1 HEARKEN, and lo, a voice as of one sent down from on high, who is mighty and powerful, [ Like the thunder. ] whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto men—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight . [ "straight" here means direction, a straight coarse back to our Father in Heaven, and the Savior has revealed that coarse to us. Ancient rulers used to send a messenger out to proclaim the coming of a ruler, this was done so that preparations could be made by the subjects, crooked paths straightened, leveled and made straight making the way of the ruler and his caravan easier. Loyal subjects would comply and were provided the opportunity to make their wishes know to the messenger so that he could pass them on to the ruler - So that he may grant them on hs way if he desired. The implication here is that the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints is charged with preparing the way for the coming of the Lord. see Isa 40:3. ]

2 The keys of the kingdom of God [ Keys - signifies authority to administer the ordinances, teach the doctrinesand take part in the governement of the church.D&C Commentary pg398; the sealing power of the priesthood, the ordinances of the temple. ] are committed unto man on the earth, [ First they have been given to man, second they have been given for a reason. ] and from thence shall the gospel roll forth [ It has the kind of momentum that it cannot be stopped. It will go into all nations at the appointed hour. ] unto the ends of the earth, as the stone [ Or the kingdom of God on the earth Comparing the church to the dream of Daniel in Dan 2. ] which is cut out of the mountain [ Were does it come from the mountain - which symbolically represents the Temple of God. ] without hands [ Done by the power of God. God is the only one who can cut the stone from a mountain without hands. Cut out denotes a pattern or size and shape, with skill. Reference to what it is not - an idol which is formed by the hands of man - Isa. 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: Careful review of the following scriptures shows how altars were built in ancient times they were to be built from stones that no man had lifted iron upon - the stones were not fashioned by man. See Josh 8:31; 1 Kgs 18:31-32, 1 Ne 2:7, Duet 27:5; Ex 20:25; Duet 4:15-16. ] shall roll forth, [ To recap the kingdom of God will come forth from an altar of the temple of God. We are not the stone! Okay, let me explain. A summary of Daniel's prophecy: 'Daniel said the king's dream was about a giant statue that was destroyed by a stone cut out of a mountain. The statue represented the kingdoms of the earth. The stone cut out of the mountain represented the kingdom of God that would fill the earth. The king knew that Daniel spoke the truth.' If you're like me, you grew up believing that the stone (kingdom of God) that would fill the earth was our church. That ties into many of our beliefs about missionary work, but, Joseph Smith, taught something else. He said: "There is a distinction between the Church of God and kingdom of God. The laws of the kingdom are not designed to affect our salvation hereafter. It is an entire, distinct and separate government. The church is a spiritual matter and a spiritual kingdom; but 👉the kingdom which Daniel saw was not a spiritual kingdom👈, but was designed to be got up for the safety and salvation of the saints by protecting them in their religious rights and worship...The literal kingdom of God, and the Church of God are two distinct things. (Council of Fifty Minutes, March 1844-Jan 1846, Vol. 1) So let's break it down: *The KINGDOM of God-(temporal) A godly government that protects freedom of worship *The CHURCH of God-(spiritual) kingdom affecting salvation The kingdom that Daniel saw roll forth (the stone) was NOT the church, but a righteous government, and I believe refers to when Christ himself comes to earth to rule and reign. The stone being cut out of the mountain may refer to the idea that only a small portion of Christ's people who claim to be his followers actually are, and that small number taken from the greater portion will be the ones who help establish His physical kingdom on earth. ] until it has filled the whole earth. [ Mark E. Petersen said "... in these, the last days, the Lord has predicted that there shall be two simultaneous movements. One of these movements is the great tribulation that shall come upon the world. The wicked will destroy the wicked. "The other great movement which will be going forward simultaneously is that there shall be a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and it shall roll forth and eventually fill the whole earth. The Church to which you and I belong is that stone. It has been cut out of the mountain without hands, and your destiny and mine is to help roll it forth. (D&C 65:2.) "Now do you suppose for one moment that the judgments of God are going to interfere with the progress of his work? He is consistent, isn't he? Although he will pour out his tribulations upon the wicked, he nevertheless will carry forward his work, and his people, under divine protection, will roll forth that stone until eventually it fills the whole earth. "And so says the Book of Mormon: "For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous. "Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. (1 Nephi 22:16-17.) "I believe that. In the midst of all these tribulations God will send fire from heaven, if necessary, to destroy our enemies while we carry forward our work and push that stone until it fills the whole earth! "Your destiny is to do that very thing, and this is the kind of protection you will have. You do not need to fear about world conditions. You do not need to fear about anybody. Just serve the Lord and keep his commandments and build the kingdom, and as you do so you will be protected in these last days. God will have his hand over you, and you can plan your lives in confidence. (Conference Report, October 1960, pp. 81-83. ) Joseph Fielding Smith "Do not think for a moment that the days of trial are over. They are not. If we keep the commandments of the Lord, we shall prosper, we shall be blessed; the plagues, the calamities that have been promised will be poured out upon the peoples of the earth, and we shall escape them, yea, they shall pass us by. But remember the Lord says if we fail to keep his word, if we walk in the ways of the world, they will not pass us by, but we shall be visited with floods and with fire, with sword and with plague and destruction. We may escape these things through faithfulness." (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:34). Joseph Smith "It is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and 'the righteous shall hardly escape;' still many of the Saints will escape, for the just shall live by faith; yet many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in the Kingdom of God. So that it is an unhallowed principle to say that such and such have transgressed because they have been preyed upon by disease or death..." (History of the Church, 4:1) See also Orson Pratt Journal Of Discoarses Vol 15 pg 72. ]

3 Yea, a voice crying—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, [ Matt 22. ] make ready for the Bridegroom. [ He will come forth to be with the bride. It is the wedding feast, and the ushering in of the millennial reign. Verse 5. ]

4 Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people.

5 Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the son of Man [ The earliest use of this title "Son of Man" (man here means "King") that I can find in the scriptures comes from the Book Of Enoch(Enoch 46:1-3). Other references to that title include Daniel(), Abraham() and Christ himself() and all of them would have had available the Book Of Enoch. Enoch was given the title Son of Man as a descriptor for Jesus Christ. We find in written in the Book of Enoch 46:1-3 “And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who He was, and whence He was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said unto me: This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen Him, and whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever. (BoE 46:1-3)” So from these verses we can see that Enoch's angelic guide has declared that "the Son Of Man" is another name for Jesus Christ. This phrase is used by Daniel when he likens the person that he saw in his vision "like the Son of Man" (Daniel 7:13-14) as does Abraham when he described the individual who volunteered Himself to do the will of the Father as being “like unto the Son of Man.”  Therefore the phrase “like the Son of Man” or “like unto the Son of Man,” (Abr 3:27) used in these two examples promote the familiarity through an external source to which both prophets would have had access to that being the Book of Enoch. (Abr 1:31) This is also why Christ would have referred to himself as "the Son Of Man" because it was the messianic title that embodied the works and mission that would be preformed creation, example, atonement, resurrection, judgement(John 5:22-23,27) are all responsibilities that were given to the Son Of Man. Christ seems to use this title to place specific importance upon the subject matter He was teaching at the time, because the use of that title by Christ typically focuses on the prophecies of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and His latter-day responsibilities. There is no reason to belive otherwise than those Jews who heard Christ use this title would have been fully aware the title’s source and the bold declaration represented by the messianic prophecies for him as described in the Book of Enoch. ] shall come down in heaven, [ He comes down in glory with Heaven with him. The first time that he came he came as God incarnate, his power was hidden by his mortal body. Not so the second time. ] clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. [ D&C 5:19. ]

6 Wherefore, may the kingdom of God [ The church. ] go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, [ Or the uniting of the saints on both sides of the veil. The return of the city of Enoch and Melchizedek, with the son of God now presiding upon this earth. ] that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and ever. Amen.

[ Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine & Covenants 65 Excerpt from History of the Church In the fore part of October, I received the following prayer through revelation: [text of D&C 65 quoted] (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, volume 1, page 218) Excerpt from Doctrine and Covenants Commentary The prophet Joseph was now living at Hiram, about thirty miles southeast of Kirtland. He had gone there, on invitation of Father Johnson, in order to devote himself to his work on the Bible revision. From September 12, 1831, until the first of October, he did little more than prepare to recommence the translation of the Bible. (HC, Vol. I., p. 215) What the preparations consisted in is not stated, but this revelation, which is an inspired prayer, indicates that an important part of such preparation was communion with God in prayer. At Hiram, several important conferences were held. There thirteen Revelations were received, including the memorable vision recorded in Section 76. There a mob, excited by the agitation of Ezra Booth, who had denied the faith and become an enemy, tried to take the life of the prophet and Sidney Rigdon. No doubt, this Revelation came to strengthen them for the work and experiences before them. (Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, page 397)]