Must Gather to & Build Zion to Avoid Plagues & Wars — Willard Richards (Between circa June 26 and circa August 4, 1839)
l prophecy that the man who tarries after he has an opportunity of going will be aflicted by the Devil. Wars are at hand we must not delay, but we are [are we?] not required to Sacrifice. We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object. — when wars come we shall have to flee to Zion, the cry is to make haste. The last revelation says ye shall not have time to have gone over the Earth until these things come. It will come as did the cholera, war, & fires burning earthquake, one pestilence after another &c until the Ancient of Days come then judgment will be given to the Saints.1
Zion & Jerusalem Must Be Built Before Jesus Can Return — (July 19, 1840)
| Martha Jane Knowlton Coray (A) | Martha Jane Knowlton Coray (B) |
|---|---|
| brethren come ye yea come all of you who can come and go to with your mights and build up the cities of the Lord . . . now [it is] wisdom in God that we should enter into as compact a city as po[s]sible For Zion and Jerusalem and must both be built up before the coming of Christ . . . when these cities are built then shall the coming of the son of man be2 | Jerusalem must be built up Zion also [b]efore the Coming of Christ3 |
Live to Build Zion — Times & Seasons (October 4, 1840)
In conclusion we would say. Brethren and Sisters be faithful, be diligent, contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints—let every man, woman and child realize the importance of the work, and act as if its success depended on their individual exertion alone, let them feel an interest in it, and then consider they live in a day, the contemplation of which animated the bosom of Kings, Prophets and Righteous men, thousands of years ago the prospect of which inspired their sweetest notes and most exalted lays’ and caused them to break out in such rapturous strains as are recorded in the scriptures; and by and by, we shall have to exclaim in the language of Inspiration,
“The Lord has brought again Zion—
The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel.”4
- Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839-A, as Reported by Willard Richards, pp. 69-70, The Joseph Smith Papers.
- Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B, p. 14-15, The Joseph Smith Papers.
- Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–A, p. 14, The Joseph Smith Papers.
- Report of the First Presidency, 4 October 1840, p. 188, The Joseph Smith Papers.
