pgs. 60 and 61...And out of weakness he shall be made strong.

CHAPTER 3

Joseph in Egypt saw the Nephites in vision—He prophesied of Joseph Smith, the latter-day seer; of Moses, who would deliver Israel; and of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Between 588 and 570 B.C.

1 And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my ^alast-born. Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee.

2 And may the Lord consecrate also unto thee this ^aland, which is a most precious land, for thine inheritance and the inheritance of thy seed with thy brethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye shall keep the commandments of the Holy One of Israel.

3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy ^aseed shall not utterly be ^bdestroyed.

4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of ^aJoseph who was carried ^bcaptive into Egypt. And great were the ^ccovenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.

5 Wherefore, Joseph truly ^asaw our day. And he obtained a ^bpromise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a ^crighteous ^dbranch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made ^emanifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of ^fdarkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.

6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A ^aseer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my ^bloins.

7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice ^aseer will I ^braise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the ^cknowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.

8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do ^anone other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.

9 And he shall be great like unto ^aMoses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to ^bdeliver my ^cpeople, O house of Israel.

10 And ^aMoses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.

11 But a ^aseer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give ^bpower to ^cbring 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 have already gone forth among them.

12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall ^awrite; and the fruit of the loins of ^bJudah shall ^cwrite; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the ^dconfounding of ^efalse doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing ^fpeace among the fruit of thy loins, and ^gbringing them to the ^hknowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.

13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;

15 And his ^aname shall be called after me; and it shall be after the ^bname of his father. And he shall be ^clike unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring ^dmy people unto ^esalvation.

16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will ^apreserve thy seed forever.

17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will ^awrite unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a ^bspokesman for him.

18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.

19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the ^afruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them ^bfrom the dust; for I know their faith.

20 And they shall ^acry from the ^bdust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.

21 Because of their faith their ^awords shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.

There are four Joseph's that are mentioned in this VERY IMPORTANT Chapter....

1. Joseph who was sold into Egypt...Jacob's son, Isaac's grandson, Abraham's great grandson
2. Joseph, Lehi's son, being spoken to in this chapter
3. Joseph Smith, Senior, the father of the prophet Joseph Smith
4. Joseph Smith, Junior, the prophet of the restoration

Lehi is teaching his son Joseph about the great prophecy given by Joseph who was sold into Egypt. The prophesy is not in the Bible although we know from 2 Nephi 4:2 that it was on the Brass Plates.


This is one of those chapters that reminds us that the ways of the Lord are eternal. Nothing is by accident and it all goes according to His divine plan and His will. The events that were occurring in the time of Joseph of Egypt are connected to the events of the restoration today and the Lord has had His hand in it all along the way.

A few weeks ago in Sunday School our teacher read the following quote by Brigham Young. It really stuck out to me then so when I saw it in the Book of Mormon student manual for this chapter I was so excited to be able to read it again and think about how it goes along with this chapter.

“It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fullness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eyes upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was fore-ordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation” (Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 108).

Isn't it amazing to think of what Joseph was foreordained to do? What have you been foreordained to do? I hope this chapter will inspire you to think about it and be ready for it!