The following is a revelation received by the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints organized in 1844, James Strang. We ask members of the Fellowship to read this revelation prayerfully to determine if it should be added to the Fellowship Doctrine and Covenants. Additions to the text, added for clarity and by Holy inspiration, are in italics.
CHAPTER 10
Blessing of Infants
1 When the Lord thy God in multiplying blesseth thee, and giveth thee a child in thine own image; thou shalt bring him before the Lord thy God, in his house, or in the assembly of the Elders; and they shall lay their hands upon him, and bless him.
2 Thou shalt not delay to do it; and though thou be far away, yet shalt thou bring him before he is eight years old, that the blessing of the Lord thy God may be put upon him;
3 And his heart shall seek to the Kingdom of God, and its righteousness: for of such is the Kingdom.
4 If he die, yet shall he live therein forever; he shall be thine.
5 ¶ And the child of thy servant also, and of thy bondman, shalt thou bring to receive this blessing; and the stranger that dwelleth with thee shall bring his child also, to receive his blessing:
6 For thus shall the power of the Kingdom be a shield unto him, and his heart shall cleave unto its righteousness; that he may be established therein forever.
7 ¶ And whosoever shall bring a child to be blessed; whether it be father, or mother; or master, or mistress; the same shall teach the child this law to keep it.
8 Thus shall ye be honored as fathers and mothers in Israel.
9 But, if ye do it not, and evil befall the child, his blood be upon you.
10 ¶ The Apostles, High Priests, and Elders, in their assemblies; and the Priest thereunto appointed in the Temples of God, shall bless with this blessing: for, behold, it is a great sacrament.
CHAPTER 11
Baptism
1 Except a man be born of the water, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
2 ¶ But no man may have baptism of water, except such as have faith toward God, and come unto him through the ministry he has sent; repenting of evil deeds, and seeking to learn righteousness by the living word;
3 For this is the door of all into the kingdom; from eight years old and upwards; through which if ye enter not, ye shall not see God.
4 ¶ For the keys of the ministry of the remission of sins, in the sacrament of baptism, hath the Lord your God bestowed upon his Apostles;
5 And through them, upon their fellow laborers, the High Priests and High Priestesses, Elders, and Priests and Priestesses; commanding them to preach repentance and remission of sins, to all nations throughout the earth.
CHAPTER 12
Baptism for the Dead
1 At every Temple, which thou shalt build unto the Lord thy God, by his Commandment, shalt thou make a fountain for the baptism of the living for the dead.
2 ¶ And for these shall you be baptized: every one of you, according to your several rights, and in your several orders, according to consanguinity, sex, and primogeniture, shall be baptized for any deceased husband, wife, or posterity; or any progenitor, to the third and fourth generation; or any brother, or sister, whom he in faith believes has received the gospel in the spirit.
3 ¶ Thou shalt also be baptized for any relative, within the fourth degree of consanguinity; for any one betrothed to thee in marriage; for thy foster-father, mother, brother, sister, or child, whom I shall give to thee by tongue, dream, vision, spirit ministering in fire, word of angel, or by my own voice.
4 ¶ And whensoever I will that any of my faithful servants of the Aaronic Priesthood be baptized for any other, I will send my angels to signify it unto them.
5 But unto my servants of the Melchizedek Priesthood, I will speak by my own voice, or minister in fire.
6 ¶ But no man or woman among you shall be baptized for the dead, who is not a member of some family, according to the order of the Church of the Firstborn of God; or who is under condemnation of any word of this Law; or who withholdeth anything whatsoever from the treasury of the House of the Lord your God.
7 ¶ At every Temple which ye shall build unto the Lord your God, shall High Priests and High Priestesses be set apart, and sanctified by anointing with holy oil, and the hands of Apostles and Prophets, to baptize for the dead; for no other shall administer this sacrament.
8 ¶ Recorders, also, shall be set apart by the laying on of hands of High Priests or High Priestesses, to record baptisms for the dead; who shall be eyewitnesses to the baptisms, and shall record according to the seeing of their eyes.
9 ¶ And other witnesses, who see with their eyes, shall sign the records of baptisms, that every one may be proved by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
10 ¶ But there shall be one record before the the First Presidency, unto which all records of baptisms for the dead shall be brought, and all written together in perpetual archives; that what you record on earth, may also be recorded in heaven.
11 At every Temple also shall ye perpetuate the record of such as are there baptized.
CHAPTER 13
Confirmation
1 Except a man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
2 ¶ Whosoever shall be baptized for the remission of sins, upon him shall the Apostles, High Priests or High Priestesses, or Elders, lay their hands, and confirm them in the Kingdom, and give unto them, by their hands, a gift of the Holy Spirit, according as the Spirit will.
3 ¶ And the Spirit thus given shall inspire them with faith, intelligence, and understanding;
4 And if they cherish it, then shall it guide and establish them in all righteousness.
5 ¶ For when they lay their hands upon them, the spirit, like an invigorating breeze, shall come upon them and cover them;
6 And it shall inspire them with a new power, according to the gifts of the spirit;
7 And as it passeth off and leaveth them, their gift shall continue, and they shall walk in newness of life.
CHAPTER 14
Eucharist
1 In your feasts of love, in your solemn assemblies, in your humiliation, and in your sorrow, ye shall separate of the juice of fruit, and of the bread of grain, a portion to be consecrated unto God,
2 That it be the body and blood of the one great sacrifice of propitiation for the sins of the world;
3 And they who are washed of their sins, and have a pure conscience before God, shall eat and drink thereof at the hands of the Apostles and High Priests and priestesses, who shall consecrate it,
4 And the Priests and priestesses, and Elders, who shall minister it, that, partaking of the sacrifice, they may lay hold on eternal life.
5 ¶ For this is the one great sacrifice, which except ye eat of it, there is no life in you.
6 And beware how ye eat of this sacrifice: for in the spirit in which ye eat and drink, shall ye be confirmed and strengthened.
7 And if ye eat and drink in a pure conscience, not having offended against God nor man, and all your former sins blotted out of the book of remembrance; ye shall be established in righteousness, and grow up into everlasting life.
8 But, if ye eat and drink in your sins, ye eat and drink condemnation, confirming yourselves in your iniquities.
9 ¶ Therefore, when ye come to the table of the Lord your God, to eat of this sacrifice, ye shall examine yourselves, whether you have done injustice to man, or iniquity against God,
10 That ye may humble yourselves before God, and make restitution to man; and may come with clean hands, and a pure heart, to this most holy sacrament.
Interpretation
The Fellowship interprets this revelation to denote instructions on the sacraments of blessing of children, baptism, confirmations, and partaking of communion.
If accepted, this chapter of the Book of the Law of the Lord will be added either after what is commonly known as the Lectures on Faith, or at the end of the collection of the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Thoughts, comments, and other interpretations are welcome below.