36:1 My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch
as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.
36:2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the
captivity of our fathers; for they were in bondage, and none could
deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their
afflictions.
36:3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and
therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of
me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be
supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions,
and shall be lifted up at the last day.
36:4 And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the
temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.
36:5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I
should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his
holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of
myself.
36:6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the
church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the
way.
36:7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and
the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the
earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.
36:8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood
up, and beheld the angel.
36:9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no
more to destroy the church of God.
36:10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the
space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth,
neither had I the use of my limbs.
36:11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my
brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou
wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of
God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I
should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.
36:12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed
up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
36:13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was
tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled
against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
36:14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them
away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my
iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God
did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.
36:15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both
soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of
my God, to be judged of my deeds.
36:16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even
with the pains of a damned soul.
36:17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while
I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered
also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the
coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the
world.
36:18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my
heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall
of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of
death.
36:19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains
no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
36:20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my
soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
36:21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so
exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto
you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite
and sweet as was my joy.
36:22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting
upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in
the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did
long to be there.
36:23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I
stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been
born of God.
36:24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without
ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring
them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they
might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
36:25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly
great joy in the fruit of my labors;
36:26 For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold,
many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have
seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things
of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is
of God.
36:27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every
kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me
from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust
in him, and he will still deliver me.
36:28 And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell
with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever, for he has
brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians
in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land;
yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time
to time.
36:29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of
Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them
out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the
present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity;
yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance, as I have done, their
captivity.
36:30 But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye ought to know as I do
know, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall
prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye
will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his
presence. Now this is according to his word.