THE THREE WITNESSES RECEIVE THEIR WITNESS

For the story of the three witnesses we will turn to Joseph’s record in History of the Church:

번역 작업을 통하여 우리는 주님께서 3명의 특별한 증인을 주시리라는 것을 알았으며, 그들에게 이 책(몰몬경)을 번역해야 할 원본인 판을 보는 것을 허락하실 것이며, 이 세 증인이 몰몬경 이더서 5장 2~4절과 니파이후서 11장 3절에 기록된 것같이 똑같이 증거하리라는 것을 알았다.  우리가 이것을 발견하자 거의 동시에 올리버 카우드리, 데이비드 휘트머 및 앞에 이야기한 마틴 해리스(그는 이 사업에 있어서 우리의 진전에 관하여 물으러 왔었다)는, 혹시 그들이 그 세 특별한 증인이 될 특권을 주님으로부터 받을 수 없는지 알기 위하여, 내가 주님께 여쭙도록 해야 되겠다는 생각을 품었다.  결국 그들이 너무나 열심히 간청해서 마침내 여쭙기로 승낙하였다.  그리고 우림과 둠밈을 통하여 그들을 위하여 주님으로부터 다음 계시를 받았다.
“In the course of the work of translation, we ascertained that three special witnesses¹ were to be provided by the Lord, to whom He would grant that they should see the plates from which this work (the Book of Mormon) should be translated; and that these witnesses should bear record of the same, as will be found recorded, Book of Mormon, page 581 [Book of Ether, chapter 5, verses 2, 3 and 4, p. 487, edition 1920], also page 86 [II Nephi, chapter 11, verse 3, p. 73, edition 1920]. Almost immediately after we had made this discovery, [p. 53] it occurred to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and the aforementioned Martin Harris (who had come to inquire after our progress in the work) that they would have me inquire of the Lord to know if they might not obtain of him the privilege to be these three special witnesses; and finally they became so very solicitous, and urged me so much to inquire that at length I complied; and through the Urim and Thummim, I obtained of the Lord for them the following:

1829년 6월 뉴욕 주 세네카 군 페이에트에서 몰몬경의 기록이 실려 있는 새겨진 판을 보기에 앞서 선지자 조셉 스미스를 통하여 올리버 카우드리, 데이비드 휘트머 및 마틴 해리스에게 주신 계시 (조셉 스미스, 예수 그리스도 후기 성도 교회사, 1:52-53)
“Revelation to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, June, 1829, given previous to their viewing the plates containing the Book of Mormon.” (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1: 52 - 53.)

Joseph next records the 17^th section of the D&C, which begins as follows:

보라, 내가 너희에게 이르노니, 너희는 내 말에 의지해야만 하느니라. 만일 너희가 온 마음의 뜻을 다하여 이를 행하면, 너희는 판과 또한 가슴판, 라반의 검, 야렛 형제가 산 위에서 주와 얼굴을 마주 보며 말씀할 때 받았던 우림과 둠밈 그리고 홍해 변경 광야에 있을 때 리하이에게 주었던 신기한 지시기들을 보게 되리라.
“Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea.”

The Lord continues to explain that they shall obtain this blessing by faith; they shall testify of the things they shall see, and that if they are faithful, they shall be lifted up at the last day (see DC 17).  Joseph continues his history:

위의 계명이 주어진 후 며칠 지나지 않아 마틴 해리스, 데이비드 휘트머, 올리버 카우드리와 나는 숲 속에 들어가 판을 보여 주시겠다는 약속을 겸손하고 열의에 찬 기도로 간구해 보자는 데 합의를 보았다.  따라서 우리는 휘트머씨 댁 근처에 있는 숲을 택하여, 그 속에 들어가 무릎을 꿇고 전능하신 하나님에게 약속하신 바를 실현해 주시기를 굳은 신앙을 가지고 간구하였다.
“Not many days after the above commandment was given, we four, viz., Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfillment of the promises given in the above revelation-that they should have a view of the plates. We accordingly made choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr. Whitmer's house, to which we retired, and having knelt down, we began to pray in much faith to Almighty God to bestow upon us a realization of these promises.

미리 정한 순서에 따라 내가 먼저 소리를 내어 하늘 아버지에게 기도를 드렸고, 이어 한 사람씩 차례대로 기도를 올렸다.  그러나 처음 기도에서는 성스러운 분이 주시는 시현이나 대답은 나타나지 않았다.  우리는 처음 기도 때와 같은 순서로 하나님을 부르면서 간절히 기도를 드렸으나 결과는 마찬가지였다.
“According to previous arrangement, I commenced vocal prayer to our Heavenly Father, and was followed by each of the others in succession. We did not at the first trial, however, obtain any answer or manifestation of divine favor in our behalf. We again observed the same order of prayer, each calling on and praying fervently to God in rotation, but with the same result as before.

두번때 기도에도 실패하자 마틴 해리스는 우리가 이렇게 두 번씩이나 실패하여 응답을 못받는 것은 자기가 이 자리에 있기 때문이라고 하면서 자리를 떠나겠다고 말하였다.  그가 우리 곁을 떠난 후 우리는 다시 무릎을 꿇고 기도하기 시작하였는데, 얼마 지나지 않아 우리 위에는 심히 밝은 빛이 나타나고 그 속에 한 천사가 서 계심을 볼 수 있었다.  금판을 손에 든 천사가 한 장씩 넘길 때 금판과 그 위에 새겨진 글자를 똑똑히 볼 수가 있었다.  그러자 그는 데이비드를 향하여 "데이비드야, 주와 그의 계명을 지키는 자에게 복이 있을지어다"라고 말하였다.  이어 우리는 머리 위의 밝은 빛 속에서 다음과 같은 소리를 들었다. "이 여러 판은 하나님의 능력으로 나타났으며 또한 하나님의 능력으로 번역되었느니라.  너희들이 본 번역은 정확한 것이니라.  그러므로 내가 너희에게 명하노니 너희가 지금 보고 들은 바를 간증할지어다."
“Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, ‘David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments;’ when, immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying,  ‘These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.’

나는 이 때 데이비드와 올리버를 두고 마틴 해리스를 찾아보았는데, 상당히 떨어진 곳에서 그를 발견했다.  그도 열렬한 기도를 드리고 있었다.  그러나 그는 아직까지도 주님께서 자기의 기도를 들어 주시지 않았다고 얘기하면서 자기와 함께 기도하여 자기도 우리가 방금 받았던 축복을 깨달을 수 있게 해달라고 간곡히 부탁하였다.  우리는 함께 기도했고, 마침내 우리의 소원은 이루어져 기도가 채 끝나기도 전에 아까와 같은 시현이 우리 앞에 펼쳐졌고 그것이 나에게는 두 번째였으므로 나는 다시 한번 같은 것을 보고 들을 수 있었다.  이에 마틴 해리스는 벅찬 기쁨을 참지 못해 '이것으로 족합니다. 이것으로 족합니다.  제 눈으로 보았습니다.  제 눈으로 보았습니다.' 라고 외쳤다. 또한 '호산나'를 외쳐 하나님을 찬양하며 참으로 기쁨에 넘쳐 뛰기까지 하였다.
“I now left David and Oliver, and went in pursuit of Martin Harris, whom I found at a considerable distance, fervently engaged in prayer. He soon told me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the Lord, and earnestly requested me to join him in prayer, that he also might realize the same blessings which we had just received. We accordingly joined in prayer, and ultimately obtained our desires, for before we had yet finished, the same vision was opened to our view, at least it was again opened to me, and I once more beheld and heard the same things; whilst at the same moment, Martin Harris cried out, apparently in an ecstasy of joy, ‘Tis enough; ‘tis enough; mine eyes have beheld; mine eyes have beheld;’ and jumping up, he shouted, ‘Hosanna,’ blessing God, and otherwise rejoiced exceedingly.

“Having thus, through the mercy of God, obtained these glorious manifestations, it now remained for these three individuals to fulfill the commandment which they had received, viz., to bear record of these things; in order to accomplish which, they drew up and subscribed the following document:” (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 52-56)

The three witnesses also see the sword of Laban, the Liahona, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate as promised in DC 17:1.

Although Joseph does not describe this event in the History of the Church, David Whitmer is quoted as follows:

“We not only saw the plates of the Book of Mormon but also the brass plates, the plates of the Book of Ether, the plates containing the records of the wickedness and secret combinations of the people of the world down to the time of their being engraved, and many other plates ... there appeared as it were, a table with many records or plates upon it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the Sword of Laban, the Directors i.e., the ball which Lehi had-and the Interpreters [Urim and Thummim].  I saw them just as plain as I see this bed (striking the bed beside him with his hand), and I heard the voice of the Lord, as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life declaring that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God.” (1878 interview between Orson Pratt and David Whitmer, recorded in Book of Mormon Compendium, pp. 55-56)

Joseph’s joy that others had seen the plates and been charged to testify of them.

After the heavenly vision, the four men returned to the Whitmer farm. The prophet’s mother was there at the time and records:

“When they returned to the house it was between three and four o'clock p.m. Mrs. Whitmer, Mr. Smith and myself, were sitting in a bedroom at the time. On coming in, Joseph threw himself down beside me, and exclaimed, ‘Father, mother, you do not know how happy I am: the Lord has now caused the plates to be shown to three more besides myself. They have seen an angel, who has testified to them, and they will have to bear witness to the truth of what I have said,

이제 그들은 제가 여기 저기서 사람들을 미혹시키는게 아니란 것을 스스로 알게 되었습니다.  저는 너무나 무거운 짐에서 해방된 것 같은 느낌이며 이제 더 이상 이 세상에서 완전히 혼자가 아니라는 사실이 제 영혼을 기쁘게 해줍니다.

for now they know for themselves, that I do not go about to deceive the people, and I feel as if I was relieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me to bear, and it rejoices my soul, that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world.’ Upon this, Martin Harris came in: he seemed almost overcome with joy, and testified boldly to what he had both seen and heard. And so did David and Oliver, adding that no tongue could express the joy of their hearts, and the greatness of the things which they had both seen and heard.” (History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, p. 153)