1 And now, my beloved brethren, I have read these things that ye might know concerning the acovenants of the Lord that he has covenanted with all the house of Israel—
2 That he has spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be arestored to the true church and fold of God; when they shall be bgathered home to the clands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise.
3 Behold, my beloved brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and alift up your heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children.
4 For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our afleshmust waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bbodies we shall see God.
5 Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great aCreatorthat he bsuffereth himself to become csubject unto man in the flesh, and ddie for eall men, that all men might become subject unto him.
6 For as adeath hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the mercifulbplan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power ofcresurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the dfall; and the fall came by reason of etransgression; and because man became fallen they were fcut off from thegpresence of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, it must needs be an ainfinite batonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the cfirst judgment which came upon man must needs have dremained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
8 O the awisdom of God, his bmercy and cgrace! For behold, if thedflesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who efell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the fdevil, to rise no more.
9 And our spirits must have become alike unto him, and we become devils, bangels to a cdevil, to be dshut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of elies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who fbeguiled our first parents, who gtransformeth himself nigh unto an hangel of light, and istirreth up the children of men unto jsecret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
10 O how great the agoodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our bescape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, cdeath and dhell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11 And because of the way of adeliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this bdeath, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And this adeath of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is bhell; wherefore, death and hell must cdeliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its dcaptive espirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive fbodies, and the bodies and the gspirits of men will behrestored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13 O how great the aplan of our God! For on the other hand, thebparadise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is crestored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and dimmortal, and they are living souls, having aeperfect fknowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.
14 Wherefore, we shall have a aperfect bknowledge of all our cguilt, and our duncleanness, and our enakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and theirfrighteousness, being gclothed with hpurity, yea, even with theirobe of righteousness.
15 And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the ajudgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the bjudgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.
16 And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal aword, which cannot bpass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who arecfilthy shall be dfilthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy are theedevil and his angels; and they shall go away into feverlasting fire, prepared for them; and their gtorment is as a hlake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end.
17 O the greatness and the ajustice of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be bfulfilled.
18 But, behold, the arighteous, the bsaints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the ccrosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall dinherit the ekingdom of God, which was prepared for them ffrom the foundation of the world, and their gjoy shall be fullhforever.
19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he adelivereth his saints from that bawful monster the devil, and death, and chell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
20 O how great the aholiness of our God! For he bknoweth callthings, and there is not anything save he knows it.
21 And he cometh into the world that he may asave all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the bpains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of cAdam.
22 And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.
23 And he commandeth all men that they must arepent, and bebbaptized in his name, having perfect cfaith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
24 And if they will not repent and believe in his aname, and be baptized in his name, and bendure to the end, they must becdamned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it.
25 Wherefore, he has given a alaw; and where there is bno clawgiven there is no dpunishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him.
26 For the aatonement satisfieth the demands of his bjustice upon all those who chave not the dlaw given to them, that they areedelivered from that awful monster, death and fhell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them gbreath, which is the Holy One of Israel.
27 But wo unto him that has the alaw given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that btransgresseththem, and that cwasteth the days of his dprobation, for awful is his state!
28 O that cunning aplan of the evil one! O the bvainness, and the frailties, and the cfoolishness of men! When they are dlearned they think they are ewise, and they fhearken not unto the gcounsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their hwisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
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