"Voice From the Dust"

Author: Sheffield, William

For Latter-day Saints, the phrase "voice from the dust" speaks of the coming-forth of the Book of Mormon (cf. 2 Ne. 25:18;26:16), which was translated from metal plates buried in the ground for fourteen centuries. As early as Joseph Smith, LDS leaders have consistently indicated that this phrase applies to the Book of Mormon (PJS, p. 307; Hinckley, p. 10). This distinctive phrase and others like it usually appear in a context that speaks of the need for repentance and of an accompanying voice of warning that will "whisper out of the dust" (Isa. 29:4).

Latter-day Saints believe prophets foresaw that in the latter days a book, a companion to the Bible, would come forth as another testament of Jesus Christ (Ezek. 37:15-19; 2 Ne. 29:1-14). This other testament is the Book of Mormon. The Lord foretold the coming-forth of such a record to Enoch: "And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten" (Moses 7:62; cf. Ps. 85:11; TPJS, p. 98). According to the Book of Mormon, Joseph of Egypt also prophesied that one of his descendants would write words from the Lord that "shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them" (2 Ne. 3:18-20; cf. 33:13; Morm. 8:16, 23, 26; Moro. 10:27).