Page:History of Utah.djvu/213



EMMA EXHORTED. 161

"Verily, I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, and par- take not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offer- ing at 3^our hand, by convenant and sacrifice; and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me.

"And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. And again, verily, I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she hath trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her and multiply her, and make her heart to re- joice.

"And again, as pertaining to the law of the priest- hood: if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified; he can- not commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that belonging unto him, and to none else; and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him ; therefore he is justified."

It is said that as early as 1831 the will of the Lord in this respect had been revealed to Joseph. In translating the bible he had come upon the passages relating to plural wives and concubines, and had in- quired of the Lord what he should do. He w^as told to wait, and not make the matter public then, the peo- ple not yet having faith to receive it. It was one of the severest trials the church had yet been called upon to undergo, and the wisest circumspection was neces- sary lest Joseph should be repudiated by his followers

Hist. Utah. 11