Lehi Counsels His Son Joseph

Event 21

Reference: 2 Ne. 3:1-25; See JST Gen. 50:24-38

AND now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last-born. Thou wast bornin the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of mygreatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee. 2 And may the Lordconsecrate also unto thee this land, which is a most precious land,for thine inheritance and the inheritance of thy seed with thybrethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye shall keep thecommandments of the Holy One of Israel. 3 And now, Joseph, mylast-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mineafflictions, may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall notutterly be destroyed. 4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins;and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive intoEgypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he madeunto Joseph. 5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And heobtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins theLord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house ofIsrael; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off,nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord thatthe Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days,in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darknessunto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity untofreedom. 6 For Joseph truly testified, saying:LehiLand of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choiceseer unto the fruit of my loins.JosephSee JST Gen.50:24-387 Yea, Joseph truly said:LehiThus saith the Lord unto me:JosephA choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; andhe shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. Andunto him will I give commandment that he shall do a workfor the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of greatworth unto them, even to the bringing of them to theknowledge of the covenants which I have made with thyfathers. 8 And I will give unto him a commandment that heshall do none other work, save the work which I shallcommand him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; forhe shall do my work. 9 And he shall be great like unto Moses,whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver mypeople, O house of Israel. 10 And Moses will I raise up, todeliver thy people out of the land of Egypt. 11 But a seer willI raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will Igive power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord,but to the convincing them of my word, which shall havealready gone forth among them.The Lord 12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruitof the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall bewritten by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall bewritten by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together,unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down ofcontentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thyloins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers inthe latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants,saith the Lord. 13 And out of weakness he shall be madestrong, in that day when my work shall commence among allmy people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saiththe Lord.The LordSee JST Gen.50:24-38Land of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying:LehiBehold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek todestroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I haveobtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled.Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise; 15 And hisname shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name ofhis father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which theLord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lordshall bring my people unto salvation.Joseph16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph:LehiI am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise ofMoses; for the Lord hath said unto me,JosephI will preserve thy seed forever.The Lord17 And the Lord hath said:JosephI will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in arod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I willnot loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will notmake him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him mylaw, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make aspokesman for him.The Lord18 And the Lord said unto me also:JosephI will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make forhim a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that heshall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruitof thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.19 And the words which he shall write shall be the wordswhich are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto thefruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins hadcried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith. 20 Andthey shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto theirbrethren, even after many generations have gone by them.And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, evenaccording to the simpleness of their words. 21 Because oftheir faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouthThe Lord unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and theweakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, untothe remembering of my covenant which I made unto thyfathers.The LordSee JST Gen.50:24-38Land of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did myfather of old prophesy. 23 Wherefore, because of this covenantthou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shallhearken unto the words of the book. 24 And there shall rise up onemighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word and indeed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceedingfaith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great inthe sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration untothe house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren. 25 And now,blessed art thou, Joseph. Behold, thou art little; wherefore hearkenunto the words of thy brother, Nephi, and it shall be done unto theeeven according to the words which I have spoken. Remember thewords of thy dying father. Amen.Lehi