- Verily this is the word of the Lord unto you my servant Thomas: I have heard your prayers and your alms have come up as a memorial before me, in behalf of those your brethren who were chosen to bear testimony of my name, and to send it abroad among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and ordained through the instrumentality of my servants. Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in your heart, and with you, with which I the Lord was not well pleased. Nevertheless, inasmuch as you have abased yourself, you shall be exalted; therefore, all your sins are forgiven you. Let your heart be of good cheer before my face, and you shall bear record of my name, not only unto the gentiles, but also unto the Jews. And you shall send forth my word unto the ends of the earth.
- Contend, therefore, morning by morning and day after day; let your warning voice go forth, and when the night comes, let not the inhabitants of the earth slumber because of your speech. Let your habitation be known in Zion, and remove not your house, for I the Lord have a great work for you to do in publishing my name among the children of men. Therefore, gird up your loins for the work. Let your feet be shod also, for you are chosen, and your path lies among the mountains and among many nations, and by your word many high ones shall be brought low, and by your word many low ones shall be exalted. Your voice shall be a rebuke unto the transgressor, and at your rebuke let the tongue of the slanderer cease its perverseness. Be you humble, and the Lord your God shall lead you by the hand and give you an answer to your prayers.
- I know your heart and have heard your prayers concerning your brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let your love be for them as for yourself, and let your love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name. And pray for your brethren of the twelve; admonish them sharply for my name’s sake, and let them be admonished for all their sins, and be faithful before me, unto my name. And after their temptations and much tribulation, behold, I the Lord will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted and I will heal them.
- Now, I say unto you, and what I say unto you I say unto all the twelve, Arise and gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep. Exalt not yourselves, rebel not against my servant Joseph, for verily I say unto you, I am with him and my hand shall be over him, and the keys which I have given him, and also extended toward you, shall not be taken from him until I come.
- Verily I say unto you, my servant Thomas, you are the man whom I have chosen to hold the keys of my kingdom (as pertaining to the twelve) abroad, among all nations, that you may be my servant to unlock the door of the kingdom in all places where my servant Joseph and my servant Sidney Rigdon and my servant Hyrum Smith cannot come, for on them have I laid the burden of all the churches for a little season. Wherefore, wherever they shall send you, go, and I will be with you, and in whatever place you shall proclaim my name, an effectual door shall be opened unto you that they may receive my word. Whoever receives my word receives me, and whoever receives me receives those (the first presidency) whom I have sent, whom I have made counselors, for my name’s sake, unto you. And again, I say unto you that whoever you shall send in my name, by the voice of your brethren the twelve, duly recommended and authorized by you, shall have power to open the door of my kingdom unto any nation wherever you shall send them, inasmuch as they shall humble themselves before me, and abide in my word, and hearken to the voice of my spirit.
- Verily, verily I say unto you, darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face. Behold, vengeance comes speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth: a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation. And as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, says the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, says the Lord — first, among those among you, says the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, says the Lord.
- Therefore, see to it that you trouble not yourselves concerning the affairs of my church in this place, says the Lord, but purify your hearts before me, and then go into all the world and preach my gospel unto every creature who have not received it. And he that believes and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believes not and is not baptized shall be damned. For unto you (the twelve), and those (the first presidency) who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this Priesthood given for the last days, and for the last time, in the which is the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, which power you hold in connection with all those who have received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation. For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation which you have received have come down from the Fathers, and last of all being sent down from Heaven unto you. Verily I say unto you, behold, how great is your calling.
- Cleanse your hearts and your garments, lest the blood of this generation be required at your hands. Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to recompense every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
SECTION 124
A revelation given at Kirtland, Ohio, 23 July 1837, through Joseph Smith Jr. to Thomas B. Marsh.