"2U. Verily 1 say uuto you, a commandment I give ttnto mine handmaid, Kmma Smith, your wife, whom I have given uuto you, that she stay herself, aud partake not of that which 1 commanded you to offer uuto her: for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant aud sacrffice : aud let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, re- ceive all. those that have beeu giveu uuto my servant Jo- seph, and who are virtuous and pme before me ; aud those who are not pure, aud have said they are pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God ; for I am the Lord thy God, aud ye shall obey my voice: and I give uuto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many tilings, for he bath beeu faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.
'"21. And I command miue handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide aud cleave uuto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I am the Lord thy God, aud will destroy her if she abide not iu my law ; but if she will not abide this commandment, theu shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; aud I will bless him, and multiply him, and give uuto him a hundredfold iu this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers aud sisters, houses and hinds, wives aud children, aud crowns of eternal lives iu the eternal worlds. And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid for- give my servant Joseph his trespasses, aud theu shall she be forgiven her trespasses wherein she has trespassed against me ; aud I, the Lord thy God, will bless her and multiply her, aud make her heart to rejoice.
"22. And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and desiroy him, lor Satan seeketh to destroy; for I am the L'ird tliy God, and he is ray servant; and behold ! aud lo, I am wUli hiin, as I was with Abraham thy father, even uuto his exallatiou aud glory.
"23. Now, as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by miue own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endow- ed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything iu my name, and according to my law aud by my word, he will not commit sin, aud I will justify him. Let no one, therefore, set ou my servant Joseph, for I will justify him ; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his bauds for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
"24. Aud again, as pertaining to the law of the priest- hood : If any hian espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, ami the first give her consent ; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed lo no other man, then he is justified; he caunot commit adul- tery, for they are giveu unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth uuto him, and to none else : and if he have teu viruius given unto him by this law, he caunot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and Ihey are giveu uuto him: therefore is he justified. But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adul- tery, aud shall be destroyed ; for they are given uuto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my com- mandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for Iheir exaltation iu the eternal worlds, that they may Ijear the souls of men ; for herein is the work of my Father coutinued that he may be glorified.
"25. And again, verily, verily I say uuto you, if any man have a wife who holds the keys of this power, aud he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood as pertainiug to these things, then shall she believe, and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God ; fiu- 1 will destroy her ; for I will maguify my name upon all those who receive and abide iu my law. There- fore it shall be lawful iu me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him, according to my word ; and she then becomes the transgressor, and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered uuto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now, as pertaining to this law : Verily, ver- YI.— S s
ily I say unto yon, T will reveal more unto you hereafter; therefore let this sutfice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen."