| Book of Mormon |
Annotations |
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Chapter 24
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1 And it came to pass that he commanded them that they
should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he
should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he
expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying:
Thus said the Father unto Malachi—Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in;
behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.
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2 But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall
stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s
soap.
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3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that
they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
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4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be
pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
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5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will
be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and
against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger,
and fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts.
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Joseph Smith used a seer stone to find buried treasure for
hire (sort of like a sorcerer; see Book of Mormon Translation).
He committed adultery according to both the law of the
land
and D&C 132; and he continually lied about his
adultery to his
wife, to the members of the Church, and to the public at
large
(Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo).
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6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of
Jacob are not consumed.
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7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from
mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return
unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye say: Wherein shall we return?
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8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say:
Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
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9 Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even
this whole nation.
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10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there
may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing
that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
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11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he
shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of Hosts.
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12 And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be
a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts.
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13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.
Yet ye say: What have we spoken against thee?
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14 Ye have said: It is vain to serve God, and what doth it
profit that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of Hosts?
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15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work
wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
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16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to
another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his
name.
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17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his
own son that serveth him.
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18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous
and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
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