Hear, O ye heavens!
and
Give
ear, O earth!
And
Rejoice ye inhabitants thereof!
For the Lord is God!
and
beside Him there is no Savior!
Great is his wisdom!
Marvelous
are his ways!
And
the extent of his doings none can find out!
His purposes fail
not!
neither
are there any who can stay his hand!
From eternity to
eternity he is the same!
and
His years never fail!
For thus saith the
Lord—
I,
the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear Me,
and
delight to honor those who serve me
in
righteousness and in truth unto the end.
Great
shall be their reward
and
Eternal shall be their glory!
And
to them will I reveal all mysteries,
yea,
all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom
from
days of old,
and
for ages to come,
will
I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will
concerning
all things pertaining to my kingdom.
Yea,
even the wonders of eternity shall they know,
and
things to come will I show them,
even
the things of many generations.
And
their wisdom shall be great,
and
their understanding reach to heaven;
and
before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish,
and
the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught.
For
by my Spirit will I enlighten them,
and
by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—
yea,
even those things
which
eye has not seen,
nor
ear heard,
nor
yet entered into the heart of man.
We, Joseph Smith,
Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two—by the power
of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so
as to see and understand the things of God—even those things which were from
the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through
his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the
beginning; of whom we bear record; and the record which we bear is the fulness
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son,
Whom
we saw
and
with Whom we conversed in the heavenly vision.
For while we were
doing the work of translation, which the Lord had appointed unto us, we came to
the twenty-ninth verse of the fifth chapter of John (
John 5:29),
which was given unto us as follows—speaking of the resurrection of the dead,
concerning those who shall hear the voice of the Son of Man:
And shall come forth;
they who have done good, in the resurrection of the
just;
and they who have done evil, in the resurrection of
the unjust.
Now this caused us
to marvel, for it was given unto us of the Spirit.
And while we
meditated upon these things,
the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they
were opened,
and
the glory of the Lord shone round about.
And we beheld
the
glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father,
and
received of His fulness;
and
saw the holy angels,
and
them who are sanctified before his throne,
worshiping
God, and the Lamb,
who
worship him forever and ever.
And now, after the
many testimonies which have been given of Him,
this is the
testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: That He lives!
For we saw Him, even
on the right hand of God;
and
we heard the voice bearing record that He is the Only Begotten of the Father—
That by Him, and through
Him, and of Him, the worlds are and were
created,
and
the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.
[Perdition & his sons]
And this we saw
also, and bear record, that:
An
angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God,
who
rebelled against the Only Begotten Son
whom
the Father loved and
who
was in the bosom of the Father,
was
thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
and
was called Perdition,
for
the heavens wept over him—
he
was Lucifer, a son of the morning!
And we beheld, and
lo, he is fallen!
Is
fallen, even a son of the morning!
And while we were
yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision;
for
we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even
the devil,
who
rebelled against God,
and
sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—
Wherefore, he maketh
war with the saints of God,
and
encompasseth them round about.
And we saw a vision
of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame,
for thus came the
voice of the Lord unto us:
Thus saith the Lord
concerning all those who know my power,
and
have been made partakers thereof,
and
suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome,
and
to deny the truth and defy my power—
They are they who
are the sons of perdition,
of
whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;
For they are vessels
of wrath,
doomed
to suffer the wrath of God,
with
the devil and his angels in eternity;
Concerning whom I
have said
there
is no forgiveness in this world
nor
in the world to come—
Having denied the
Holy Spirit after having received it, and
having
denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father,
having
crucified him unto themselves
and
put him to an open shame.
These are they who
shall go away
into
the lake of fire and brimstone,
with
the devil and his angels—
And the only ones on
whom the second death shall have any power;
Yea, verily, the
only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord,
after
the sufferings of his wrath.
For all the rest
shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead,
Through the triumph
and the glory of the Lamb,
who
was slain,
who
was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.
And this is the
Gospel, the Glad Tidings,
which
the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—
That He came into
the world, even Jesus,
to
be crucified for the world, and
to
bear the sins of the world, and
to
sanctify the world, and
to
cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
That through him
all
might be saved
whom
the Father had put into His power and made by Him;
Who glorifies the
Father,
and
saves all the works of his hands,
except
those sons of perdition
who
deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.
Wherefore, He saves
all except them
—they shall go away
into everlasting punishment,
which
is endless punishment,
which
is eternal punishment,
to
reign with the devil and his angels in eternity,
where
their worm dieth not,
and
the fire is not quenched,
which
is their torment—
And the end thereof,
neither
the place thereof,
nor
their torment,
no
man knows;
Neither was it
revealed,
neither
is,
neither
will be revealed unto man,
except
to them who are made partakers thereof;
Nevertheless, I, the
Lord, show it by vision unto many,
but
straightway shut it up again;
Wherefore,
the
end,
the
width,
the
height,
the
depth,
and
the misery thereof,
they
understand not,
neither any man
except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.
And we heard the
voice, saying: Write the vision, for lo, this is the end of the vision of the
sufferings of the ungodly.
[Resurrection of the Just & Celestial Glory]
And again we bear
record—for we saw and heard.
And this is the
testimony of the gospel of Christ
concerning them who shall come forth in the Resurrection of the Just—
They are they who received
the testimony of Jesus,
and believed on His name
and were baptized after the manner of His
burial,
being buried in the water in His name,
and this according to the commandment
which He has given—
That by keeping the
commandments they might
be washed and cleansed from all their sins,
and
receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of
the hands
of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
And who overcome by
faith,
And are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,
which the Father sheds forth upon all those
who are just and true.
They are they who are the Church of the Firstborn.
They are they into whose hands the Father has given All
Things—
They are they who are priests and kings,
who have received of his fulness,
and of his glory;
And are priests of the Most High,
after the order of Melchizedek,
which was after the order of Enoch,
which was after the order of the Only
Begotten Son.
Wherefore, as it is
written, they are gods,
even the sons of God—
Wherefore, all
things are theirs,
whether life or death,
or things present,
or things to come,
All are theirs
and they are Christ’s,
and Christ is God’s.
And they shall overcome all things.
Wherefore, let no
man glory in man,
but rather let him glory in God,
who shall subdue
all enemies under his feet.
These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ
forever and ever.
These are they whom He shall bring with Him,
when He shall come in the clouds of heaven
to reign on the earth over his people.
These are they who shall have part in the First
Resurrection.
These are they who shall come forth in the Resurrection
of the Just.
These are they who are come
unto Mount Zion, and
unto the City of the Living God,
the Heavenly Place,
the holiest of all.
These are they who have come to an innumerable company
of angels,
to the general assembly and Church of
Enoch, and of the Firstborn.
These are they whose names are written in heaven,
where God and Christ are the judge of all.
These are they who are just men made perfect
through Jesus the Mediator of the New
Covenant,
who wrought out this perfect atonement
through the shedding of His own blood.
These are they whose bodies are celestial,
whose glory is that
of the sun,
even the glory of God, the highest of all,
whose glory the sun of the firmament is
written of as being typical.
[Terrestrial Glory]
And again, we saw
the terrestrial world,
and behold and lo,
these are they who are of the terrestrial,
whose
glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn
who
have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from
the sun in the firmament.
Behold, these are
they who died without law;
And also they who
are the spirits of men kept in prison,
whom
the Son visited,
and
preached the gospel unto them,
that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh;
Who received not the
testimony of Jesus in the flesh,
but afterwards received it.
These are they who
are honorable men of the earth,
who
were blinded by the craftiness of men.
These are they who
receive of his glory,
but
not of his fulness.
These are they who
receive of the presence of the Son,
but
not of the fulness of the Father.
Wherefore, they are
bodies terrestrial,
and
not bodies celestial,
and
differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.
These are they who
are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus;
wherefore,
they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.
And now this is the
end of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial,
that the Lord
commanded us to write while we were yet in the Spirit.
[Telestial Glory]
And again, we saw
the glory of the telestial,
which
glory is that of the lesser,
even
as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the
firmament.
These are they who
received not the gospel of Christ,
neither
the testimony of Jesus.
These are they who
deny not the Holy Spirit.
These are they who are thrust down to hell.
These are they who
shall not be redeemed from the devil
until
the last resurrection,
until
the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.
These are they who
receive not of his fulness in the eternal world,
but
of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial;
And
the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.
And also the
telestial receive it of the administering of angels
who
are appointed to minister for them, or
who
are appointed to be ministering spirits for them;
for
they shall be heirs of salvation.
And thus we saw, in
the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all
understanding;
And no man knows it
except him to whom God has revealed it.
And thus we saw the
glory of the terrestrial
which
excels in all things the glory of the telestial,
even
in glory, and
in
power, and
in
might, and
in
dominion.
And thus we saw the
glory of the celestial,
which
excels in all things—
where
God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;
Before whose throne
all things bow in humble reverence,
and
give him glory forever and ever.
They who dwell in
his presence are the church of the Firstborn;
and
they see as they are seen,
and
know as they are known,
having
received of his fulness and of his grace;
And he makes them
equal in power,
and
in might,
and
in dominion.
And the glory of the
celestial is one,
even
as the glory of the sun is one.
And the glory of the
terrestrial is one,
even
as the glory of the moon is one.
And the glory of the
telestial is one,
even
as the glory of the stars is one;
for
as one star differs from another star in glory,
even
so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;
For
these are they who are of Paul,
and of Apollos,
and of Cephas.
These
are they who say they are some of one and some of another—
some of Christ and
some of John, and
some of Moses, and
some of Elias, and
some of Esaias, and
some of Isaiah, and
some of Enoch;
But received not the gospel,
neither the testimony of Jesus,
neither the prophets,
neither the everlasting covenant.
Last of all, these
all are they who will not be gathered
with the saints,
to
be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn,
and
received into the cloud.
These are they who
are liars,
and
sorcerers,
and
adulterers,
and
whoremongers,
and
whosoever loves and makes a lie.
These are they who
suffer the wrath of God on earth.
These are they who
suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.
These are they who
are cast down to hell
and
suffer the wrath of Almighty God,
until
the fulness of times,
when
Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet,
and
shall have perfected his work;
When he shall
deliver up the kingdom,
and
present it unto the Father, spotless, saying:
"I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press
alone,
even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of
Almighty God."
Then shall He be
crowned with the crown of his glory,
to
sit on the throne of his power
to
reign forever and ever.
But behold, and lo,
we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world,
that
they were as innumerable as the stars in the
firmament of heaven,
or
as the sand upon the seashore;
And heard the voice
of the Lord saying:
These
all shall bow the knee,
and
every tongue shall confess
to
Him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;
For they shall be
judged according to their works,
and
every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion,
in
the mansions which are prepared;
And they shall be servants of the Most High;
but
where God and Christ dwell they cannot come,
worlds without end.
This is the end of
the vision which we saw, which we were commanded to write while we were yet in
the Spirit.
But great and
marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he
showed unto us,
which
surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion;
Which he commanded
us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit,
and
are not lawful for man to utter;
Neither is man
capable to make them known,
for
they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit,
which
God bestows on those who love him,
and
purify themselves before him;
To whom he grants
this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;
That through the
power and manifestation of the Spirit,
while in the flesh,
they
may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory.
And to God and the
Lamb be glory, and honor, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
