Be Diligent Unto the End

After Joseph’s gift to translate was restored—following the loss of the 116 pages—the Lord commanded Joseph in these words: “Therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of translation as you have begun.” Joseph, who likely was anxious to “catch up” on lost ground because he had not been able to translate in months, surely wanted to begin again in earnest. As a caution, though, the Lord then gave him this counsel: “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:3-4). The Lord did not expect Joseph to do more than he was able or to give some herculean effort above his own strength to make up for lost time. Rather, He wanted Joseph to be diligent in translating until it was finished. Interestingly, this counsel is very similar to one of the first things that Joseph would have translated after picking back up the process and starting at the book of Mosiah. King Benjamin taught this: “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order” (Mosiah 4:27). Again the counsel is two-fold: be diligent, but don’t do more than you really have strength.  

It is in this context that the Lord then gave this well-known instruction to Joseph: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:5). I love this verse and have thought on it often—whenever I am tempted to do wrong, this is a powerful reminder that through prayer I can overcome temptation and receive strength to instead do what is right. Surely this was a poignant reminder to Joseph to rely on the answers he received in prayer as he had failed to fully do when he allowed Martin Harris to tempt him to give up the manuscript. Most often when I have thought this injunction to “pray always” in order to conquer Satan, though, I have not considered the context of the verse. When read with the preceding verse, I think that we can see that the Lord was talking about more than overcoming temptation. The Lord told Joseph to be diligent in translating—while not laboring more than he really had strength—and then He told him to pray always. Whenever we have any task that is difficult for us and for which we feel we need more strength than we have to accomplish it, we should first turn to the Lord in prayer for His help. Of course we must be diligent in that thing as the Lord suggested, but as He taught here we must also turn to Him in earnest prayer. Only with consistent prayer and diligence—not expecting of ourselves more than we have strength—can we do whatever great work that the Lord has for us. In this case, Joseph and Oliver started translating in earnest in the first of April and within a few months they had completed the Book of Mormon translation. Day in and out they worked diligently and with the help of the Lord—which surely Joseph was petitioning “always”—they accomplished an incredible feat.