CHAPTER 3
Joseph Smith will become a great prophet and will write the Book of Mormon. (588-570 BCE)
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Four Josephs and the fruit of many loins
3:1-25
1And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last-born. Thou wast born in the
wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee.
2 And may the Lord consecrate also unto thee this land, which is a most precious land, for thine inheritance
and the inheritance of thy seed with thy brethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye shall keep the
commandments of the Holy One of Israel.
3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mine
afflictions, may the
Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall not utterly be destroyed.
And now I'm talking to you, Joseph, my last-born son. [1]
4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive
into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.
You're the fruit of my loins.
I'm a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. [2]
5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of
the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which
was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest
unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light -- yea, out of
hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.
He foresaw our day, and God promised to raise up, in the latter days, a righteous people from his loins.
6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise
up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.
Joseph said,
God will raise up a choice seer from the fruit of my loins. [3]
7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me:
A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly
among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he
shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins his brethren, which shall be of
great worth unto them, even to the bringing
of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.
God said to me:
I'll raise up a choice seer from the fruit of your loins.
He'll be esteemed highly by the fruit of your loins.
I'll tell him to do a work for the fruit of your loins.
8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work,
save the work which I shall
command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.
I'll tell him to only do what I tell him to do.
He'll be great in my eyes.
9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my
people, O house of Israel.
10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of
Egypt.
He'll be great like Moses.
11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of
thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto
the seed of thy loins -- and not to the bringing forth my word
only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.
I'll raise up a great seer from the fruit of your loins.
He'll deliver my word to the seed of your loins.
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and
the fruit of the loins
of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins,
and also that which shall be written by
the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of
contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing
them to the knowledge of their fathers
in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people,
unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
So the fruit of your loins will write and the fruit of the loins of Judah will write. [4]
And what is written by the fruit of your loins will grow together with what is written by the fruit of
Judah's loins to confound false doctrines and bring peace to the fruit of your loins.
14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless;
and they that seek to destroy
him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be
fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;
So Joseph prophesied saying,
God will bless that seer and whoever tries to destroy him will be confounded.
God promised my that the fruit of my loins would be fulfilled.
15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name
of his father. And he shall be
like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people
unto salvation.
He'll be named after me, and his father will also have my name. [5]
16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for
the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.
17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will
give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him
mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for
him.
God said to me, "I'll preserve your seed forever."
18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto
the fruit of thy loins;
and I will make for him a
spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of
the fruit of thy loins, unto the
fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.
God also said to me,
I'll raise up a spokesman from the fruit of your loins.
He'll write the writings of the fruit of your loins to the fruit of your loins,
and the spokesman of your loins will declare it.
19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are
expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if
the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know
their faith.
He'll write what I want him to write.
It'll be read by the fruit of your loins.
It'll be like he had cried to the fruit of your loins from the dust.
20 And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations
have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their
words.
And they'll cry from the dust, according to the simpleness of their words.
21 Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are
the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my
covenant which I made unto thy fathers.
22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old prophesy.
23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they
shall hearken unto the words of the book.
It'll proceed out of my mouth into the fruit of your loins.
24 And there shall rise up one mighty among them, who shall do much good,
both in word and in deed, being
an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in
the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy
brethren.
25 And now, blessed art thou, Joseph. Behold, thou art little; wherefore hearken unto the words of thy
brother, Nephi, and it shall be done unto thee even according to the words which I have spoken. Remember the words of
thy dying father. Amen.
There will be a might man among them who will do good in word and deed. [6]
He'll have exceeding faith, be an instrument of God, work mighty wonders, and do what is great in God's sight.