The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Kirtland, OH: P. P. Pratt and J. Goodson; printed by O. Cowdery & Co., 1837. iii–vi, 7–619 pp., plus two additional pp. The copy used herein is held at CHL. Includes signature marks.
house thou didst hear me in my prayer. And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me; yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee to be heard of thee, and not of men, and thou wilt hear them; yea, O God thou hast been merciful unto me and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations; yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out, and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger, with speedy destruction; and thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful until me; therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions; for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.
And now Alma said unto them, do ye believe those scriptures which have been written by them of old?— Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what Zenos said; for behold, he said, thou hast turned away thy judgments, because of thy Son. Now behold, my brethren, I would ask, if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?— For it is not written that Zenos alone spake of these things, but Zenock also spake of these things; for behold, he said, thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand of thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them, because of thy Son. And now my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God; and because the people would not understand his words, they stoned him to death. But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God. Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold, a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look; therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look, is because they did not believe that it would heal them. O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes, that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not [p. 336]