And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard, to go forth unto the world, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and shew it to no man. And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read. And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also, with the things which ye shall write. For behold, the language which ye shall write, I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in mine own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men, these things which ye shall write. And when the Lord had said these words, he shewed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth; for he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him, that he could shew unto him all things—it should be shewn unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold any thing from him; for he knew that the Lord could shew him all things. And the Lord said unto him, write these things and seal them up, and I will shew them in mine own due time unto the children of men.

And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two stones which he had received, and shew them not, until the Lord should shew them unto the children of men. And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men, until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Benjamin keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should shew himself unto his people. And after Christ truly had shewed himself unto his people, he commanded that they should be made manifest. And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief. and there is none, save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth. Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which [p. 575]