O Ye Fair Ones, ye who profess to belong unto the Church of Jesus Christ, hearken and give ear unto the words which I shall speak against you!

How long will ye call evil good, and good evil?

How long will ye excuse the adulteries, and the whoredoms, and the lyings, and the whisperings, and the corruption, and the cruelty, and the boastings, and the pride, of that exceedingly wicked man who doth rule over you?

How long will ye suffer him to let the guilty and wicked go unpunished because of their money, that they might the more easily sin without chastisement?

Yea, how long will ye suffer his friends in iniquity to make laws after the manner of their own wickedness, to condemn the innocent, to beat the people to pieces, and to grind the face of the poor?

How long will ye swallow these camels to strain after your gnats?

Have ye read the scriptures? If so, how can ye not understand them?

Know ye not that he who hath the spirit of contention is not of God, but is a child of the devil?

Know ye not that God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, and a sound mind?

Know ye not that what you do, or permit to be done, unto the least of these, your brethren, ye have done even unto Christ?

How is it that ye have forgotten to love one another?

How is it that ye have allowed yourselves to come unto this awful state?

Behold, is it not your pride, and your desires for riches and the glory of this world and the vain things thereof that have made you thus? And have ye not yielded yourselves unto them?

Yea, is it not the pride of those who are not learned, yet who suppose that they know of themselves, and therefore they despise counsel?

And is it not the pride of the rich, and those who seek to become rich, that doth cause you to covet your own money, that ye will not be free with your substance?

And is it not the pride of those who claim a noble heritage, yet do turn away and reject those who today suffer the same afflictions that your ancestors suffered?

Therefore, wo, wo be unto this people except they speedily repent. For behold, the remnant of the house of Jacob is already among you, and if ye shall continue to despise, and to persecute, and to cast them out from among you, then shall the time come of which hath been written, when they shall turn again, and as a lion among sheep shall they tread you down and tear you in pieces, and none shall deliver you.

O repent ye, repent ye, that ye may be numbered among the house of Jacob when that terrible day shall come! For the justice and mercy which ye measure out to them today shall be meted unto you again on that day, and those who have been merciful shall receive mercy; but wo be unto those who have not been merciful!

And it shall come upon you in a day that ye think not of. Therefore repent ye today, and remember the words of the scriptures, to do them, and cast down that exceedingly wicked man who ruleth over you, that he be no more this people’s ruler. Even so. Amen.

Daniel C. Friend is a member of the Freedom First Ward in Provo, UT, and the author of Why More Mormons Should Be Democrats and Why America Should Pay Attention. The views here are the author's own and do not represent the opinions of MormonPress or any associated organizations.