And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the ^arecords which have been ^bentrusted with me;

 2 And I also command you that ye keep a ^arecord of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a ^bwise purpose that they are kept.

 3 And these ^aplates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the ^bgenealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning—

 4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and ^ahanded down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the ^bmysteries contained thereon.

 5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

 6 Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 7 And the Lord God doth work by ^ameans to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very ^bsmall means the Lord doth ^cconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

 8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, ^athey have ^benlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the ^cknowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

 9 Yea, I say unto you, ^awere it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have ^bconvinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their ^cwords brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

 10 And who knoweth but what they will be the ^ameans of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our ^bstiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?

 11 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear.

 12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a ^awise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth ^bcounsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is ^cone eternal round.

 13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how ^astrict are the commandments of God. And he said: ^bIf ye will keep my commandments ye shall ^cprosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

 14 And now remember, my son, that God has ^aentrusted you with these things, which are ^bsacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and ^cpreserve for a ^dwise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

 15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.

 16 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can ^atake them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.

 17 For he will fulfil all his ^apromises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

 18 For he promised unto them that he would ^apreserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.

 19 And now behold, one purpose hath he fulfilled, even to the restoration of ^amany thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and he hath shown forth his power in them, and he will also still show forth his power in them unto ^bfuture generations; therefore they shall be preserved.

 20 Therefore I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all my words, and that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they are written.

 21 And now, I will speak unto you concerning those ^atwenty-four plates, that ye keep them, that the ^bmysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed, may be made ^cmanifest unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve these ^dinterpreters.