ALMA, 37 The scriptures are preserved to bring souls to salvation—The Jaredites were destroyed because of wickedness—Their secret covenants

must be kept from the people.

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings. As the Liahona guided the Nephites, so the word of Christ leads men to eternal life. About 73 B.C.

And now, my son Helaman,

A I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me; 2 And I also command you that ye
B keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and
C keep all these
D things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for
E a wise purpose that
F they are kept. 3 And these plates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the
genealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning— Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be and handed down from one
generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that
G they shall know of
H the mysteries contained thereon. 5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea,
and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is
I holy writ. 6 Now ye may suppose that
J this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that
K by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and
L small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 7
M And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes;
M and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. 8 And now, it has hitherto
been wisdom in God that
L these things should be preserved; for behold,
 they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and
 convinced many of the error of their ways, and
 brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls. 9 Yea, I say unto you, were it not for
K these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many
thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect traditions of their fathers; yea,
J these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is,
I they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer. 10And who knoweth but what they will
be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiff-necked brethren, the Nephites, who are now
hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer? 11 Now
H these mysteries are not yet fully
G made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear. 12 And it may suffice if I only say
F they are preserved for
E a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal
round. 13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman,
D how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will
C keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—
B but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from
A his presence.14
And now remember, my son, that
A God
b has entrusted you with (note; this matches the first A in verse 1)
c these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and

Alma 37 7-1-2010.doc
 d preserve for a wise
e purpose in him,
f that he may show forth his power unto future generations. 15 And now behold, I tell you
g by the spirit of prophecy, that
h if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the
i power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind. 16 But if ye
j keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the
k Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold,
no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for
k God is powerful to the
j fulfilling of all his words. 17 For
i he will fulfill all his promises which he shall make unto you, for
h he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers. 18 For
g he promised unto them that he would preserve these things for a wise purpose in him,
f that he might show forth his power unto future generations. 19 And now behold, one
e purpose hath he fulfilled, even to the restoration of many thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and he hath shown forth his power in them,
and he will also still show forth his power in them unto future generations; therefore they shall be
d preserved. 20 Therefore I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all
c my words, and that ye
b be diligent in a keeping the commandments of
A God as they are written.
And now, I will speak unto you concerning those twenty-four plates, that ye
A keep them, that
B the mysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed,
C may be made manifest unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest
unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve
D these interpreters. 22 For behold, the Lord saw that his people began to
E work in darkness, yea,
F work
G secret murders and abominations; therefore
H the Lord said, if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth. 23 And
H the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who
serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their
G secret
F works, their
E works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations. 24 And now, my son,
D these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying: 25
C I will bring forth out of darkness unto light
B all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and
abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter
A possess the land. 26 And now, my son, we see that they did not repent; therefore they have been destroyed, and thus far the word of God has been fulfilled; yea,
B their secret abominations have been
C brought out of darkness and made known unto us. 27
And now, my son, I command you that ye

Alma 37 7-1-2010.doc
 A retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that
they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed. 28 For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come
upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed. 29 Therefore ye
shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye
B make known unto them; and ye shall
C teach them to abhor such wickedness and abominations and murders; and ye shall also
D teach them that these people were destroyed on account of their wickedness and abominations and their murders. 30 For behold, they murdered all the prophets
of the Lord who came among them to
E declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did
F cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those who were their murderers;
F and thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret combinations. 31 Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto
those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ripe. 32 And now, my son, remember the
words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but
E teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity. 33
D Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ;
C teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart;
B teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. 34
A Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls. 35
O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom
A in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to
B keep the commandments of God. 36 Yea, and
C cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let
D all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest
E let it be in the Lord; yea,
F let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea,
F let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. 37
E Counsel with the Lord in
D all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea,
C when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and
C when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and
B if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up
A at the last day.
And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning…
a the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord
b prepared it. 39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, was prepared to
c show unto
d our fathers
e the course which they should travel in the wilderness. 40 And it did
f work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should
g point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by
h the power of God, day by day. 41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works.
They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their
journey; 42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not
i travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions. And now, my son, I would that ye should
understand that these things are not without

Alma 37 7-1-2010.doc
 j a shadow; for
k as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things
which are spiritual. 44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to
l the word of
l Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss,
k as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land. 45 And now I say,
is there not
j a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by
i following its course, to the promised land, shall
h the words of Christ, if we
g follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise. 46 O my son, do not let us be
f slothful because of the easiness of
e the way; for so was it with
d our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would
c look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is
b prepared, and if we will look we may live forever. 47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred
a things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober.
My son, farewell.

Alma 37 7-1-2010.doc