Blessing to William W. Phelps, 22 September 1835

  • Source Note
  • Historical Introduction

Document Transcript

Blessed of the Lord is , for he shall have the desires of his heart in the gift that pertaineth to writing the law of God, and in being an instrument in assisting to lift up an ensign to the nations. And according to the greatness of the desires of his soul, for blessings upon his friends, so shall the blessings of the Lord come upon him to the uttermost. The Lord will chasten him because he taketh honor to himself, and when his soul is greatly humbled he will forsake the evil; then shall the light of the Lord break upon him as at noon-day, and in him shall be no darkness so great is the glory that shall come upon him. And blessed is his name among all nations. He shall have part in that that coucheth beneath: and it shall be revealed unto him things by the hand of the Lord’s annointed that have been kept secret from the foundation of the world, concerning the last days. And he shall be a blessing unto his posterity from generation to generation, and shall be satisfied in beholding his enemies cut off out of the earth. He shall be filled with a fulness of the good things of the earth: with houses and with lands, [p. 14] with the fruit of the vine and with the fat of the olive, and he shall feed on the finest of the wheat; and because of his liberal soul the Lord will make him rich; even with treachers of gold, silver, precious stones, and with all precious metals. He shall be a wise lawyer in Israel; for he shall understand the law of the Lord perfectly; and the renowned among men shall acknowledge his superior wisdom pertaining to the laws of nations and of kingdoms. Behold, he shall have understanding in all sciences and languages, and with his brother <​​> shall write and arrange many books for the good of the , that the young may grow up in wisdom: these shall remain for a memorial unto their names, and the generations to come shall call them blessed. His days shall be prolonged upon the land of ; and when he is old and bowed down with many years, behold, he shall lift up his eyes and the heavens shall be opened upon him. He shall be lifted up at the last day, and his rest shall be glorious. Amen.
, clerk and Recorder.
Given Sept. 22, 1835, and recorded Oct. 3, 1835. [p. 15]

Footnotes

  1. 1

    See Isaiah 5:26; 11:12; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 91, 98 [2 Nephi 15:26; 21:12].  

  2. 2

    Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:41].  

  3. 3

    See Deuteronomy 33:13.  

  4. 4

    See Matthew 13:35.  

  5. 5

    See Deuteronomy 33:16.  

  6. 6

    See Psalms 81:16; 147:14.  

  7. 7

    See Proverbs 11:25.  

  8. 8

    Phelps had edited the Ontario Phoenix in Canandaigua, New York, before his conversion to the church and was appointed by revelation in June 1831 to be a printer in the church. Besides printing JS’s revelations and the church newspaper The Evening and the Morning Star, he was appointed with Cowdery “to do the work of Printing & of Selecting & writing Books for Schools in this Church that little Children also may receive instruction.” (Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:4]; see also Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:11–13].)  

  9. 9

    See Isaiah 11:10; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 98 [2 Nephi 21:10]; and Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:31].  

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