Section 41
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to the Church, at Kirtland, Ohio, February 4, 1831. This revelation instructs the Prophet and Church elders to pray to receive God’s “law” (see section 42). Joseph Smith had just arrived in Kirtland from New York, and Leman Copley, a Church member in nearby Thompson, Ohio, “requested Brother Joseph and Sidney [Rigdon] … live with him and he would furnish them houses and provisions.” The following revelation clarifies where Joseph and Sidney should live and also calls Edward Partridge to be the Church’s first bishop.
1–3, The elders will govern the Church by the spirit of revelation; 4–6, True disciples will receive and keep the Lord’s law; 7–12, Edward Partridge is named as a bishop unto the Church.
1 Hearken and ahear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all bblessings, ye that hear me; and ye that hear me not will I ccurse, that have dprofessed my ename, with the heaviest of all cursings.
2 Hearken, O ye elders of my church whom I have called, behold I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall assemble yourselves together to aagree upon my word;
3 And by the prayer of your faith ye shall receive my alaw, that ye may know how to govern my bchurch and have all things right before me.
4 And I will be your aruler when I bcome; and behold, I come quickly, and ye shall see that my law is kept.
5 He that areceiveth my blaw and cdoeth it, the same is my disciple; and he that saith he receiveth it and ddoeth it not, the same is not my disciple, and shall be ecast out from among you;
6 For it is not meet that the things which belong to the children of the kingdom should be given to them that are not worthy, or to adogs, or the bpearls to be cast before swine.
7 And again, it is meet that my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., should have a ahouse built, in which to live and btranslate.
8 And again, it is meet that my servant Sidney Rigdon should live as seemeth him good, inasmuch as he keepeth my commandments.
9 And again, I have called my servant aEdward Partridge; and I give a commandment, that he should be appointed by the voice of the church, and ordained a bbishop unto the church, to leave his merchandise and to cspend all his time in the labors of the church;
10 To see to all things as it shall be appointed unto him in my laws in the day that I shall give them.
11 And this because his heart is pure before me, for he is like unto aNathanael of old, in whom there is no bguile.
12 These words are given unto you, and they are pure before me; wherefore, beware how you hold them, for they are to be answered upon your asouls in the day of judgment. Even so. Amen.