Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants 10–11

February 10–16: “That You May Come Off Conqueror”

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As the translation of the Book of Mormon continued, a question came up: What should Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery do about those lost pages of the translation? It might make sense to retranslate that portion, but the Lord saw something they could not: their enemies were planning to alter the words on those pages to cast doubt on Joseph’s inspired work. God had a plan to avoid that problem and keep the work moving forward. Thousands of years earlier, God inspired Nephi to write a second record that covered the same time period “for a wise purpose in Him” (1 Nephi 9:5).

“My wisdom,” the Lord said to Joseph, “is greater than the cunning of the devil” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:43). That’s a reassuring message in a day like ours, when the adversary is intensifying his efforts to weaken faith. Like Joseph, we can be “faithful and continue on” in the work God has called us to do (verse 3). Then we will find that He has already provided a way so that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against us (verse 69).

D&C 10: Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Harmony, Pennsylvania, likely around April 1829, though portions may have been received as early as the summer of 1828. Herein the Lord informs Joseph of alterations made by wicked men in the 116 manuscript pages from the translation of the book of Lehi, in the Book of Mormon. These manuscript pages had been lost from the possession of Martin Harris, to whom the sheets had been temporarily entrusted. (See the heading to section 3.) The evil design was to await the expected retranslation of the matter covered by the stolen pages and then to discredit the translator by showing discrepancies created by the alterations. That this wicked purpose had been conceived by the evil one and was known to the Lord even while Mormon, the ancient Nephite historian, was making his abridgment of the accumulated plates, is shown in the Book of Mormon (see Words of Mormon 1:3–7).

D&C 11: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to his brother Hyrum Smith, at Harmony, Pennsylvania, May 1829. This revelation was received through the Urim and Thummim in answer to Joseph’s supplication and inquiry. Joseph Smith’s history suggests that this revelation was received after the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.