Sacred Texts: Mormons

Doctrine and Convenants: 136. The word and will of the Lord given through President Brigham Young, Winter Quarters, Omaha Nation, West Bank of the Missouri River near Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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Section 136 of the *Doctrine and Covenants* is a Latter-day Saint scripture presented as a divine revelation received by Brigham Young in January 1847, directing the organizational logistics of the westward exodus of the Mormon pioneers after their forced expulsion from Nauvoo, Illinois. The bulk of the text is practical instruction: it orders the migrating Saints to form military-style companies (captains of hundreds, fifties, and tens), specifies that each company must equip itself and collectively care for the poor, widows, orphans, and soldiers' families, and names specific apostles to lead particular groups. Alongside the logistical directives, the revelation provides a moral code for the journey — prohibiting contention, drunkenness, and covetousness while prescribing honesty in debts, return of lost property, and expressions of both joy and sorrow through prayer and music. A distinctively theological layer frames the migration in Old Testament terms: God presents himself as the same deity who led Israel out of Egypt, situates Joseph Smith's martyrdom as a necessary sealing of his testimony, and warns the "nation" that persecuted the Saints of coming calamity. The text closes with an eschatological note — the Saints are declared not yet pure enough to bear God's full glory but are promised it contingent on obedience. It is a founding document of the pioneer trek narrative, blending frontier logistical pragmatism with covenantal theology.

Doctrine and Convenants: 136. The word and will of the Lord given through President Brigham Young, Winter Quarters, Omaha Nation, West Bank of the Missouri River near Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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