Sacred Texts: Mormons

Doctrine and Convenants: 103. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, February 24, 1834.

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This is Section 103 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a canonical collection of revelations received by Joseph Smith that serves as scripture for the Latter-day Saint tradition. The text presents itself as a direct divine commandment addressed to early Church members following the violent expulsion of Mormon settlers from their lands in Missouri (called "Zion"), explaining that the Saints' suffering was both divine chastisement for their own disobedience and a means of exhausting their enemies' measure of wickedness. The central argument is that the redemption and physical restoration of Zion—the return of displaced Saints to their Missouri lands—is divinely guaranteed, contingent on obedience, and will be achieved through organized force rather than patience alone. Joseph Smith is explicitly cast as a Moses-like figure who will lead this redemption, and the revelation closes with practical military-logistical instructions: named leaders are assigned travel companions and tasked with recruiting at least 100 (ideally 500) able-bodied men to march to Missouri. Distinctively, the text blends millennial theology with concrete political grievance, framing armed retribution against enemies as sacred duty and promising divine presence in acts of vengeance "unto the third and fourth generation." It is historically notable as the revelation that launched "Zion's Camp," an 1834 paramilitary expedition that attempted—and ultimately failed—to reclaim the Missouri settlements.

Doctrine and Convenants: 103. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, February 24, 1834.

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