Darkness and apostasy shall cover the earth in the last days—The Book of Mormon shall come forth—Three witnesses shall testify of the book—The learned man cannot read the sealed book—The Lord shall do a marvelous work and a wonder—Compare Isaiah 29. [Between 559 and 545 B.C.]

 BUT, behold, in the ^alast days, or in the days of the Gentiles—yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be ^bdrunken^• with iniquity and all manner of abominations—

 And when that day shall come they shall be ^avisited^• of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the ^bflame^• of devouring fire.

 And all the ^anations^• that ^bfight^• against Zion, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision; yea, it shall be unto them, even as unto a hungry man which dreameth, and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or like unto a thirsty man which dreameth, and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite; yea, even so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

 For behold, all ye that doeth iniquity, stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be ^adrunken^• but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink.

 For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your ^aeyes, and ye have ^brejected^• the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquity.

 And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto ^ayou^• the words of a ^bbook^•, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.

 And behold the book shall be ^asealed^•; and in the book shall be a ^brevelation^• from God, from the beginning of the world to the ^cending^• thereof.

 Wherefore, because of the things which are ^asealed^• up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them.

 But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto ^aanother^•;

 But the words which are ^asealed^• he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they ^breveal^• all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.

 And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be ^arevealed^• unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.

 Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that ^athree^{• b}witnesses^• shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.

 And there is ^anone^• other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were ^bfrom^• the dead.

 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and wo be unto him that ^arejecteth^• the word of God!

 But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: ^aRead^• this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them.

 And now, because of the glory of the world and to get ^again will they say this, and not for the glory of God.

 And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.

 Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it.

 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will ^adeliver^• again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.

 Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am ^aable^• to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.

 ^aTouch^• not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.

 Wherefore, when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee, and obtained the ^awitnesses which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up the book again, and hide it up unto me, that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read, until I shall see fit in mine own ^bwisdom to ^creveal^• all things unto the children of men.

 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of ^amiracles; and I will show unto the ^bworld that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I ^cwork^• not among the children of men save it be ^daccording^• to their faith.

 And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him:

 ^aForasmuch^• as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do ^bhonor^• me, but have removed their ^chearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the ^dprecepts^• of men—

 Therefore, I will proceed to do a ^amarvelous^• work among this people, yea, a ^bmarvelous^• work and a wonder, for the ^cwisdom of their wise and ^dlearned shall perish, and the ^eunderstanding of their ^fprudent shall be hid.

 And ^awo^• unto them that seek deep to hide their ^bcounsel from the Lord! And their works are in the ^cdark; and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? And they also say: Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the ^dpotter’s^• clay. But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I ^eknow all their works. For shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he had no understanding?

 But behold, saith the Lord of Hosts: I will show unto the children of men that it is yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the ^afruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.

 ^aAnd^• in that day shall the ^bdeaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

 And the ^ameek also shall increase, and their ^bjoy^• shall be in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

 For assuredly as the Lord liveth they shall see that the ^aterrible^• one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off;

 And they that make a man an ^aoffender^• for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the ^bgate^•, and ^cturn^• aside the just for a thing of naught.

 Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall ^anot now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

 But when he ^aseeth^• his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

 They also that ^aerred^• in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall ^blearn^• doctrine.