preaching & to the Church at & to performing thy labours on the Land such as is required until after ye shall go to the west to hold the next then it shall be made known what thou shalt do & all things shall be done by common consent in the by much prayer & faith for all things ye shall receive by faith & thus it is amen [p. 34]
A revelation in June 1830, the month before this directive, promised that missing portions of the Bible would “be had again among the Children of men” and presented the expansive visions of Moses. The ambitious work of Bible revision occupied JS for much of the next three years. (Visions of Moses, June 1830 [Moses 1:41]; see also Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 3–13.)
Faulring, Scott H., 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.
Because of persecution, prior efforts to confirm people who had been baptized in Colesville had been unsuccessful. (See JS History, vol. A-1, 44, 47; see also Historical Introductions to Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24]; and to Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25].)
The term “common consent” likely referred to seeking the agreement of church members for a particular course of action. (See JS History, vol. A-1, 37.)