Elijah in the Kirtland Temple
proposed fulfillment
On: I will send you Elijah the prophet
Source quotation · Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s vision, recorded by Warren A. Cowdery
After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burts [burst] upon them, for Elijah, the Prophet, who was taken to Heaven without tasting death, also stood before them, and said, behold the time has fully come which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying, that he should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore, the Keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and the dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors
Visions, 3 April 1836 [D&C 110] · Visions, [ Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH], 3 Apr. 1836. Featured version copied [ca. 3 Apr. 1836] in JS, Journal, 1835–1836, pp. 192–193; handwriting of Warren A. Cowdery; JS Collection, CHL. Joseph Smith Papers historical transcription. Historical spelling retained; line wrapping and whitespace normalized; page markers removed. ⟦…⟧ marks deleted manuscript wording, <…> marks insertions, and square brackets mark supplied readings. Web transcription.
Source reuse and transcription
Public-domain nineteenth-century historical text; Joseph Smith Papers transcription. No modern editorial essay or notes reproduced.
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Published revision history
2026-09-11T16:24:26+00:00
After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burts [burst] upon them, for Elijah, the Prophet, who was taken to Heaven without tasting death, also stood before them, and said, behold the time has fully come which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying, that he should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore, the Keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and the dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors
Elijah’s work includes the dead
interpretation
On: he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers
Source quotation · Joseph Smith, as reported by Wilford Woodruff, 10 March 1844; Woodruff journal, vol. 5, pp. [207]–[209]
Now for Elijah, the spirit power & calling of Elijah is that ye have power to hold the keys of the revelations ordinances, oricles powers & endowments of the fulness of the Melchezedek Priesthood & of the kingdom of God on the Earth & to receive, obtain & perform all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God even unto the sealing of the hearts of the ⟦hearts⟧ fathers unto the children & the hearts of the children unto the fathers even those who are in heaven. Malachi says I will send Elijah befor the great and dredful day of the Lord come & He shall turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children and the hearts of the Children to the Fathers lest I come & smite the earth with a curse, Now what I am after is the knowledge of God & I take my own course to obtain it, what are we to under<stand> by this in the last days, in the days of Noah God destroyed the world by a flood & has promised to destroy it by fire in the last days but before it took place Elijah should first come & turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children &c, now comes the point, what is this office & work of Elijah, it is one of the greatest & most important subjects that God has revealed, He should send Elijah to seal the children to the fathers & fathers to the children, now was this merely confined to the living to settle difficulties with families on earth by no means, it was a far greater work Elijah what would you do if you was here would you ⟦confine⟧ ⟦<refer>⟧ <confine> your work to the living alone. No I would ⟦confine⟧ <refer> you to the scriptures whare the subject is manifest, ie without us they could not be made perfect nor we without them, the fathers without the children nor the children without the fathers. I wish you to understand this subject for it is important & if you will recieve it this is the spirit of Elijah that we redeem our dead & connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven & seal up our dead to come forth in the first resurrecti[o]n & here we want the power of Elijah to seal those who dwell on earth to those which dwell in heaven this is the power of Elijah & the keys of the kingdom of Jehovah.
Discourse, 10 March 1844, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff · Historical manuscript report (1844); reading transcription checked against JSP text and manuscript image
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Underlying 1844 historical wording, transcribed and checked against the page images.
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Published revision history
2026-09-21T02:40:29+00:00
Now for Elijah, the spirit power & calling of Elijah is that ye have power to hold the keys of the revelations ordinances, oricles powers & endowments of the fulness of the Melchezedek Priesthood & of the kingdom of God on the Earth & to receive, obtain & perform all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God even unto the sealing of the hearts of the ⟦hearts⟧ fathers unto the children & the hearts of the children unto the fathers even those who are in heaven. Malachi says I will send Elijah befor the great and dredful day of the Lord come & He shall turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children and the hearts of the Children to the Fathers lest I come & smite the earth with a curse, Now what I am after is the knowledge of God & I take my own course to obtain it, what are we to under<stand> by this in the last days, in the days of Noah God destroyed the world by a flood & has promised to destroy it by fire in the last days but before it took place Elijah should first come & turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children &c, now comes the point, what is this office & work of Elijah, it is one of the greatest & most important subjects that God has revealed, He should send Elijah to seal the children to the fathers & fathers to the children, now was this merely confined to the living to settle difficulties with families on earth by no means, it was a far greater work Elijah what would you do if you was here would you ⟦confine⟧ ⟦<refer>⟧ <confine> your work to the living alone. No I would ⟦confine⟧ <refer> you to the scriptures whare the subject is manifest, ie without us they could not be made perfect nor we without them, the fathers without the children nor the children without the fathers. I wish you to understand this subject for it is important & if you will recieve it this is the spirit of Elijah that we redeem our dead & connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven & seal up our dead to come forth in the first resurrecti[o]n & here we want the power of Elijah to seal those who dwell on earth to those which dwell in heaven this is the power of Elijah & the keys of the kingdom of Jehovah.