pgs. 76 and 77...the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel.

34 Wo unto the ^aliar, for he shall be thrust down to ^bhell.

35 Wo unto the ^amurderer who deliberately ^bkilleth, for he shall ^cdie.

36 Wo unto them who commit ^awhoredoms, for they shall be thrust down to hell.

37 Yea, wo unto those that ^aworship idols, for the devil of all devils delighteth in them.

38 And, in fine, wo unto all those who die in their ^asins; for they shall ^breturn to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins.

39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in ^atransgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that ^bcunning one. Remember, to be ^ccarnally-minded is ^ddeath, and to be ^espiritually-minded is ^flife ^geternal.

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will ^arevile against the ^btruth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are ^chard against all ^duncleanness; but the ^erighteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

41 O then, my beloved brethren, ^acome unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the ^bway for man is ^cnarrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the ^dgate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

42 And whoso ^aknocketh, to him will he open; and the ^bwise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their ^clearning, and their ^dwisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves ^efools before God, and come down in the depths of ^fhumility, he will not open unto them.

43 But the things of the wise and the ^aprudent shall be ^bhid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

44 O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his ^aall-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I ^bshook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am ^crid of your blood.

45 O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the ^achains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the ^brock of your salvation.

46 Prepare your souls for that glorious day when ^ajustice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of ^bjudgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful ^cguilt in perfectness, and be constrained to exclaim: Holy, holy are thy judgments, O Lord God ^dAlmighty—but I know my guilt; I transgressed thy law, and my transgressions are mine; and the devil hath ^eobtained me, that I am a prey to his awful misery.

47 But behold, my brethren, is it expedient that I should awake you to an awful reality of these things? Would I harrow up your souls if your minds were pure? Would I be plain unto you according to the plainness of the truth if ye were freed from sin?

48 Behold, if ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness; but as ye are not holy, and ye look upon me as a ^ateacher, it must needs be expedient that I ^bteach you the consequences of sin.

49 Behold, my soul abhorreth sin, and my heart ^adelighteth in righteousness; and I will ^bpraise the holy name of my God.

50 Come, my brethren, every one that ^athirsteth, come ye to the ^bwaters; and he that hath no ^cmoney, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your ^alabor for that which cannot ^bsatisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and ^cfeast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

52 Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give ^athanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts ^brejoice.

53 And behold how great the ^acovenants of the Lord, and how great his ^bcondescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his ^cgrace and ^dmercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would ^epreserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous ^fbranch unto the house of Israel.

54 And now, my brethren, I would speak unto you more; but on the morrow I will declare unto you the remainder of my words. Amen.


These verses contain so much doctrine about the judgment day and how much we will need the Savior in that day. I'm so curious about the meaning of Jacob "shaking his garments" before his people in verse 44. I wonder if that had some cultural significance at the time and helped Jacob to emphasize how important this message was to him. The judgment of his people was clearly weighing heavily on his mind! I found this quote by John Taylor that helps us to understand the way our earthly actions will be judged. It really makes me want to make good choices with the way I use my time here on earth!

“Man sleeps the sleep of death, but the spirit lives where the record of his deeds is kept—that does not die—man cannot kill it; there is no decay associated with it, and it still retains in all its vividness the remembrance of that which transpired before the separation by death of the body and the ever-living spirit. Man sleeps for a time in the grave, and by-and-by he rises again from the dead and goes to judgment; and then the secret thoughts of all men are revealed before Him with whom we have to do; we cannot hide them; it would be in vain for a man to say then, I did not do so-and-so; the command would be, Unravel and read the record which he has made of himself, and let it testify in relation to these things, and all could gaze upon it. If a man has acted fraudulently against his neighbor—has committed murder, or adultery, or anything else, and wants to cover it up, that record will stare him in the face, he tells the story himself, and bears witness against himself. . . . It is not because somebody has seen things, or heard anything by which a man will be judged and condemned, but it is because that record that is written by the man himself in the tablets of his own mind—that record that cannot lie—will in that day be unfolded before God and angels, and those who shall sit as judges” (John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 11:78–79).