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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 24
Men shall transgress the law and break the everlasting covenant—At
the Second Coming they shall be burned, the earth shall reel, and the sun be
ashamed—Then shall the Lord reign in Zion and Jerusalem.
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1 BEHOLD, the LORD maketh the
aearth bempty, and maketh it waste, and
cturneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the
inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the
priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with
her mistress; as with the abuyer, so with the seller; as
with the lender, so with the borrower; as with bthe taker
of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
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4 The earth amourneth and
fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away,
bthe haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants
thereof; because they have atransgressed the laws,
bchanged the cordinance,
dbroken the ceverlasting
fcovenant.
6 Therefore hath the acurse devoured
the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the
binhabitants of the earth are cburned,
and dfew men lefta.
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6a few men left Though there
will be both of the Latter Day Saints and those of other religions, relatively
speaking there will be but a small percentage of the earth's population which
does remain after the vast destructions and burnings which will come at the
Lord's Second Coming. Not all who will be destroyed my be considered wicked
as the destruction will come upon all men as verses 1-3 indicate. But assurdly,
only the 'more righteous' will remain as it was in the Book of Mormon which
scripture is a dualistic prototype for us to glean understanding from and
apply such unto ourselves. As to the 'few men' it also seems that the ratio
between male and female will be skewed toward there being many more females
than males (Isaiah 4:1/2 Nephi 14:1). Perhaps this is due to wars and rumors
of wars, but also it might be a reflection that generally more women are of a
righteous nature than men.
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7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
8 The mirth of atabrets
bceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of
the harp ceaseth.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong
adrink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
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10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for wine in the streets;
all ajoy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
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13 ¶ When thus it shall be in the midst of the
land among the apeople, there shall be as the
shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage
is done.
14 aThey shall lift up their voice,
they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the
sea.
15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the
afires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in
the isles of the sea.
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16 ¶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we
heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said,
aMy leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous
dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, bthe treacherous
dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
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19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is
clean dissolved, the earth is amoved exceedingly.
20 The aearth shall reel to and fro
like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression
thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
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21 And it shall come to pass in that
aday, that the LORD shall bpunish
the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth
upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as
aprisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in
the bprison, and after many days shall they be
cvisited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun
aashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount
bZion, and in Jerusalem, and before chis
ancients gloriously.
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