PATRIARCHAL BLESSING GIVEN BY JOSEPH SMITH, SR., PATRIARCH OF THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS, TO HIS SON, JOSEPH SMITH, JR., ON 9 DECEMBER 1834.
Joseph Smith, junior was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, December 23, 1805.
Joseph, my son, I lay my hands
upon thy head in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to confirm upon thee a father's blessing. The
Lord thy God has called thee by name out of the heavens: thou hast heard his voice from on high
from time to time, even in thy youth. The hand of the angel of his presence has been extended
toward thee by which thou hast been lifted up and sustained; yea, the Lord has delivered thee
from the hands of thine enemies and thou hast been made to rejoice in his salvation: thou hast
sought to know his ways, and from thy childhood thou hast meditated much
upon the great things of his law. Thou hast suffered much in thy youth, and the poverty and
afflictions of thy father's family have been a grief to thy soul. Thou hast desired to see them
delivered from bondage, for thou hast loved them with a perfect love. Thou hast stood by thy
father, and like Shem, would have covered his nakedness, rather than see him exposed to shame:
when the daughters of the Gentiles laughed, thy heart has been moved with a just anger to avenge
thy kindred. Thou hast been an obedient son: the commands of thy father and the reproofs of thy
mother, thou hast respected and obeyed - for all these things the Lord my God will bless thee.
Thou hast been called, even in thy youth to the great work of the Lord: to do a work in this
generation which no man would do as thyself, in all things according to the will of the Lord. A
marvelous work and a wonder has the Lord wrought by thy hand, even that which shall prepare
the way for the remnants of his people to come in among the Gentiles, with their fulness, as the
tribes of Israel are restored.
I bless thee with the blessings
of thy fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and even the blessings of thy father Joseph, the son of
Jacob. Behold, he looked after his posterity in the last days, when they should be scattered and
driven by the Gentiles, and wept before the Lord: he sought diligently to know from whence the
son should come who should bring forth the word of the Lord, by which they might be
enlightened, and brought back to the true fold, and his eyes beheld thee, my son: his heart rejoiced
and his soul was satisfied, and he said, As my blessings are to extend to the utmost bounds of the
everlasting hills, as my father's blessing prevailed above the blessings of his
progen[i]tor, and as my branches are to run over the wall, and my seed are to inherit the choice
land whereon the Zion of God shall stand in the last days, from among my seed, scattered with the
Gentiles, shall a choice Seer arise whose bowles shall be as a fountain of truth, whose loins shall
be girded with the girdle of righteousness, whose hands shall be lifted with acceptance before the
God of Jacob to turn away his anger from his annointed, whose heart shall meditate great
wisdom, whose intelligence shall circumscribe and comprehend the deep things of God, and
whose mouth shall utter the law of the just: His feet shall stand upon the neck of his enemies, and
he shall walk upon the ashes of those who seek his destruction: with wine and oil shall he be
sustained, and he shall feed upon the heritage of Jacob his father: the just shall desire his society,
and the upright in heart shall be his companions: No weapon formed against him shall prosper,
and though the wicked mar him for a little season, he shall be like one rising up in the heat of wine
- he shall roar in his strength, and the Lord shall put to flight his persecutors: he shall be blessed
like the fruitful olive, and his memory shall be as sweet as the choice cluster of the first ripe
grapes. Like a shief fully ripe, gathered into the garner, so shall he stand before the Lord, having
produced a hundred fold. Thus spake my father Joseph. Therefore, my son, I know for a surety
that those things will be fulfilled, and I confirm upon thee all these blessings.
Thou shalt like to do the work
which the Lord shall command thee: Thou shalt hold the Keys of this ministry, even the
presidency of this church, both in time and in eternity. Thy heart shall be enlarged, and thou shalt
be able to fill up the measure of thy days according to the will of the Lord. Thou shalt speak the
word of the Lord and the earth shall tremble; the mountains shall move and the rivers shall turn
out of their course. Thou shalt escape the edge of the sword, and put to flight the armies of the
wicked. At thy word the lame shall walk, the deaf shall hear and the blind shall see. Thou shalt be
gathered to Zion and in the goodly land thou shalt enjoy thine inheritance; thy children and thy
children's children to the latest generation; for thy name and the names of thy posterity shall be
recorded in the book of the Lord, even in the book of blessings and genealogies, for their joy and
benefit forever. And now, my son, what more shall I say? Thou art as a fruitful olive and a choice
vine: thou shalt be laden with precious fruit. Thousands and tens of thousands shall come to a
knowledge of the truth through thy ministry, and thou shalt rejoice with them in the Celestial
Kingdom:
Thou shalt stand upon the earth
when it shall reel to and fro as a drunken man, and be removed out of its place: thou shalt
stand when the mighty judgments go forth to the destruction of the wicked: thou shalt stand on
Mount Zion when the tribes of Jacob come shouting from the north, and with thy brethren, the
sons of Ephraim, crown them in the name of Jesus Christ: Thou shalt see thy Redeemer come in
the clouds of heaven, and with the just receive the hallowed throng with shouts of hallalujahs,
praise the Lord. Amen
(Joseph Smith, Sr., Patriarchal Blessing Book no. 1, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.)