pgs. 128 and 129...The Allegory of the Olive Tree, Part 2.

26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good ^afruit, and cast them into the fire.

27 But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little ^alonger, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season.

28 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant of the Lord of the vineyard did nourish all the fruit of the vineyard.

29 And it came to pass that a ^along time had passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his ^bservant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor again in the vineyard. For behold, the time draweth near, and the ^cend soon cometh; wherefore, I must lay up fruit against the season, unto mine own self.

30 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant went down into the vineyard; and they came to the tree whose natural branches had been broken off, and the wild branches had been grafted in; and behold all ^asorts of fruit did cumber the tree.

31 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard did ^ataste of the fruit, every sort according to its number. And the Lord of the vineyard said: Behold, this long time have we nourished this tree, and I have laid up unto myself against the season much fruit.

32 But behold, this time it hath brought forth much ^afruit, and there is ^bnone of it which is good. And behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit; and it profiteth me nothing, notwithstanding all our labor; and now it grieveth me that I should lose this tree.

33 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: What shall we do unto the tree, that I may preserve again good fruit thereof unto mine own self?

34 And the servant said unto his master: Behold, because thou didst graft in the branches of the wild olive-tree they have nourished the roots, that they are alive and they have not perished; wherefore thou beholdest that they are yet good.

35 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing so long as it shall bring forth evil fruit.

36 Nevertheless, I know that the roots are good, and for mine own purpose I have preserved them; and because of their much strength they have hitherto brought forth, from the wild branches, good fruit.

37 But behold, the wild branches have grown and have ^aoverrun the roots thereof; and because that the wild branches have overcome the roots thereof it hath brought forth much evil fruit; and because that it hath brought forth so much evil fruit thou beholdest that it beginneth to perish; and it will soon become ripened, that it may be cast into the fire, except we should do something for it to preserve it.

38 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Let us go down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard, and behold if the natural branches have also brought forth evil fruit.

39 And it came to pass that they went down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard. And it came to pass that they beheld that the fruit of the natural branches had become corrupt also; yea, the ^afirst and the second and also the last; and they had all become corrupt.

40 And the ^awild fruit of the last had overcome that part of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered away and died.

41 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: ^aWhat could I have done more for my vineyard?

42 Behold, I knew that all the fruit of the vineyard, save it were these, had become ^acorrupted. And now these which have once brought forth good fruit have also become corrupted; and now all the trees of my vineyard are good for nothing save it be to be ^bhewn down and cast into the fire.

43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, I did plant in a ^agood spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.

44 And thou beheldest that I also cut down that which ^acumbered this spot of ground, that I might plant this tree in the stead thereof.

45 And thou beheldest that a ^apart thereof brought forth good fruit, and a part thereof brought forth wild fruit; and because I plucked not the branches thereof and cast them into the fire, behold, they have overcome the good branch that it hath withered away.

46 And now, behold, notwithstanding all the care which we have taken of my vineyard, the trees thereof have become corrupted, that they bring forth no good ^afruit; and these I had hoped to preserve, to have laid up fruit thereof against the season, unto mine own self. But, behold, they have become like unto the wild olive-tree, and they are of no worth but to be ^bhewn down and cast into the fire; and it grieveth me that I should lose them.

47 But ^awhat could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have ^bstretched forth mine ^chand almost all the day long, and the ^dend draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?

48 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the ^aloftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, ^btaking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?

49 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Let us go to and hew down the trees of the vineyard and cast them into the fire, that they shall not cumber the ground of my vineyard, for I have done all. What could I have done more for my vineyard?

50 But, behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the vineyard: Spare it a little ^alonger.

The Lord of the vineyard makes four specific visits to his vineyard in this Allegory.
In Seminary this is what they teach:

The first visit, verses 4-14, represents the time before Christ.

The second visit, verses 15-28, represents the time of Christ.

The third visit, verses 29-51, represents the Great Apostasy.

The fourth visit, verses 52-76, represents the Gathering of Israel and the Gospel going to all the world... (of course, this is our current day.)

Verses 76 and 77 represent the millenium.

Most of today's reading is referring to the Great Apostasy. In verse 47 the Lord asks the servant, "who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?" The servant (prophet) asks the Lord, "is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard?" In one of my classes on this chapter I wrote "pride" next to loftiness. So essentially that means pride is the most corrupting influence in the vineyard. This surprises me a little. I know pride is wrong, but the entire reason for the corruption of the vineyard during the apostasy? Wow. I can see now why President Benson's famous talk on pride has become so well taught and loved. It is so important for all of us to be humble.