Mosiah 4

And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

When king Benjamin had finished speaking the words that the angel of the Lord had delivered to him, he looked out over the crowd, and they had fallen to the ground, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

They had seen themselves in their own carnal state, as even less than the dust of the earth, and they all cried out together with one voice: "O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ so that we may receive forgiveness for our sins and our hearts may be purified. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things, and who will come down among humankind."

And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

After they had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received forgiveness of their sins and having peace of conscience, because of their great faith in Jesus Christ, who would come, just as king Benjamin had told them.

And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.

Then king Benjamin spoke to them again: "My friends and my brothers, my kindred and my people, I want to ask for your attention again, so that you can hear and understand the rest of what I am going to say to you.

For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—

"For if the knowledge of the goodness of God has awakened you, at this very time, to a sense of your own nothingness and your worthless and fallen state —

I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—

if, I say, you have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering toward all people; and also of the atonement, which has been prepared from the foundation of the world so that salvation may come to everyone who puts their trust in the Lord, keeps his commandments diligently, and continues in the faith even to the end of life, and by that I mean the life of this mortal body —

I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.

then I say that this is the person who receives salvation, through the atonement that was prepared from the foundation of the world for all humankind: everyone who has ever lived since the fall of Adam, everyone living now, and everyone who ever will live, even to the end of the world.

And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.

"And this is how salvation comes. There is no other salvation besides the one that has been spoken of, and there are no conditions by which anyone can be saved except the ones I have told you.

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and on earth; believe that he has all wisdom and all power, both in heaven and on earth; believe that man does not comprehend all the things that the Lord can comprehend.

And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

And again: believe that you must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God, and ask with sincerity of heart that he will forgive you. And now, if you believe all these things, see that you do them.

And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

"And again I say to you, as I have said before: you have come to a knowledge of the glory of God; you have known his goodness and tasted his love, and you have received forgiveness of your sins, which brings such great joy to your souls. And so, I want you to remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering toward you, unworthy creatures. Humble yourselves in deep humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfast in the faith of what is to come, which the angel spoke about.

And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

And if you do this, you will always rejoice and be filled with the love of God, and you will always retain forgiveness of your sins. And you will grow in the knowledge of the glory of him who created you, that is, in the knowledge of what is just and true.

And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.

"And you will not want to injure one another; you will want to live peaceably, and to give everyone what is their due.

And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

And you will not let your children go hungry or naked, and you will not let them break the laws of God, or fight and quarrel with one another and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, the evil spirit our fathers have spoken of, an enemy to all righteousness.

But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

Instead, you will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; you will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

"And you yourselves will come to the aid of those who need your aid; you will share what you have with anyone who stands in need; and you will not let the beggar make his plea to you in vain, and then turn him away to die.

Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

"Perhaps you will say, 'This man has brought his misery on himself, so I will hold back my hand and will not give him any of my food, or share with him anything I have so that he will not suffer, because his punishments are just.'

But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

But I say to you, O man, whoever does this has great cause to repent; and unless he repents of what he has done, he is lost forever, and he has no claim on the kingdom of God.

For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

"For consider: are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same Being, God himself, for everything we have, for food and clothing, for gold and for silver, and for all the riches of every kind that we have?

And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

And even now, at this very moment, you have been calling on his name and begging for forgiveness of your sins. Has he let you beg in vain? No. He has poured out his Spirit on you; he has filled your hearts with joy; and he has stopped your mouths, leaving you unable to find words, so great was your joy.

And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

"And now, if God, who created you, on whom you depend for your lives and for everything you have and are, grants you whatever you ask that is right, in faith, believing that you will receive, O then, how you ought to share with one another what you have!

And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

And if you judge the man who pleads with you for some of what you have so that he will not die, and you condemn him, how much more just will your condemnation be for keeping back what you have, when it does not belong to you but to God, to whom your life also belongs. And yet you make no plea to him, and you do not repent of what you have done.

I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.

"I say to you: woe to that man! What he has will be lost with him. And now, I say these things to those of you who are rich in the things of this world.

And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.

"And again, I say to the poor, you who have nothing and yet have just enough to get by from day to day; I mean all of you who turn the beggar away because you have nothing to give. I want you to say in your hearts: 'I do not give because I do not have; but if I had, I would give.'

And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

And now, if you say this in your hearts, you remain guiltless; otherwise you are condemned, and your condemnation is just, because you covet what you have not received.

And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

"And now, for the sake of these things that I have spoken to you — that is, for the sake of retaining forgiveness of your sins from day to day, so that you may walk guiltless before God — I want you to share what you have with the poor, each of you according to what you have: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and giving them relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their needs.

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order, for it is not requisite that anyone should run faster than they have strength. And again, it is necessary that they be diligent, so that they may win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.

And I want you to remember that whoever among you borrows from his neighbor should return what he borrows, just as he agreed; otherwise you will commit sin, and perhaps you will cause your neighbor to commit sin as well.

And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.

"And finally, I cannot tell you all the ways that you might commit sin; there are so many different ways and means that I cannot count them.

But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

But this much I can tell you: if you do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what you have heard about the coming of our Lord, even to the end of your lives, you must be lost. And now, O man, remember, and do not be lost."