Mormon Quotes

Prophecy

Brigham Young
Ham will continue to be servant of servants, as the Lord decreed, until the curse is removed. will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands.... Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.
Brigham Young, Millennial Star, Vol. 25, page 787; also published in Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 250
Brigham Young
I am not a visionary man, neither am I given much to prophesying. When I want any of that done I call on brother Heber—he is my Prophet, he loves to prophesy, and I love to hear him.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:132
Brigham Young
You have been both to Jerusalem and Zion, and seen both. I have not seen either, for I have never been in Jackson County. Now it is a pleasant thing to think of and to know where the Garden of Eden was. Did you ever think of it? I do not think many do, for in Jackson County was the Garden of Eden. Joseph has declared this, and I am as much bound to believe that as to believe that Joseph was a prophet of God.
Brigham Young, Journal History, March 15, 1857
Brigham Young
In the days of Joseph [Smith] it was considered a great privilege to be permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty‑six years will not pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought of as the kings on their thrones.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:40
Joseph Smith
While discussing the petition to Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government, and god shall damn them. And there shall nothing be left of them ‑ not even a grease spot.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v.6 p. 116
Joseph Smith
Smith was to go to Salem, Massachusetts, where he would receive "its wealth pertaining to gold and silver".
Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 111:4
Joseph Smith
The word of the Lord came to me last night that ... whatever we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives shall be taken.
Joseph Smith, Dona Hill, Joseph Smith: The First Mormon, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York, 1977, p. 244
Joseph Smith
I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, .. the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty‑five years old.... [T]he 14th chapter of Revelation... The hour of his judgement is come .... After ... 2,520 years; which brings it to 1890.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v5, p 336; Doctrine and Covenants 130:14‑17
Joseph Smith
The Mormons should be ready to move into Jackson County, Missouri, on Sept 11, 1836, "the appointed time for the redemption of Zion."
Joseph Smith, History of Church, v2, p 145
Joseph Smith
The land of Missouri, which is the land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints. Wherefore, this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place.
Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 57:1‑3
Joseph Smith
I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me -- he was murdered in cold blood.
Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 135:4
Joseph Smith
To our great grief, however, we soon found that Satan had been lying in wait to deceive,... Brother Hiram Page had in his possession a certain stone, by which he obtained certain "revelations" ... all of which were entirely at variance with the order of God's house, ... the Whitmer family and Oliver Cowdery, were believing much in the things set forth by this stone, we thought best to inquire of the Lord concerning so important a matter ...
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, vol. 1, pp.109‑10
Joseph Smith
The coming of the Lord, which is nigh ‑‑ even fifty‑six years should wind up the scene.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v2, p 182
Joseph Smith
While in prison, Smith prophesied that his enemies would be taken "in their own craftiness" and that "not many years hence ... [his enemies] and their posterity shall be swept from under heaven, saith God, that not one of them is left to stand by the wall".
Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 121:11
Joseph Smith
I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation.
Joseph Smith, letter to N.E. Seaton, January 4, 1833, in History of the Church, v. 1, p. 315
Joseph Smith
My Son, if thou livest until though art eight‑five years of age [i.e., December 1890], thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man.... in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written ‑ the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty‑five years old.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v. 5, p. 324
Joseph Smith
[Joseph Smith] described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style. In my patriarchal blessing, given by the father of Joseph the Prophet, in Kirtland, 1837, I was told that I should preach the gospel before I was 21 years of age; that I should preach the gospel to the inhabitants upon the islands of the sea, and ‑‑ to the inhabitants of the moon, even the planet you can now behold with your eyes. The first two promises have been fulfilled, and the latter may be verified.
Joseph Smith, Young Woman's Journal, vol. 3, p. 263‑264 (1892)
Joseph Smith
I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left for their wickedness.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v5, p 394
Joseph Smith
The coming of the Lord, which is nigh ‑ even fifty‑six years should wind up the scene.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v2, p 182
Joseph Smith
All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it.
Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 296
Joseph Smith
The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.
Joseph Smith, Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 9, p. 356
Joseph Smith
There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v5, p 336
Joseph Smith
The "hour is nigh and day soon at hand" when Jesus will return.
Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 29:9‑11
Joseph Smith
I now prophecy that before ten years shall roll around, the queens of the earth shall come and pay their respects to this [Relief] Society.
Joseph Smith, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, D. Michael Quinn, p. 634
Joseph Smith
The people of the Lord... have already commenced to gather together to Zion, which is in the state of Missouri; therefore I declare unto you the warning which the Lord has commanded me to declare unto this generation,.... '[T]he hour of His judgment is come.'... Flee to Zion, before the overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are now those living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things, which I have spoken, fulfilled.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, v. 1, pp. 315‑316
Joseph Smith
The day of your deliverance is not far distant for the judgments of the Lord are already abroad in the earth and the cold hand of death will soon pass through your neighborhood, and sweep away some of your most bitter enemies... The day is fast hastening on when the restoration of all things shall be fulfilled.
Joseph Smith, letter to Colesville, New York LDS members, in Newel Knight Journal, pp. 132‑136; reprinted in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, v. 1, p. 14
Joseph Smith
I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and Kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. You don't comprehend it... It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America -- it will fill the world... It will fill the Rocky Mountains.
Joseph Smith, Conference Report
Wilford Woodruff
The American Nation will be broken in pieces.... you live in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty.... the hour of God's judgment is at the door.... I wish to warn all nations.... Thrones will be cast down, nations will be overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be visited with war, sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire.... the slain of the Lord will be many.
Wilford Woodruff, Millennial Star, v. 41, p. 241
Wilford Woodruff
We will not end the practice of plural marriage until the coming of the Son of Man.
Wilford Woodruff, Journal of John Henry Smith, 21 May 1888, LDS Church Archives
Joseph F. Smith
Let me call your attention to this fact which you, of course, all know that we are living in the last days, the days of trouble, days of wickedness, spoken of as days of wickedness several hundred years before the coming of Christ by Nephi, as it is recorded in the twenty‑seventh chapter of Second Nephi.
Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, April 1952
Joseph F. Smith
Well, I can say this: That if I live as I should in the line of my duties, I am susceptible, I think, of the impressions of the Spirit of the Lord upon my mind at any time, just as any good Methodist or any other good church member might be. And so far as that is concerned, I say yes; I have had impressions of the Spirit upon my mind very frequently, but they are not in the sense revelations. ...I have never pretended to nor do I profess to have received revelations.
Joseph F. Smith, Reed Smoot hearings
George Albert Smith
That tribe, or most its people, are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints (Mormon). Those Indians, at least as many as I have observed, were white and delightsome; as white and fair as any group of citizens of our country. I know of no prophecy, ancient or modern, that has had a more literal fulfillment.
George Albert Smith, McKeever and Johnson, Pure and Deligtsome, Mormonism Researched, Spring 1994, p. 5
Joseph Fielding Smith
After the people again forgot the Lord and dissensions arose, some of them took upon themselves the name Lamanites and the dark skin returned. When the Lamanites fully repent and sincerely receive the gospel, the Lord has promised to remove the dark skin. The Lord declared by revelation that, 'before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as a rose.' The dark skin of those who have come into the Church is no longer to be considered a sign of the curse. Many of these converts and delightsome and have the Spirit of the Lord. Perhaps there are some Lamanites today who are losing the dark pigment. Many of the members of the Church among the Catawba Indians of the South could readily pass as of the white race; also in other parts of the South.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, v. 3, p. 123, 1953
Ezra Taft Benson
This predicted gathering has three phases: the gathering of Israel to the land of Zion, the American hemisphere; the return of the Ten Tribes from the north countries; and the re‑establishment of the Jews in Palestine which has been long ago predicted by the prophets.
Ezra Taft Benson, "Speaking Today: 'A message to Judah from Joseph,'" Ensign, December 1976, p. 70
Orson Pratt
New York ... will be only a sample of numerous other towns and cities on the face of this continent. Now I am aware that it is almost impossible for even some of the Latter‑day Saints to get that confidence and that strong faith in the events which God intends to accomplish on this land in the future to believe in such a thing ... But there are some in this congregation who will live, to behold the fulfillment of these other things, and will visit the ruins of mighty towns and cities scattered over the face of this land destitute and desolate of inhabitants.
Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses 12:244
Orson Pratt
For the Lord has said in this book, (the Book of Mormon) which has been published for thirty eight years, that if they will not repent He will throw down all [the United States] strongholds and cut off the cities of the land, and will execute vengeance and fury on the nation, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. That He will send a desolating scourge on the land; that He will leave their cities desolate, without inhabitants.
Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses 12:244
Orson Pratt
The signs of the times are portentous and clearly indicate the approaching downfall of the nations, and the overturning of kingdoms, empires, and republics, preparatory to the coming of Christ and his personal reign on the earth.
Orson Pratt, Second Epistle of Orson Pratt, October 1, 1853, see Pratt, The Seer, 1853, v.1, no. 11
Orson Pratt
The great, powerful and populous city of New York, that may be considered one of the greatest cities of the world, will in a few years become a mass of ruins. The people will wonder while gazing on the ruins that cost hundreds of millions to build, what has become of its inhabitants, Their houses will be there, but they will be left desolate. So saith the Lord God.
Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses 12:244
Orson Pratt
The time is coming, when we will not be fettered by unjust laws that are imposed upon us. Why? Because the Lord intends, by his judgment, by wars among the nations that will not serve him, by famines, and pestilence, and by various judgments that will be sent forth, to waste away the nations of the earth.... we know their doom, and we know that it is very near at hand. It is not something to happen in a far distant period of the future, but it is right at the doors.... he will speedily fulfill the prophecy in relation to the overthrow of this nation, and their destruction.
Orson Pratt, Deseret Evening News, v. 8, no. 265; see also N.B. Lundwall, comp., Inspired Prophetic Warnings, 1940, p. 26
George A. Smith
There is a great deal said about the origin of the trouble between the North and the South; some said it was the almighty negro; but the fact is, the people did not respect the [p. 180a] Constitution of our country; for the Latter‑day Saints were driven in violation thereof from Jackson County to Clay, and from Clay to Caldwell and Davis counties, and then from the State of Missouri to Illinois, and from Illinois to the Rocky Mountains, robbed and plundered of their property, their women ravished, their leaders murdered, and there was not a solitary man arose to enforce the laws or the Constitution in our defense.
George A. Smith, Journal of Discourses 11:27
Gerald N. Lund
President Ezra Taft Benson has taught that "the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time." (Ensign, Jan. 1988, p. 3.)
Gerald N. Lund, Ensign, Countering Korihor's Philosophy, July 1992
Gerald N. Lund
Like any philosophical system, Korihor's doctrine had metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological aspects. Together, they enabled him to convince many to reject the traditional values taught by the Church. For example, Korihor's argument that "ye cannot know of things which ye do not see" (Alma 30:15) reveals his epistemology—his system of determining truth—to be primarily empirical, or based on observation and use of the senses. (See chart 1.) However, the Apostle Paul says, "Faith is ... the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1; italics added.) Korihor's stance, however, is, "If you can't see it, you can't know it." He therefore rejects prophecy because prophecy deals with the future, and you cannot "see," or experience, the future with the physical senses. Consequently, all talk of a future Savior and redemption is to be rejected on principle.
Gerald N. Lund, Ensign, Countering Korihor's Philosophy, July 1992
Gerald N. Lund
But we also rely on another way of knowing truth: divine revelation. In this method, truth comes either directly from God or indirectly through his prophets.
Gerald N. Lund, Ensign, Countering Korihor's Philosophy, July 1992
Alan Keele
Some Church members even saw Hitler as God's instrument, preparing the world for the millennium.
Alan Keele, "The Fuhrer's New Clothes: Helmuth Huebner and the Mormons in the Third Reich," Sunstone, v. 5, no. 6, pp. 20‑29
Heber C. Kimball
Will the President [James Buchanan] that sits in the chair of state be tipped from his seat? Yes, he will die an untimely death, and God Almighty will curse him; and He will also curse his successor, if he takes the same anti‑Mormon stand.
Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 5:133
Abraham Woodruff
No year will ever pass, whether it be in this country [Mexico], in India, or wherever, from now until the coming of the Saviour, when children will not be born in Plural Marriage. And I make this prophecy in the name of Jesus Christ.
Abraham Woodruff, Abraham Woodruff ‑ Colonia Juarez conference
W. Wyl
Lining the shelves of the [Kirtland Safety Society] bank vault... were many boxes, each marked $1,000. Actually these boxes were filled with 'sand, lead, old iron, stone, and combustibles' but each had a top layer of bright fifty‑cent silver coins. Anyone suspicious of the bank's stability was allowed to lift and count the boxes. 'The effect of those boxes was like magic;' said C.G. Webb. 'They created general confidence in the solidity of the bank and that beautiful paper money went like hot cakes. For about a month, it was the best money in the country.'
W. Wyl, W. Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 1886, p. 36
Martin Harris
Within four years from September 1832, there will not be one wicked person left in the United States; that the righteous will be gathered to Zion (Missouri,) and that there will be no President over these United States at that time.... I do hereby assert and declare that in four years from the date thereof [1832], every sectarian and religious denomination in the United States, shall be broken down, and every Christian shall be gathered unto the Mormonites, and the rest of the human race shall perish.
Martin Harris, Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 1834, p. 14
Martin Harris
All who believed the new bible would see Christ within fifteen years, and all who did not would absolutely be destroyed and dam'd.
Martin Harris, The Telegraph (Painesville, OH), March 15, 1831, v. 2, no. 39
Charles L. Walker
Upon seeing Brigham Young for the first time and while yet some distance away the Prophet Joseph stopped his chopping on a beech log, straightened up, studied Brigham for a moment, then remarked: 'There comes the greatest man who ever lived to teach the identity of God to the world, and he will yet lead this people.'
Charles L. Walker, The Diary of Charles L. Walker, Sept. 1832, p. 134
Wilbur Fugate
I received your letter in regard to those plates, and will say in answer that they are a humbug, gotten up by Robert Wiley, Bridge Whitten and myself.... We read in Pratt's prophecy that 'Truth is yet to spring out of the earth.' We concluded to prove the prophecy by way of a joke.
Wilbur Fugate, Wilbur Fugate, as quoted in The Kinderhook Plates, by Welby W. Ricks, reprinted in the Improvement Era, Sept. 1962
Bryan Waterman
Wilkinson based his address largely on the words of Mormon leaders from Joseph Smith to the current church president and ardent cold warrior, David O. McKay. In particular he emphasized a "prophecy attributed to the Prophet Joseph that the Constitution of the United States would hang by a single thread, but be saved by the Elders of Israel," meaning church leaders and Mormon men generally. Having failed in his bid for public office, Wilkinson sought to act on "the duty of a university president" in "times of national and world crisis ... to speak forth boldly in behalf of what he considers to be the truth." Confessing his belief that "my generation has failed you [graduates] in preserving and strengthening the Constitution," Wilkinson vowed that he would mail copies of his talk, along with a compendium of anti‑communist "prophetic utterances," to every graduate, "with the hope that you may help stem the tide that is now engulfing our country."
Bryan Waterman, The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU, December 15, 1998
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