- 22After I had read these things written on the brass plates, my brothers came to me and asked: What do the things you’ve read mean? Are they to be understood according to spiritual things, or what will happen to the spirit and not the body? 2I told them: They were revealed to the prophet by the voice of the Spirit, because the Spirit has revealed everything that will happen to mortal people to the prophets. 3Therefore the things I’ve read pertain to both physical and spiritual matters.
- It appears that sooner or later the house of Israel will be scattered throughout the earth and among all nations. 4Indeed, there are many who are already lost and unknown to those at Jerusalem: yes, most of the tribes have been led away, and they’re scattered here and there on islands of the sea. None of us know where they are, but we do know they’ve been led away. 5And since the time they’ve been led away, these things have been prophesied about them and about those who will be scattered and brought to ruin in the future because of the Holy One of Israel, since they’ll harden their hearts against Him. Therefore they’ll be scattered among all nations and hated by all people.
- 6Nevertheless, after the Gentiles are benefited by the record of the Jews, and the Lord has blessed the Gentiles and set them up as an example of belief, and Jacob’s descendants have been carried in their arms and their daughters have been carried on their shoulders — these references are physical, since that is the nature of the Lord’s covenants with our fathers. And it refers to our future and all the others from the house of Israel. 7It also means that, after the entire house of Israel has been scattered and brought to ruin, the Lord God will raise up a powerful nation among the Gentiles, here on this land, and our descendants will be scattered by them. 8After our descendants are scattered, the Lord God will proceed with an amazing work among the Gentiles that will be very valuable to our descendants. So it’s compared to them being cared for by the Gentiles and carried in their arms and on their shoulders. 9And it will also be valuable to the Gentiles — not only to them but to the entire house of Israel — to reveal and restore the covenants that the Father of heaven made with Abraham, having told him: All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendants. 10And I want you to know, my brothers, that the families of the earth can’t be blessed unless He shows His power to all nations. 11Therefore the Lord God will proceed to uncover His restored truths in the sight of people from every nation, to restore again His covenants and His gospel to those who are from the house of Israel. 12As a result, He’ll bring them back out of captivity — they’ll be gathered to the lands they first inherited, and they’ll be brought out of confusion and darkness, and they’ll know the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
- 13And the murderous guilt of that utterly wicked church — the whore of the entire earth — will come back upon their own heads, because they’ll fight among themselves. The swords they wield will fall upon their own heads, and they’ll be drunk with their own blood. 14And every nation that fights against you, O house of Israel, will be turned against each other. They’ll fall into the pit they dug to ensnare the Lord’s people. Those who fight against Zion will be destroyed. And the great whore that’s corrupted and perverted the right ways of the Lord — that utterly wicked church — will tumble to the dust, and its fall will be complete. 15The prophet has said: The time is quickly coming that Satan will no longer have power over mankind’s hearts. The time is soon coming that the proud and those who do evil will be like straw; and the time is coming that they will certainly be burned. 16Indeed, the time is soon coming when the full extent of God’s wrath will be poured out on all mankind, since He won’t allow the wicked to destroy the righteous. 17Therefore He’ll keep the righteous safe by His power, even if it means that the full extent of His wrath must come while the righteous are preserved by God destroying their enemies by fire. Therefore the righteous don’t need to be afraid, because the prophet has said: They will be saved, even if it requires fire. 18My brothers, these things are coming soon; there will be blood, fire, and smoke here, covering the face of this land. It will happen to mortal people in this life if they reject the Holy One of Israel. 19However the righteous won’t be destroyed, because those who fight against Zion are who will be cut off.
- 20And the Lord will absolutely prepare the way for His people. He’ll fulfill the words of Moses, when he said: A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you, like unto me. You’re to hear Him in all things whatsoever He’ll teach you. And then everyone who won’t follow that prophet will be cut off from among the people. 21Now I declare to you that this prophet that Moses spoke about was the Holy One of Israel. Given that, He’ll execute judgment in righteousness. 22The righteous don’t need to be afraid because they aren’t the ones to be brought to ruin. Instead, it’s the accuser’s kingdom built up by people, and established among those living on earth, that will fall. 23The time will soon come when the churches built up for profit, built up to gain power over mankind, built up to become popular in the world, and those that try to gratify the lusts of the people and desire worldly things and indulge in all kinds of iniquity — in short, all those that belong to the accuser’s kingdom — they’re the ones who need to be afraid, tremble, and shake. They’re the ones who will be thrown low in the dust. They’re the ones who will be burned up like straw. This is according to the prophet’s words. 24The time will soon come when the righteous will be cared for like well-fed calves, and the Holy One of Israel will rule in dominion, strength, power, and great glory. 25He’ll gather His children from the four quarters of the earth and will count His sheep, and they will know Him. And they’ll constitute one fold with one Shepherd; He’ll feed His sheep and they’ll find security in Him. 26Because of His people’s righteousness, Satan won’t have any power. He won’t be let loose for many years since he won’t have any influence in people’s hearts, because they’ll live in righteousness and the Holy One of Israel will rule. 27Now I tell you all these things will happen here in this world. 28But people of every nation, tribe, and language will abide safely with the Holy One of Israel if they only repent.
- 29Now I’ll finish, because I don’t dare say anything more about this. 30Therefore, my brothers, I want you to trust that the things written on the brass plates are true which testifies that every person must obey God’s commandments. 31Therefore you shouldn’t think my father and I are the only ones who have testified and taught this. That being the case, if you’re obedient to the commandments and stay faithful to the end, you’ll be saved on the last day. And so it is. Amen.
Chapter 7