anxiety of my soul, from the beginning. My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time: for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts, the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath, upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever; or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil. O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But, behold, his will be done: for his ways are righteousness forever; and he hath said, that inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments, ye shall be cut off from my presence. and now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you; that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind, and in one heart united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity; that ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body. Awake, my sons: put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust. Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem, and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise: for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you. And I exceedingly fear and tremble because of you, lest he shall suffer again: for behold, ye have accused him that he sought power and authority over you; but I know that he hath not sought for power nor authority over you; but he hath sought the glory of God, and your own eternal welfare. And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you. But behold, his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of [p. 66]