A surviving copy, not the original dictation sheet
background
On: consumption decreed
Editorial paraphrase of the source · Rainbow Watch editorial comparison of the Joseph Smith Papers manuscript transcription and the current official D&C 87 text. This describes textual witnesses.
The manuscript ends by naming Joseph Smith as the source and Frederick G. Williams as the writer. The Joseph Smith Papers dates this copy to 22 January–approximately 27 February 1833 and reports that the original dictation manuscript does not survive. The cancelled “decribed” is followed by “decreed,” the reading used in current verse 6. Historical spellings such as “Britian,” “there Masters” and “Saboath” are preserved.
Revelation manuscript now known as D&C 87 · Revelation Book 2, pages 32–33. Frederick G. Williams copy, between 22 January and approximately 27 February 1833. Joseph Smith Papers archival transcription, checked 10 September 2026; all source page images inspected and selected variants collated. Original spelling and page markers retained. ⟦word⟧ represents manuscript cancellation; <word> retains archival insertion marks; square brackets and diamonds retain editorial supplied or uncertain readings. Superscript letters and underlining are flattened, line-end hyphenation joined, and whitespace normalized. Pop-up biographies, glosses and footnotes excluded.
Source reuse and transcription
Underlying 1831–1833 manuscript wording is public domain in the United States. Diplomatic editorial marks identify readings, not new historical speech.
Community response to this revision: 0
Published revision history
2026-09-11T03:53:51+00:00
The manuscript ends by naming Joseph Smith as the source and Frederick G. Williams as the writer. The Joseph Smith Papers dates this copy to 22 January–approximately 27 February 1833 and reports that the original dictation manuscript does not survive. The cancelled “decribed” is followed by “decreed,” the reading used in current verse 6. Historical spellings such as “Britian,” “there Masters” and “Saboath” are preserved here rather than silently modernized.
2026-10-05T15:53:49+00:00
The manuscript ends by naming Joseph Smith as the source and Frederick G. Williams as the writer. The Joseph Smith Papers dates this copy to 22 January–approximately 27 February 1833 and reports that the original dictation manuscript does not survive. The cancelled “decribed” is followed by “decreed,” the reading used in current verse 6. Historical spellings such as “Britian,” “there Masters” and “Saboath” are preserved.
The Civil War, and judgments still to come
proposed fulfillment
On: beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina
Source quotation · Orson Pratt, as reported by George F. Gibbs, 25 February 1877; Journal of Discourses 18, pp. 340–341, five paragraphs from “I might dwell still longer” through “at least a hundred million of people.”
I might dwell still longer on the judgments to come upon this American nation, according to modern revelation. In 1832, the Lord foretold to the Prophet Joseph Smith that there should be a great war between the Northern and Southern States. This revelation is published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, a standard work of the Church, and also in many languages, many years before the war commenced. At that early period we were told that the Southern States would rise against the Northern States, and the Northern against the Southern States in war, terminating in the deaths and misery of many souls. We were told also that this war would begin with the rebellion of South Carolina.
When I was a boy, a little over 20 years of age, I had the privilege of taking a copy of that revelation, and I carried it around with me, oftentimes reading it to the congregations that I preached to. Its subject matter formed a text from which I many times preached, as well as a topic of conversation with strangers, whose acquaintance I would happen to make in traveling from place to place.
How do you think such information was received by the people to whom it was imparted? They would not believe it; they had no idea of its being a revelation from God to them; they considered it one of the impositions that the "Mormons" had gotten up to delude the people. To tell them that this great government would be divided and go to war with each other, was something entirely foreign to their minds; it was something to which they paid heedless regard, ofttimes treating it with ridicule and laughter. I preached in the New England States, and in various portions of the Union, and such was the way these things were received. The shedding of blood was then one of the remotest feelings of the American people; yet it came to pass precisely as predicted, and we all know the results of that dreadful war. That war, we must remember, was only one solitary judgment, compared with what will come, and that, too, in the near future. It has been revealed that the time will come in the history of our nation, that one State will rise against another, one city against another, even every man's hand shall be against his neighbor, until the whole Republic will be in general commotion and warfare. How and when this will take place, the Lord, in his wisdom, has not told us; but it is sufficient for us to say, that he has told us of the facts that such and such will be the case.
For aught we know, the fulfillment of this prophecy may grow out of politics. If the people are very nearly equally divided in politics, this feeling may run so high, in years to come, as to be the direct cause of war. And if this should be the case, it would very naturally spread to every neighborhood in the Union. One class of political opponents would rise up against the other class in the same city and country, and thus would arise a war of mobocracy.
If a war of this description should take place, who could carry on his business in safety? Who would feel safe to put his crops in the ground, or to carry on any enterprise? There would be fleeing from one State to another, and general confusion would exist throughout the whole Republic. Such eventually is to be the condition of this whole nation, if the people do not repent of their wickedness; and such a state of affairs means no more or less than the complete overthrow of the nation, and not only of this nation, but the nations of Europe, which form the feet and toes of that great image. They are the powers to be first broken; it is not the nation representing the head of gold, the remnant of the Babylonish Empire that still exists in Asia, that will be attacked first, neither is it the Persians and Medes, whose descendants still live; but the Lord will first break up those kingdoms which represent the feet and toes of the image, of which I have been speaking. After that, he will proceed to break in pieces the kingdoms that represent the brass, the silver, and the gold. Some are to be spared for a little season. The kingdom of God is to roll forth, and a certain person is to come, accompanied by a great host; the name of this person is the Ancient of Days. And who are they that compose the mighty host? Are they immortal beings? Doubtless most of them will be immortal Saints, but there may be some mortals among them. The being called the Ancient of Days will not be a mortal person, his glory is too great, he has passed through his mortality, and he will have the oversight of this numerous host, at least a hundred million of people.
Orson Pratt on Daniel’s vision · Journal of Discourses, vol. 18 (Liverpool: Joseph F. Smith, 1877), discourse of 25 February 1877, reported by George F. Gibbs, pp. 335–348. Selected units pp. 340–341 and 341–344. JournalofDiscourses.com historical transcription freshly retrieved 20 September 2026 and compared with the Internet Archive JoDV18 page images; punctuation and capitalization follow the electronic witness. HTML markup removed and whitespace normalized; the column-break split “wicked ness” is joined as “wickedness,” verified against print. No passages omitted within selected units.
Source reuse and transcription
Historical English discourse published in 1877; public domain in the United States. Historical text only, excluding modern site navigation and apparatus. Print witness: https://archive.org/details/JoDV18/page/n347/mode/2up.
Community response to this revision: 0
Published revision history
2026-09-21T02:40:29+00:00
I might dwell still longer on the judgments to come upon this American nation, according to modern revelation. In 1832, the Lord foretold to the Prophet Joseph Smith that there should be a great war between the Northern and Southern States. This revelation is published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, a standard work of the Church, and also in many languages, many years before the war commenced. At that early period we were told that the Southern States would rise against the Northern States, and the Northern against the Southern States in war, terminating in the deaths and misery of many souls. We were told also that this war would begin with the rebellion of South Carolina.
When I was a boy, a little over 20 years of age, I had the privilege of taking a copy of that revelation, and I carried it around with me, oftentimes reading it to the congregations that I preached to. Its subject matter formed a text from which I many times preached, as well as a topic of conversation with strangers, whose acquaintance I would happen to make in traveling from place to place.
How do you think such information was received by the people to whom it was imparted? They would not believe it; they had no idea of its being a revelation from God to them; they considered it one of the impositions that the "Mormons" had gotten up to delude the people. To tell them that this great government would be divided and go to war with each other, was something entirely foreign to their minds; it was something to which they paid heedless regard, ofttimes treating it with ridicule and laughter. I preached in the New England States, and in various portions of the Union, and such was the way these things were received. The shedding of blood was then one of the remotest feelings of the American people; yet it came to pass precisely as predicted, and we all know the results of that dreadful war. That war, we must remember, was only one solitary judgment, compared with what will come, and that, too, in the near future. It has been revealed that the time will come in the history of our nation, that one State will rise against another, one city against another, even every man's hand shall be against his neighbor, until the whole Republic will be in general commotion and warfare. How and when this will take place, the Lord, in his wisdom, has not told us; but it is sufficient for us to say, that he has told us of the facts that such and such will be the case.
For aught we know, the fulfillment of this prophecy may grow out of politics. If the people are very nearly equally divided in politics, this feeling may run so high, in years to come, as to be the direct cause of war. And if this should be the case, it would very naturally spread to every neighborhood in the Union. One class of political opponents would rise up against the other class in the same city and country, and thus would arise a war of mobocracy.
If a war of this description should take place, who could carry on his business in safety? Who would feel safe to put his crops in the ground, or to carry on any enterprise? There would be fleeing from one State to another, and general confusion would exist throughout the whole Republic. Such eventually is to be the condition of this whole nation, if the people do not repent of their wickedness; and such a state of affairs means no more or less than the complete overthrow of the nation, and not only of this nation, but the nations of Europe, which form the feet and toes of that great image. They are the powers to be first broken; it is not the nation representing the head of gold, the remnant of the Babylonish Empire that still exists in Asia, that will be attacked first, neither is it the Persians and Medes, whose descendants still live; but the Lord will first break up those kingdoms which represent the feet and toes of the image, of which I have been speaking. After that, he will proceed to break in pieces the kingdoms that represent the brass, the silver, and the gold. Some are to be spared for a little season. The kingdom of God is to roll forth, and a certain person is to come, accompanied by a great host; the name of this person is the Ancient of Days. And who are they that compose the mighty host? Are they immortal beings? Doubtless most of them will be immortal Saints, but there may be some mortals among them. The being called the Ancient of Days will not be a mortal person, his glory is too great, he has passed through his mortality, and he will have the oversight of this numerous host, at least a hundred million of people.