- Question: O Lord, show unto your servants how much you require of the properties of your people for a tithing.
Answer: Verily thus says the Lord: I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church of Zion, for the building of my house, and for the laying the foundation of Zion, and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the presidency of my church. And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually. And this shall be a standing law unto them for ever, for my holy Priesthood says the Lord. - Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you. And this shall be an example unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so, Amen.
SECTION 135
An entry from the journal of Joseph Smith Jr. given at Far West, Missouri, 8 July 1838.