Revelations published in The Evening and the Morning Star (, MO), vol. 1, nos. 1–10 and 12, and vol. 2, no. 13; edited by . The copy used for this transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL; includes marginalia, archival notations, stamps, and bookplates.
The initial issues of The Evening and the Morning Star present revelations prominently on the first or second page of the newspaper. Beginning with the November 1832 issue, however, revelations were placed near the end of each issue. Each issue comprises four leaves (eight pages) that measure 12½ × 9⅞ inches (32 × 25 cm). Each page is set in two columns.
The volume used for this transcription was donated to the Salt Lake Temple by Lycurgus A. Wilson on 8 September 1894, according to a bookplate on the inside front cover of the volume. It was transferred to the library of the Church Historian’s Office sometime before 1923.
“Library Record for the Listing or Cataloguing of Books.” Historian’s Office, Library Accession Records, ca. 1890–ca. 1930. CHL. CR 100 429.
Historical Introduction
Soon after his into the church in 1831, was instructed by revelation to relocate to , Missouri, “and be established as a printer unto the church.” , who had been previously appointed to work on church publications, was directed to assist him. In early 1832, Phelps and his associates in Independence began work on the church’s first newspaper, The Evening and the Morning Star. Because of the difficulty of getting paper and other supplies to Independence, however, months passed before the first issue of the newspaper was printed in June 1832.
The newspaper’s prospectus announced that it would, in part, “be devoted to the revelations of God as made known to his servants by the , at sundry times since the creation of man, but more especially in these last days.” Though a small number of JS’s revelations appeared first in non-Mormon newspapers elsewhere, the Star was the first official periodical of the church to print them. As the church’s only periodical at the time, the Star also published counsel to church members, local and world news, editorials, hymns, and letters from missionaries. The Star regularly published general announcements to missionaries serving throughout the country and letters from church members in other states, evidencing that its circulation reached well beyond .
The press owned by , which was operated under the direction of the , was the only press in and indeed the only press for roughly one hundred miles. Reading material was scarce on the frontier, and it is likely that the town’s non-Mormon residents read the Star in addition to the Upper Missouri Advertiser, the secular paper published on the same press. In July 1833, when religious and political tensions between the Mormons and their neighbors had already created a tinderbox environment, an article titled “Free People of Color” appeared in The Evening and the Morning Star, quoting from statutes respecting the immigration of free persons of African descent. Many Missourians, largely sympathetic to the practice of slavery, interpreted the article as an attempt to invite free black people to settle in Missouri and were outraged. Four days after the editors of The Evening and the Morning Star printed a broadside extra in an attempt to calm the situation by clarifying the message of the offending article, a and most of the sheets of the still-unfinished Book of Commandments.
The destruction of the caused a six-month hiatus in the publication of the Star. In September 1833, was established in , Ohio, for the purpose of printing church materials, and was sent to to purchase a printing press and type. Upon his return, Cowdery resumed printing the Star in Kirtland from January until September 1834. Beginning in October 1834, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate succeeded the Star as the official church periodical.
Over the course of the Star’s fourteen-month run in , the paper printed nineteen full and seven partial revelation texts. Only two issues of the Missouri newspaper did not contain featured revelations: the April 1833 issue and the July 1833 issue, which was the final issue printed in Missouri. As in the Book of Commandments and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (1835), little, if any, introduction or commentary accompanied the featured revelations. In addition to publishing the revelations as stand-alone pieces, The Evening and the Morning Star often published articles that quoted from the revelations—both from those printed as featured documents in the paper and from those that had not been published therein. Well before the Book of Commandments was expected to be completed, the editors of the Star advised readers to “search the revelations which we publish,” an admonition that presumed that the Latter-day Saints had access to earlier issues. In fact, for Mormons in , as well as those scattered around the country, the Star became the most accessible source for JS’s revelatory texts.
The revelations published in The Evening and the Morning Star appear to have been selected for their importance. Many of the published revelations addressed topics relating to church government, such as the roles of specific church officers, the laws and commandments to be kept by church members, and the proper administration of the of the Lord’s Supper. Other published revelations announced newly received theological principles or looked forward to the second coming of Christ. Revelations that were given to specific individuals providing counsel or were not published. After the Star moved to , no revelations were included in the ten issues of the newspaper published there.
The table that follows lists each of the revelatory items printed in the Star and its reprint, along with its bibliographic information. See Revelations Printed in The Evening and the Morning Star for a side-by-side comparison of the revelations printed in the Star and its reprint.
Key to column titles
Vol:Issue:
Volume and issue number
Star Print Date:
Month in which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Star Pages:
Pages on which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Reprint Print Date:
Month in which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Reprint Pages:
Pages on which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Date:
Date of item, followed by section number in Doctrine and Covenants, 1981 edition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
William W. Phelps, The Evening and the Morning Star Prospectus, Evening and Morning Star, June 1832 (Jan. 1835), 1–2; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:32.
Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
See, for example, Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, and Revelations, 16 Apr. 1830 and ca. Aug. 1830, in “The Mormon Creed,” Painesville Telegraph, 19 Apr. 1831, [4] [D&C 20, 22, and 27:1–5, 14–15, 18]; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830, in “Miscellaneous,” Painesville Telegraph, 17 Jan. 1832, [1] [D&C 35]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Painesville Telegraph, 13 Sept. 1831, [1] [D&C 42:1–69]; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–B, in Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star, 8 Dec. 1831, [1] [D&C 28].
See, for example, Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [7]; “Letters,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [4]; “Extract” and “Letters,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1833, [7]; and “Extracts of Letters from the Elders Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1833, [5]–[6]. JS, in a November 1832 letter to Phelps, added ten new subscribers to the Star, nine from Guyandotte, Virginia (now West Virginia), and one from Wooster Township, Ohio. (JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4.)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
The only known surviving copy of the Upper Missouri Advertiser—no. 3, dated 11 July 1832—is located at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA.
“Free People of Color,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 109; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114–115.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
See, for example, Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, in “The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [1], and June 1833, 97–98 [D&C 20]; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A, in “A Revelation, Given November 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star,Oct. 1832, [3] [D&C 68]; and Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831, in “A Revelation Given December 4, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star,Dec. 1832, [5]–[6] [D&C 72].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
See, for example, Revelation, 9 and 23 Feb. 1831, in “Extract from the Laws for the Government of the Church of Christ” and “Items of Law for the Government of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star,July 1832, [1], and Oct. 1832, [2] [D&C 42:11–93].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
See, for example, excerpt of Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831, in “A Prophecy Given to the Church of Christ, March 7, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star,June 1832, [2] [D&C 45:1–67, 71].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Revelations addressed to individuals were officially restricted “to the parties concerned” until they could be published in the Book of Commandments. (Minute Book 2, 30 Apr. 1832.)
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
HEARKEN, O ye people of my church, for verily I say unto you, that these things are spoken unto you for your profit and learning; but notwithstanding these things which are written, it always has been given to the elders of my church, from the beginning, and ever shall be, to conduct all meetings as they are directed and guided by the Holy Spirit: nevertheless ye are commanded never to cast any one out from your public meetings, which are held before the world: ye are also commanded never to cast any one, who belongeth to the church, out of your meetings: nevertheless, if any has trespassed, let him not partake until he makes reconciliation. And again I say unto you, ye shall not cast any out of your sacrament meetings, who is earnestly seeking the kingdom; I speak this concerning those who are not of the church. And again I say unto you, concerning your confirmation meetings, that if there be any that is not of the church, that is earnistly seeking after the kingdom, ye shall not cast them out, but ye are commanded in all things to ask of God who giveth liberally, and that which the spirit testifies unto you, even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils ,or the commandments of men, for some are of men, and others of devils: Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived? and that ye may not be deceived, seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given; for verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do, that all may be benefited; that seeketh or that asketh of me, that asketh and not for a sign that he may consume it upou his lusts.
And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what these gifts are, that are given unto the church, for all have not every gift given unto them, for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the spirit of God; to some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profi[t]ed thereby; to some is given by the to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world; to others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful. And again, to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration, as it will be pleasing unto the same Lord, according as the Lord will, suiting his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men. And again it is given by the Holy Ghost to some to know the diversities of opperations, whether it be of God or not, so that the manifestations of the spirit may be given to every man to profit with all. And again, verily I say unto you,to some it is given, by the spirit of God, the word of wisdom; to another it is given, the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge. And again, to some it is given to have faith to be healed, and to others it is given to have faith to heal. And again, to some it is given, the working of miracles; and to others it is given to prophesy, and to others the discerning of spirits. And again, it is given to some to speak with tongues, and to another it is given the interpretation of tongues: and all these gifts cometh from the Lord, for the benefit of the children of God. And unto the bishop of the church, and unto such as God shall appoint and to watch over the church, and to be unto the church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts, lest there shall be any among you professing and yet not be of God. Behold, it shall come to pass that he that asketh in spirit shall receive in spirit; that unto some it may be given to have all those gifts, that there may be a head, in order that every member may be profited thereby; he that asketh in spirit asketh according to the will of God, wherefore it is done even as he asketh. And again I say unto you, all things must be done in the name of Christ, whatsoever you do in the spirit; and ye must give thanks unto God in the spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with: and ye must practice virtue and holiness before me continually; even so; Amen.
HEARKEN, O ye of my church, and give ear to the voice of the living God; and attend to the words of wisdom which shall be given unto you, according as ye have asked and are agreed as touching the church, and the spirits which have gone abroad in the earth. Behold verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits, which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world: and also hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you. Behold I the Lord have looked upon you and have seen abominations in the church, which profess my name; but blessed are they who are faithful and endure whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life. But wo unto them that are deceivers, and hypocrites, for thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment. Behold verily I say unto you, there are hypocrits among you, and have deceived some which has given the adversary power; but behold such shall be reclaimed, but the hypocrites shall be detected & shall be cut off, either in life or in death, even as I will, and wo is unto them that is cut off from my church, for the same is overcome of the world: wherefore, let every man be aware lest he do that which is not in truth and righteousness before me.
And now come, saith the Lord, by the spirit, unto the of his church, and let us reason together, that ye may understand: let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another face to face: now when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man, even so will I the Lord reason with you that you may understand; wherefore I the Lord asketh you this question, unto what was ye : to preach my gospel by the spirit, even the comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth; and then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, & received them to be of God, & in this are ye justified? Behold ye shall answer this question yourselves, nevertheless I will be merciful unto you: he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made strong. Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the comforter, in the spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the spirit of truth, or some other way: and if by some other way, it be not of God; and again he that receiveth the word of truth doth he receive it by the spirit of truth, or some other way; if it be some other way it be not of God: Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know that he that receiveth the word by the spirit of truth, receiveth it as it is preached by the spirit of truth, wherefore he that preacheth and he that receiveth understandeth one another and both are edified and rejoice together; and that which doth not edify is not of God and is darkness; that which is of God is light and he that receiveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light, and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you, for he that is ordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest, notwithstanding he is least, and the servant of all: wherefore he is possessor of all things, for all things are subject unto him, both in heaven and on earth, the li[f]e the light the spirit and the power, sent forth by the will of the Father, through Jesus Christ, his Son; but no man is possessor of all things except he be purified and and cleansed from all sin; and if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done: but know this, it shall be given you what you shall ask, and as ye are appointed to the head, the spirits shall be subject unto you: wherefore it shall come to pass, that if you behold a spirit manifested that ye cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God; and it shall be given unto you power over that spirit, and you shall proclaim against that spirit with a loud voice, that it is not of God; not with railing accusation that ye be not overcome; neither with boasting, nor rejoicing, lest you be siezed therewit[h]: he that receiveth of God, let him account it of God, & let him rejoice that he is accounted of God worthy to receive & by giving heed & doing these things which ye have received, and which ye shall hereafter receive, and the kingdom is given unto you of the Father, and power to overcome all things, which is not ordained of him: and behold, verily I say unto you, blessed are you that hear these words of mine from the mouth of my servant, for your sins are forgiven you. Let my servant , in whom I am well pleased, and my servant , go forth among the churches and strengthen them by the word of exhortation; and also my servant , or as many of my servants as are ordaided [ordained] unto this office, and let them labor in the vineyard; and let no man hinder them of doing that which I have appointed unto them: wherefore in this thing my servant is not justified, nevertheless let him repent and he shall be forgiven. Behold ye are little children, and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; and none of them which my Father hath given me shall be lost: and the Father and I are one: I am in the Father and the Father in me: and inasmuch as ye have received me ye are in me, and I in you: wherefore I am in your midst; and I am the good shepherd; and the day com[e]th that you shall hear my voice and see me, and know that I am. Watch, therefore, that ye may be ready; even so: Amen. [p. [1]]
Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A, in “Commandment, Given March 8, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [1] [D&C 46]. This version reflects editing marks made in Revelation Book 1, indicating that the latter was used as a source text for the former.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Revelation, 9 May 1831, in “Commandment, Given May 9, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [1] [D&C 50]. This version reflects editing marks made in Revelation Book 1, indicating that the latter was used as a source text for the former.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.