History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Religion
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should
withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his
presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He
accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been
many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above
us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood
before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying
for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so
that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly.
He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, "David, blessed
is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments;" when, immediately
afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us,
saying, "These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they
have been translated by the power of God. The {55} translation of them
which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of
what you now see and hear."
[Sidenote: Martin Harris also Views the Plates.]
I now left David and Oliver, and went in pursuit of Martin Harris,
whom I found at a considerable distance, fervently engaged in prayer.
He soon told me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the Lord,
and earnestly requested me to join him in prayer, that he also might
realize the same blessings which we had just received. We accordingly
joined in prayer, and ultimately obtained our desires, for before we
had yet finished, the same vision was opened to our view, at least
it was again opened to me, and I once more beheld and heard the same
things; whilst at the same moment, Martin Harris cried out, apparently
in an ecstasy of joy, "'Tis enough; 'tis enough; mine eyes have beheld;
mine eyes have beheld;" and jumping up, he shouted, "Hosanna," blessing
God, and otherwise rejoiced exceedingly. [4]
[Sidenote: Statement of the Witnesses.]
{56} Having thus, through the mercy of God, obtained these glorious
manifestations, it now remained for these three individuals to fulfil
the commandment which they had received, viz., to bear record of these
things; in order to accomplish which, they drew up and subscribed [5]
the following document: [6]
_The Testimony of Three Witnesses._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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