Mosiah II

4And now it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold, they had fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them. 2And they viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth, and they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our hearts may be purified, for we believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things, who shall come down among the children of men.

3And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins and having peace of conscience because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ, which should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

4And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you. 5For behold that if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time hath awakened you to a sense of your nothingness and your worthless and fallen state— 6I say unto you that if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God and his matchless power and his wisdom and his patience and his long-suffering towards the children of men, and also the atonement which hath been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord and should be diligent in keeping his commandments and continue in the faith, even unto the end of his life —I mean the life of the mortal body— 7I say that this is the man that receiveth salvation through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind which ever was, ever since the fall of Adam, or which is or which ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. 8And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither is there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.

9Believe in God! Believe that he is and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he hath all wisdom and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. 10And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them and humble yourselves before God and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you. And now if you believe all these things, see that ye do them.

11And again I say unto you, as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceeding great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember and always retain in remembrance the greatness of God and your own nothingness and his goodness and long-suffering towards you unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel. 12And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this, ye shall always rejoice and be filled with the love of God and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

13And ye will not have a mind to injure one another but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due. 14And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry or naked, neither will you suffer that they transgress the law of God and fight and quarrel one with another and serve the devil, which is the master of sin, or which is the evil spirit, which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness. 15But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another and to serve one another.

16And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need, and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain and turn him out to perish. 17Perhaps thou shalt say: The man hath brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just. 18But I say unto you, O man: Whosoever doeth this, the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done, he perisheth forever and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. 19For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment and for gold and for silver and for all the riches which we have, of every kind?

20And behold, even at this time ye have been calling on his name and begging for a remission of your sins. And hath he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay, he hath poured out his Spirit upon you and hath caused that your hearts should be filled with joy and hath caused that your mouths should be stopped, that ye could not find utterance, so exceeding great was your joy.

21And now if God, who hath created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith believing that ye shall receive, O then how had ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another! 22And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth, and yet ye put up no petition or repenteth not of the thing which thou hast done. 23I say unto you: Woe be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him. And now I say these things unto those which are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.

24And again I say unto the poor, ye that have not and yet hath sufficient that ye remain from day to day —I mean all you that deny the beggar because ye have not— I would that ye say in your hearts that I give not because I have not, but if I had, I would give. 25And now if ye say this in your hearts, ye remain guiltless; otherwise ye are condemned, and your condemnation is just, for ye covet that which ye have not received.

26And now for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you —that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God— I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally according to their wants.

27And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order, for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than what he hath strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize. Therefore all things must be done in order.

28And I would that ye should remember that whosoever among you that borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree; or else thou shalt commit sin, and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.

29And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. 30But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves and your thoughts and your words and your deeds and observe to keep the commandments of God and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now O man, remember and perish not!