Behold, saith the Lord, I have heard and do hear the petitions of my people. My ear is not heavy, neither is my arm short. My covenant with Israel is not forgotten, nor is my will slow to perform; but to whom shall I speak? and by whom shall my counsel be observed? Behold, I am wedded to my covenant and am jealous of my agreement with those who are thereunder. Once I have spoken! yea, twice have I declared that the set time to favor Zion has come; but my army is not yet very great, and their weapons, many of them, are yet carnal. Nevertheless, my word shall not fail, neither shall my purpose be changed, notwithstanding my people are slow to perceive, and the confidence of some has failed.

Dig ye deep into the mountains which centuries have formed and unto which my providences are interwoven, and bring forth the witnesses of my forgetfulness or the testimonies of my failure. Reveal unto me wherein the generations have made frail the texture of my ordinances or dissolved the integrity of my promises. Speak, and I will hearken unto you! Declare, and I will give audience! Who hath been able to stand in the way of my accomplishment or hath put fetters upon my hands? Are not cities and nations and villages but as pebbles in my hands? For, behold, on yesterday their magnitude was thine amazement and tomorrow thou shalt ask: "Where are they?" and shalt declare, "Surely the Lord's hand is in this thing."

Remember, therefore, that I change not, neither is my power nor my purpose, and what I have designed I will execute, and naught shall stay my hand, and my heritage shall not fail.

But who shall be called my Zion? Shall I execute my purpose? Where shall my hand find its weapons of execution and its instruments for performance? Shall it not be among those whose hearts are found pure and whose eyes shall be single? Yea, verily! Stand ye, therefore, in holy places and if ye will enjoy my intelligence be ye mine and mine only! for such is your agreement. But ye say, "Wherein have we failed and in what is our infidelity revealed?" Listen, and I will give answer, and then shall ye reply whether ye have been silent when evil has been present among you and whether ye have consented thereby to a defilement of mine heritage. For behold, houses have been builded unto me and have been, nevertheless, reserved for pleasures which do not enrich the soul. Altars have been dedicated unto me and have been shared with other gods. The mammon of this world has been sought by guile and oppression and unseemly desire by some, and because a portion thereof has been given as a tithe or an offering unto me, it hath been imagined that I will wink at these things; some have declared themselves separated unto me and I have chosen them out of the world and made them to be agents unto me; but they have sought out other shrines and made covenant in secret places in which I have no delight.

Behold, and consider! If my servants are not sufficient for your faith, shall these things give them increase or shall ye add that which is carnal to make effective the work for which my Spirit hath been given?

Shall I be content while this evil doth pollute my estate? Behold the brick that is not burned and the mortar which is not tempered; yea, and the material which I have not selected shall not find permanent place with that of my choosing; for my fires shall consume and my floods shall overwhelm, and the men within and without my church shall yet learn that but one pattern hath been given by which ye shall build if I shall accept your labor; and but one life hath been given by which to measure; and whosoever shall not gauge himself thereby and crucify himself to the world, shall yet be gauged thereby and shall lose his all for "whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but upon whomsoever shall not gauge himself thereby and crucify himself to the world, shall yet be gauged thereby and shall lose his all for "whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but upon whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to powder,"

Live ye, therefore, and labor in love, not so much that ye may obtain, but that ye may make effective my law and exemplify my life. In this ye shall find riches and your peace shall lot fail, and thus I shall have delight in those who not only say but do according to the purpose of my gospel. Given March 29, 1906.

—Ensign, June 7, 1906.