Samuel Prophesies Future Calamities

Event 146

Reference: Hel. 13:4-39

And it came to pass that they would not suffer that heshould enter into the city; therefore he went and got uponthe wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried witha loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoeverthings the Lord put into his heart. 5 And he said unto them:MormonWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lordwhich he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into myheart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth overthis people; and four hundred years pass not away save the swordof justice falleth upon this people. 6 Yea, heavy destructionawaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, andnothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on theLord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shallsuffer many things and shall be slain for his people. 7 And behold,an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bringglad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declareit unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold yewould not receive me. 8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord:SamuelBecause of the hardness of the hearts of the people of theNephites, except they repent I will take away my word fromthem, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them, and I will sufferthem no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethrenagainst them. 9 And four hundred years shall not pass awaybefore I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visitthem with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. 10Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be thoseof the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, tobehold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come exceptye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generationshall visit your destruction. 11 But if ye will repent and returnunto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith theLord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repentand turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not.The Lord12 Yea, wo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold, it isbecause of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo untothis great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many,yea, even the more part of this great city, that will harden theirhearts against me, saith the Lord. 13 But blessed are they whowill repent, for them will I spare. But behold, if it were not forthe righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would causethat fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it. 14 Butbehold, it is for the righteous’ sake that it is spared. But behold,the time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ripe for destruction;yea, wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness andabominations which are in her.The LordWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.15 Yea, and wo be unto the city of Gideon, for the wickednessand abominations which are in her. 16 Yea, and wo be unto allthe cities which are in the land round about, which arepossessed by the Nephites, because of the wickedness andabominations which are in them. 17 And behold, a curse shallcome upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts, because of thepeople’s sake who are upon the land, yea, because of theirwickedness and their abominations. 18 And it shall come topass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, thatwhoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them againno more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be arighteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord. 19 For I will,saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their treasures unto me;and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; fornone hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous;and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he,and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of thecurse of the land.20 And the day shall come that they shall hide up their treasures,because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because theyhave set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up theirtreasures when they shall flee before their enemies; becausethey will not hide them up unto me, cursed be they and alsotheir treasures; and in that day shall they be smitten, saith theLord.21 Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto mywords; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; forbehold, he saith that ye are cursed because of your riches, and alsoare your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them,and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave themunto you. 22 Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the thingswith which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember yourriches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your heartsare not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with greatpride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes,malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities. 23For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should comeupon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of youriniquities. 24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time whichhas arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them,and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner ofiniquity unto them, even as they did of old time. 25 And now whenye talk, ye say:SamuelIf our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we wouldnot have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them,and cast them out.People 26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if aprophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of theLord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry withhim, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him;yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner,and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil. 27But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say:SamuelWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer;Manyea, he will say:SamuelWalk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after thepride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—Manand if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receivehim, and say that he is a prophet. 28 Yea, ye will lift him up, andye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him ofyour gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costlyapparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and hesaith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. 29 O yewicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffneckedpeople, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you?Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish andblind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather thanlight? 30 Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindledagainst you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of youriniquity.Samuel31 And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, thatthey become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days ofyour poverty ye cannot retain them. 32 And in the days of yourpoverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, foryour desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction ismade sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith theLord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:33 O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, andstoned them, and cast them out.PeopleYea, in that day ye shall say:SamuelO that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that hegave us our riches, and then they would not have becomeslippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches aregone from us. 34 Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrowit is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the daywe have sought them for battle. 35 Yea, we have hid up ourtreasures and they have slipped away from us, because of thecurse of the land. 36 O that we had repented in the day that theword of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed,and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them. 37Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircledPeople about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy oursouls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou notturn away thine anger from us?PeopleWall at city ofZarahemla6 B.C.And this shall be your language in those days. 38 But behold, yourdays of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of yoursalvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction ismade sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives forthat which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happinessin doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of thatrighteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head. 39 O yepeople of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray thatthe anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye wouldrepent and be saved.Samuel