8. For he shall lay his hands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost, and thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much.
9. And thou needest not fear, for thy husband shall support thee in the Church; for unto them is his calling, that all things might be revealed unto them, whatsoever I will, according to their faith.
10. And verily I say unto thee, that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.
11. And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my Church:
12. For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart, yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.
13. Wherefore lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.
14. Continue in the spirit of meekness, and beware of pride. Let thy soul delight in thy husband, and the glory which shall come upon him.
15. Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come.
16. And verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all. Amen.
Revelation to Joseph Smith, Jun., Oliver Cowdery, and John Whitmer, given at Harmony, Pennsylvania, July, 1830. 4
1. Behold, I say unto you, that you shall let your time be devoted to the studying of the Scriptures, and to preaching, and to confirming the Church at Colesville, and to performing your labors on the land, such as is required, until after you shall go to the west to hold the next conference; and then it shall be made known what you shall do.
2. And all things shall be done by common consent in the Church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith. Amen.
Compilation of Revelations.
Shortly after we had received the above revelations, Oliver Cowdery returned to Mr. Peter Whitmer's, Sen., and I began to arrange and copy the revelations, which we had received from time to time; in which I was assisted by John Whitmer, who now resided with me.
Cowdery's Error.
Whilst thus employed in the work appointed me by my Heavenly Father, I received a letter from Oliver Cowdery, the contents of which gave me both sorrow and uneasiness. Not having that letter now in my possession, I cannot of course give it here in full, but merely an extract of the most prominent parts, which I can yet, and expect long to, remember. He wrote to inform me that he had discovered an error in one of the commandments—Book of Doctrine and Covenants: "And truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto a remission of their sins."5
The above quotation, he said, was erroneous, and added: "I command you in the name of God to erase those words, that no priestcraft be amongst us!"
I immediately wrote to him in reply, in which I asked him by what authority he took upon him to command me to alter or erase, to add to or diminish from, a revelation or commandment from Almighty God.
The Prophet's Correction of the Error.
A few days afterwards I visited him and Mr. Whitmer's family, when I found the family in general of his opinion concerning the words above quoted, and it was not without both labor and perseverance that I could prevail with any of them to reason calmly on the subject. However, Christian Whitmer at length became convinced that the sentence was reasonable, and according to Scripture; and finally, with his assistance, I succeeded in bringing, not only the Whitmer family, but also Oliver Cowdery to acknowledge that they had been in error, and that the sentence in dispute was in accordance with the rest of the commandment. And thus was this error rooted out, which having its rise in presumption and rash judgment, was the more particularly calculated (when once fairly understood) to teach each and all of us the necessity of humility and meekness before the Lord, that He might teach us of His ways, that we might walk in His paths, and live by every word that proceedeth forth from His mouth.
Footnotes
1. Pearl of Great Price.
2. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 24.
3. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 25.
4. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 26.
5. Part of paragraph 37, sec. 20, Doctrine and Covenants.
CHAPTER XI.
Further Light Respecting the Sacrament—The Prophet's Removal to Fayette.
Instructions on the Sacrament.
Early in the month of August Newel Knight and his wife paid us a visit at my place in Harmony, Pennsylvania; and as neither his wife nor mine had been as yet confirmed, it was proposed that we should confirm them, and partake together of the Sacrament, before he and his wife should leave us. In order to prepare for this I set out to procure some wine for the occasion, but had gone only a short distance when I was met by a heavenly messenger, and received the following revelation, the first four paragraphs of which were written at this time, and the remainder in the September following:
Revelation given at Harmony, Pennsylvania, August, 1830. 1
1. Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Lord, your God, and your Redeemer, whose word is quick and powerful.
2. For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, when ye partake of the Sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory; remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins:
3. Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine, neither strong drink of your enemies:
4. Wherefore, you shall partake of none except it is made new among you; yea, in this my Father's kingdom which shall be built up on the earth.
5. Behold, this is wisdom in me: wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting Gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim:
6. And also with Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things, spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning the last days:
7. And also John the son of Zacharias, which Zacharias he (Elias) visited and gave promise that he should have a son, and his name should be John, and he should be filled with the spirit of Elias;
8. Which John I have sent unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and Oliver Cowdery, to ordain you unto the first Priesthood which you have received, that you might be called and ordained even as Aaron:
9. And also Elijah, unto whom I have committed the keys of the power of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, that the whole earth may not be smitten with a curse:
10. And also with Joseph, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham, your fathers, by whom the promises remain;
11. And also with Michael, or Adam, the father of all, the prince of all, the ancient of days.
12. And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles, and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry and of the same things which I revealed unto them:
13. Unto whom I have