The plates of brass and other scriptures are preserved to bring souls to salvation—The Jaredites were destroyed because of their wickedness—Their secret oaths and covenants must be kept from the people—Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings—As the Liahona guided the Nephites, so the word of Christ leads men to eternal life. [About 73 B.C.]

 AND now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the ^arecords^• which have been ^bentrusted^• with me;

 And I also command you that ye keep a ^arecord of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a ^bwise^• purpose that they are kept.

 And these ^aplates^• of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the ^bgenealogy^• of our forefathers, even from the beginning—

 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and ^ahanded^• down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the ^bmysteries contained thereon.

 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

 Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness^• in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall^• and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 And the Lord God doth work by ^ameans^• to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very ^bsmall^• means the Lord doth ^cconfound^• the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, ^athey^• have ^benlarged^• the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the ^cknowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

 Yea, I say unto you, ^awere^• it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have ^bconvinced^• so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their ^cwords brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

 And who knoweth but what they will be the ^ameans^• of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our ^bstiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?

 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear.

 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a ^awise^• purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth ^bcounsel^• in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is ^cone^• eternal round.

 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how ^astrict^• are the commandments of God. And he said: ^bIf^• ye will keep my commandments ye shall ^cprosper^• in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

 And now remember, my son, that God has ^aentrusted^• you with these things, which are ^bsacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and ^cpreserve for a ^dwise^• purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.

 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can ^atake^• them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.

 For he will fulfil all his ^apromises^• which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

 For he promised unto them that he would ^apreserve^• these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.

 And now behold, one purpose hath he fulfilled, even to the restoration of ^amany^• thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and he hath shown forth his power in them, and he will also still show forth his power in them unto ^bfuture^• generations; therefore they shall be preserved.

 Therefore I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all my words, and that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they are written.

 And now, I will speak unto you concerning those ^atwenty^•-four plates, that ye keep them, that the ^bmysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed, may be made ^cmanifest^• unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve these ^dinterpreters.

 For behold, the Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness, yea, work secret murders and abominations; therefore the Lord said, if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

 And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a ^astone^•, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may ^bdiscover^• unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.

 And now, my son, these ^ainterpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:

 I will ^abring^• forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will ^bdestroy^• them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.

 And now, my son, we see that they did not repent; therefore they have been destroyed, and thus far the word of God has been fulfilled; yea, their ^asecret^• abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us.

 And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their ^asigns^• and their wonders ye shall ^bkeep^• from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.

 For behold, there is a ^acurse^• upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed.

 Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their ^aoaths^• and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto them; and ye shall teach them to ^babhor^• such wickedness and abominations and murders; and ye shall also teach them that these people were destroyed on account of their wickedness and abominations and their murders.

 For behold, they ^amurdered all the prophets of the Lord who came among them to declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those who were their murderers; and thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret ^bcombinations.

 Yea, and ^acursed^• be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ^bripe^•.

 And now, my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting ^ahatred^• against sin and iniquity.

 ^aPreach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be ^bmeek and lowly in heart; teach them to ^cwithstand every ^dtemptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find ^arest^• to their souls.

 O, remember, my son, and ^alearn ^bwisdom in thy ^cyouth^•; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

 Yea, and ^acry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy ^bdoings^• be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy ^cthoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

 ^aCounsel^• with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning^• let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it ^aLiahona^•, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

 And it did work for them according to their ^afaith^• in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by ^asmall^• means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were ^bslothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did ^anot^• travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a ^ashadow^•; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the ^aword^• of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

 And now I say, is there not a ^atype in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

 O my son, do not let us be ^aslothful^• because of the ^beasiness^• of the ^cway^•; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would ^dlook^• they might ^elive^•; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

 And now, my son, see that ye take ^acare of these sacred things, yea, see that ye ^blook^• to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.