"AND now I,
Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the
people of whom I have been writing.
"For behold,
they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all
things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded
from off the face of this land [the Americas] it became a choice land
above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord
would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face
thereof; And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should
come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.
"Behold, Ether
saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon
this land. And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the
Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it
should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could
not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should
be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be
built unto the house of Israel.
"And that a New Jerusalem should be built
upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things
there has been a type. For as Joseph brought his father down into the
land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a
remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he
might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not,
even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish
not. Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon
this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall
build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and
they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth
shall pass away.
"And there shall
be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old
save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
"And then cometh
the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is
they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they
are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who
were of the house of Israel.
"And then also
cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are
they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are
they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the
earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling
of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.
"And when these
things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they
who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who
shall be first.
"And I was about
to write more, but I am forbidden..." (Ether 13:1-13)