Sacred Texts: Mormons

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 56. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, June 1831.

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This is a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) scriptural text — a recorded revelation attributed to Joseph Smith, received in Kirtland, Ohio in June 1831, now part of the Doctrine and Covenants tradition. Its immediate practical content involves rerouting travel assignments for specific early church members (Thomas B. Marsh, Ezra Thayre, Selah J. Griffin, Newel Knight) to Missouri, with the reassignments attributed to the disobedience and "stiffneckedness" of members in Thompson. Beyond these logistical directives, the revelation delivers a moral rebuke to the broader church community, condemning both the wealthy who withhold resources from the poor and the poor who are greedy or idle. Distinctively, it issues parallel "woes" to both rich and poor — not simply criticizing wealth, but demanding contrite, industrious virtue across economic classes. The text closes with an eschatological promise that the pure-hearted poor will inherit the earth and witness God's coming kingdom, framing economic ethics within an imminent divine judgment framework.

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 56. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, June 1831.

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