1 BEHOLD, I say unto you, that as my servant Martin Harris has desired a witness at my hand, [ Despite getting the letter from professor Anton last summer when he lost the 116 pages - Martin still wants more of a witness that the record is true. Martin continues to struggle with hi own doubts and this revelation is given to him as a result of his pleadings. Martin in to understand four things from this revelation 1) That the plate are hidden and will remain hidden to the world for a wise purpose in the Lord vs 9 - 2) That there will be additional testiomnies added to the Prophets testimony - The three Witnesses vs 11 - 3) condemnation would be the consequences of rejection of this testimony vs 18 - 4) We must keep the commandments of the Lord and stay humble in order to retain and maintain a testimony vs 24. ] that you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., have got the plates of which you have testified and borne record that you have received of me;

2 And now, behold, this shall you say unto him— [ How signifigant is the way that the Lord responded to Martins plead? A doctrine is taught within the reply from the Lord. That is that there is only one mouth piece at a time on the earth that the Lord speaks through - at this time it was Joseph. ] he who spake unto you, said unto you: I, the Lord, am God, and have given these things unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and have commanded you that you should stand as a witness of these things;

3 And I have caused you [ As part of the covenant Joseph had made with the Lord he was given the discretionary power and responsibility of whom he should take into his confidence. ] that you should enter into a covenant with me, that you should not show them except to those persons to whom I commanded you; and you have no power over them except I grant it unto you.

4 And you [ Joseph Smith ] have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; [ "pretend" here is using the meaning that is not used today, it means, "to lay claim to", or "to aspire to as a suitor or candidate" following the Latin "praetendere" which means "to stretch forth, put forward". so then to review Joseph is told to translate the plates and that is it for now. What reasons can you come up with why the Lord would respond in such a way? 1) He is young and is still learning, he will learn alot as he finished the translation 2) he is being taught line upon line 3) The translation needs to be complted quickly, others are working against the translation... ] for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished.

[ Joseph is told of what will happen upon the finishing of the translation, provides some warnings and futther describes Joseph's mission vs 5-20. ]

5 Verily, I say unto you, that woe shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth if they will not hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] unto my words;

6 For hereafter you shall be ordained and go forth and deliver my words unto the children of men.

7 Behold, if they will not believe my words, [ If we do not learn the things of God by the spirit of God, if we do not receive a witness from him then... ] they would not believe you, my servant Joseph, if it were possible that you should show them all these things which I have committed unto you. [ It will not make any difference that you tried to prove it to them physically by realeasing the 116 pages as proof. They can and will believe what they will without a sign so to speak. cf. Mark 8:1-21, John 4:48, Acts 2:22. If people are not humble, then the signs will not convert them, just as the people who were following Jesus because of the signs he performed at the beginning of John 6 nearly all end up abandoning him by the end of John 6. If the people are humble, then they don’t need signs to convert them. What clues does this lesson provide for us in finding the truth? ]

8 Oh, this unbelieving and stiffnecked generation—mine anger is kindled against them.

9 Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those things [ I have kept the plates hidden from the world. ] which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations;

10 But this generation shall have my word through you;

11 And in addition to your testimony, [ Joseph Smith's testimony. ] the testimony of three of my servants, [ Testimony of Three Witnesses. ] whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you.

12 Yea, they shall know of a surety that these things are true, for from heaven will I declare it unto them.

13 I will give them power that they may behold and view these things as they are;

14 And to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation, in this the beginning of the rising up and the coming forth of my church out of the wilderness—clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. [ A quote from song of solomon 6:10 - intended to describe the feelings that will be felt as Zion becomes a fair maiden, the bride of the Lord as described in Isa. 52:1-2; Isa, 62:1-5. ]

15 And the testimony of three witnesses will I send forth of my word.

16 And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit—

17 And you must wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet ordained—

18 And their testimony [ I.e. the testimony of the three witnesses referenced in v. 11-12. ] shall also go forth unto the condemnation of hearts against them;

19 For a desolating scourge [ Could this be COVID-19 virus? See D&C 45:31 - A curse that is brought on when the inhabitants of the earth deserve it See Lev. 26; Duet 28. This is not the scourage that users in the final day of the Lord. ] shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming. [ II Thess 2:8 means literally "the presence" or "arrival". ]

20 Behold, I tell you these things, [ The Lord tells us what we can expect - floods, earthquakes... greater and greater than the last while there are those that try to explain them away as global warming or some other event other than that hand of God. We are slow to comprehend the signs of the times yet quick to dismiss them for a scientific explanation. Here the Lord says I tell you these things - he is saying that they are going to happen, there is a reason. Have you ever thought that in our world today we speak of global warming, and such as if we are the one's who control the world. Think about how similar this is to those ancients who wanted to build a tower to heaven the Tower of Babel. It shows how the world does not respect God, they are trying in a way to prove that they are better than he is. Not going to end well. ] even as I also told the people of the destruction of Jerusalem; [ See Matt. 24, Luke 21. The signs and events to warn the faithful. ] and my word shall be verified at this time as it hath hitherto been verified. [ Make no mistake, I am in control, and you will shortly see in the coming days. ]

21 And now I command you, my servant Joseph, [ Personal message to Joseph vs 21-22. ] to repent and walk more uprightly before me, and to yield to the persuasions of men no more; [ Trust me (the Lord) more than you trust or listen to your friends. ]

22 And that you be firm in keeping the commandments wherewith I have commanded you; and if you do this, behold I grant unto you eternal life, even if you should be slain. [ A hint even at an early age that he would be slain. ]

23 And now, again, I speak unto you, my servant Joseph, concerning the man that desires the witness— [ Personal message from the Lord to Martin Harris vs 23-28. Note Martin vs 1 gets more than Joseph - but I guess this is one of those times when you don't want more. "The man" can be an address to anyone else who desires a witness. ]

24 Behold, I say unto him, he exalts himself and does not humble himself sufficiently before me; [ Martin has not fully committed to repentance as he still maintains unrighteous attitudes - not befitting a man and what he has done. ] but if he will bow down before me, and humble himself in mighty prayer and faith, in the sincerity of his heart, then will I grant unto him a view of the things which he desires to see.

25 And then he shall say unto the people of this generation: Behold, I have seen the things which the Lord hath shown unto Joseph Smith, Jun., and I know of a surety that they are true, for I have seen them, for they have been shown unto me by the power of God and not of man.

26 And I the Lord command him, my servant Martin Harris, that he shall say no more unto them concerning these things, except he shall say: I have seen them, and they have been shown unto me by the power of God; and these are the words which he shall say.

27 But if he deny this he will break the covenant which he has before covenanted with me, and behold, he is condemned.

28 And now, except he humble himself and acknowledge unto me the things that he has done which are wrong, and covenant with me that he will keep my commandments, and exercise faith in me, [ This was most likely harder for Martin than even he anticipated. 1st he had given his promise that he would be financially responsible to print the Book of Mormon so he had that pressure and how and what that entailed; then he has his wife to deal with and her conflicting nature to the whole process - sometimes he probably wonder how he got in this mess. ] behold, I say unto him, he shall have no such views, for I will grant unto him no views of the things of which I have spoken.

29 And if this be the case, I command you, my servant Joseph, that you shall say unto him, [ Say unto Martin Harris - the conditions were set forth upon which Martin could see the plates. The conditions were that Martin be humble and bear witness to the world - he was at liberty to accept the terms or reject them. If he did not accept the terms then he should not trouble the Lord anymore. ] that he shall do no more, nor trouble me any more concerning this matter.

30 And if this be the case, behold, I say unto thee Joseph, when thou hast translated a few more pages thou shalt stop for a season, even until I command thee again; then thou mayest translate again.

31 And except thou do this, behold, thou shalt have no more gift, and I will take away the things which I have entrusted with thee.

32 And now, because I foresee the lying in wait to destroy thee, yea, I foresee that if my servant Martin Harris humbleth not himself and receive a witness from my hand, that he will fall into transgression; [ The Lord's warning to Martin that he is in a precarious position spiritually. ]

33 And there are many that lie in wait to destroy thee from off the face of the earth; and for this cause, that thy days may be prolonged, I have given unto thee these commandments. [ Joseph is warned that what the Lord is doing is to protect Joseph and the work and that every thing done is not a punishment. Do you think Joseph Smith ever realized at this point the great peril his life was in? Do we ever feel that the Lord may be punishing us - at least that is how we feel, but in reality he is just protecting us? ]

34 Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop, and stand still [ I love this simple message - STOP - STAND STILL. What happens in our lives when we stop and stand still sometimes? The Lord now prepares for Oliver to come help with the translation.] until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee. [ Almost the same thing that Nephi said, I will go and do, for God giveth no command save he prepare a way. Here God tells Jospeh that he will provide when the time is right. This is a principle that we all need to understand. Have you ever been on a good mission, a righteous mission or an errand for the Lord and you want things to happen faster, but sometimes we too have to STOP and wait upon the Lord. Often we are left to wonder why but we have to come to understand that things must happen in the Lord's time, thet he is in charge, and he will prepare away. ]

35 And if thou art faithful in keeping my commandments, thou shalt be lifted up at the last day. Amen.

[ Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine & Covenants 5 The first excerpt is a historical overview, and the second is a very brief comment by Smith indicating the revelation was given at Harris’ request. Excerpt from The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith Shortly after the visit of the Prophet's parents in February 1829 (see section 4), Martin Harris came to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to see Joseph Smith. Apparently humbled and repentant for having lost the 116 pages of manuscript, yet desiring to ascertain if Joseph Smith was in possession of the gold plates, Martin Harris sought out the Prophet [footnote states: Harris's concern over the plates was undoubtedly connected with his previous, yet still binding, agreement to assist in financing the printing of the Book of Mormon. ]. The revelation instructed Joseph Smith to stop translating the Book of Mormon for a time. (Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 11) Excerpt from History of the Church The following I applied for and obtained, at the request of the aforementioned Martin Harris: [ text of D&C 5 follows] (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, page 28) ]