Title: The Houses Commanded Tagline: Three sections order buildings and cities into existence — one by a date, one by a pattern, one by a share price — and one of the cities is told to take a Book of Mormon name.

Breadcrumbs / Related: Chastening, Temple in the Record, The Dedicatory Prayer, Zion, Zarahemla, The Gathering to Zion

What this page maps. Modern revelation, reported as the text gives it. D&C 115, D&C 124, D&C 125, and the building instructions of D&C 95 are first-person divine addresses — “Verily thus saith the Lord unto you” (D&C 115:1) — and this page reports the commands as the text frames them: as the Lord’s voice speaking in the first person. Recipients and places are named here only where the verse text names them. Dates stated inside verse text are quotable and are quoted: “let the beginning be made on the fourth day of July next” (D&C 115:10). No date, place, or occasion is imported from section headnotes, which are outside this wiki’s source text.

Account

§ What is commanded, and on what conditions

The three sections command four things: a house at Far West (D&C 115:8), a house at the place already contemplated (D&C 124:43), a boarding house named in the verse text (D&C 124:60), and a city on the land opposite Nauvoo (D&C 125:3). “a house unto my name” stands at exactly five distinct frozen verses in the corpus, all in these two sections: D&C 115:10, D&C 115:13, D&C 124:22, D&C 124:47, and D&C 124:51.

Two of the commands attach an explicit acceptance condition, and both state it in the same two-sided form. At Far West: “if my people build it not according to the pattern which I shall show unto their presidency, I will not accept it at their hands” (D&C 115:15) — followed immediately by the positive case, “But if my people do build it according to the pattern… then I will accept it at the hands of my people” (D&C 115:16). At the later house the condition is sharper still, and states a consequence for the church itself: “if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead” (D&C 124:32).

Against that, the same section states a limit on the condition — what happens when the work is prevented rather than neglected: “their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings” (D&C 124:49), and names a case it applies that rule to, “in Jackson county, Missouri” (D&C 124:51).

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 115:7: “Let the city, Far West, be a holy and consecrated land unto me; and it shall be called most holy, for the ground upon which thou standest is holy.” — Exodus 3:5: “And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

Both give the same reason in the same construction — a second-person “thou standest” clause, introduced by “for” — and both make the ground itself the holy thing. Divergences: “the place whereon” reads “the ground upon which”, and the older passage’s holiness is stated as a warning against approach, the newer as a consecration of a named city. “Far West” stands at exactly four distinct frozen verses in the corpus, all in the Doctrine and Covenants: D&C 115:7, D&C 115:17, D&C 117:10, and D&C 118:5.

§ The proclamation to the kings

D&C 124:2–11 commands a written proclamation “to all the kings of the world” (D&C 124:3) and states in advance what the writing is to be made of — “Let it be written in the spirit of meekness and by the power of the Holy Ghost” (D&C 124:4) — and what its failure case is.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 124:7: “fearing them not, for they are as grass, and all their glory as the flower thereof which soon falleth” — 1 Peter 1:24: “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away”

The letter’s two clauses are compressed into one and re-aimed: “all flesh” and “the glory of man” become “they” and “all their glory” — the kings and authorities named four verses earlier. “the flower thereof” stands at exactly three distinct frozen verses in the corpus: 1 Peter 1:24, James 1:11, and this verse. The letter’s “falleth away” reads “which soon falleth” here.

§ The house measured, and the assembly called for it

A fourth section commands a house in the same voice as the other three, and it is the only one of the four that gives its building interior dimensions in feet. The chastening frame that surrounds those instructions is treated on Chastening; what that page flagged to this one is the building material itself, and it lands here so that all four commanded buildings stand on one page.

The order begins with an assembly rather than a foundation: “And for this cause I gave unto you a commandment that you should call your solemn assembly, that your fastings and your mourning might come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, which is by interpretation, the creator of the first day, the beginning and the end.” (D&C 95:7).

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 95:7: “that your fastings and your mourning might come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, which is by interpretation, the creator of the first day, the beginning and the end.” — James 5:4: “and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”

The seven-word run stands at five distinct frozen verses in the corpus: James 5:4, D&C 87:7, D&C 88:2, D&C 95:7, and D&C 98:2. The letter is the only carrier outside the Doctrine and Covenants and is paired for that reason; the title itself, “Sabaoth”, stands at six distinct frozen verses, those five and Romans 9:29. Divergences: the letter capitalises “sabaoth” in lower case and what enters the ears is the cries of defrauded labourers, where here it is a congregation’s own fastings and mourning. The material difference is what this verse adds and no other carrier has: a gloss on the title. “which is by interpretation” is a formula the corpus uses three times — here, and twice in a gospel glossing a name (John 1:42, John 9:7) — and “the creator of the first day” stands at exactly one frozen verse in the corpus, this one. The closing pair of the gloss is by contrast a common title of the corpus: “the beginning and the end” stands at fifteen distinct frozen verses. So the verse takes a title used four other times in its own book without explanation and, alone among them, explains it.

§ The pattern, and the measurements

The condition on the building is stated twice over, positively and negatively, in the same two verses: “Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build a house. If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.” (D&C 95:11); “If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness.” (D&C 95:12).

What the house must not resemble is stated before what it must: “let the house be built, not after the manner of the world, for I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world” (D&C 95:13). “not after the manner of the world” stands at exactly one frozen verse in the corpus, this one. The pattern is then withheld and promised in the same clause, and it is promised to a number rather than to a name.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 95:14: “Therefore, let it be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you, whom ye shall appoint and ordain unto this power.” — 1 Nephi 17:8: “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.”

The six-word run stands at exactly two distinct frozen verses in the corpus, these two, and in both the object of the sentence is a thing to be constructed on a pattern not yet given. Divergences: the record’s clause is addressed to one man and this verse’s to “three of you” who must first be appointed and ordained (D&C 95:14); the thing to be built is a ship in one and a house in the other. This section’s own book states the same condition in different words at the house at Far West, where the pattern is shown “unto their presidency” (D&C 115:15) — “the pattern which I shall show” stands at exactly two distinct frozen verses in the corpus, D&C 115:15 and D&C 115:16, both treated above. The wider formula “according to the pattern” stands at eleven distinct frozen verses in the corpus, including Hebrews 8:5, where a tabernacle is made “according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount”, and Moses 6:46; those are disclosed rather than paired, since the run shared with this verse is the shorter one.

Then the measurements: “And the size thereof shall be fifty and five feet in width, and let it be sixty-five feet in length, in the inner court thereof.” (D&C 95:15). “fifty and five feet” stands at exactly one frozen verse in the corpus, this one — a fact already recorded on Chastening and repeated here because the verse now has its host. “sixty-five feet” stands at three distinct frozen verses, this one and two in D&C 94 (94:4, 94:11), where the same length is given for two other buildings; those verses belong to The Gathering to Zion and are cited, not registered.

The interior is then divided by use, and the lower half is given a list of them: “And let the lower part of the inner court be dedicated unto me for your sacrament offering, and for your preaching, and your fasting, and your praying, and the offering up of your most holy desires unto me, saith your Lord.” (D&C 95:16). Two of its terms stand at exactly one frozen verse in the corpus each — “sacrament offering” and “most holy desires”. The higher half, and the chain of four names the section signs itself with, are on Chastening (D&C 95:17).

With this section added, the page’s four commanded buildings become five, and the pattern across them is worth stating: every one is commanded with at least one condition attached, and three of the five are given a measurement, a date, or a price inside the verse text itself.

§ The blessings on named men, and the borrowed images in them

D&C 124:12–22 and D&C 124:74–122 address men by name. This page hosts only the images those blessings are worded from; the servants themselves belong to the existing page on the calls (see Extension flags).

[Textual] — paraphrase / allusion. () — D&C 124:18: “and I will bear him up as on eagles’ wings; and he shall beget glory and honor to himself and unto my name” — Exodus 19:4: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.”

“eagles’ wings” stands at exactly three distinct frozen verses in the corpus: Exodus 19:4 and two verses of this section — this one and D&C 124:99, “he shall mount up in the imagination of his thoughts as upon eagles’ wings”. The older passage states the carrying as already done, for a whole people, out of a named country; both later verses state it as a promise to one man.

[Textual] — near-verbatim quotation. () — D&C 124:58: “In thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed.” — Genesis 28:14: “and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

“in thee and in thy seed” stands at exactly two distinct frozen verses in the corpus, counted case-insensitively: these. The case-insensitive count is the material one — the older passage prints the phrase mid-verse in lower case, this verse at the head of a quotation in upper. One divergence carries a fact worth stating plainly: this verse introduces the words as what was said to a named patriarch — “And as I said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph” (D&C 124:58) — while the frozen verse whose wording matches is spoken to Jacob, not to Abraham. The promises addressed to Abraham in the frozen corpus are worded differently: “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3), “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18), and, at greater length, Abraham 2:11. The wiki reports the mismatch and does not resolve it; the record is entered asserted_by: wiki for exactly that reason (see the asserted_by: "source" candidates section).

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 124:98: “And these signs shall follow him—he shall heal the sick, he shall cast out devils, and shall be delivered from those who would administer unto him deadly poison” — Mark 16:17: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;”

Five words open both verses identically. “And these signs shall follow” stands at exactly four distinct frozen verses in the corpus, counted case-insensitively: Mark 16:17, Mormon 9:24, D&C 84:65, and this verse. Three of the four continue “them that believe”; only this one narrows the promise to a single named man, “him”. The signs listed differ in order and in membership: healing the sick and casting out devils are shared, and the poison clause here — “deadly poison” — answers the older “if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them” (Mark 16:18).

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () — D&C 124:93: “that whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” — Matthew 16:19: “and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

The clause runs identical but for the pronoun: the older “thou shalt” is “he shall” here, because the sentence is about a third person being given the office rather than a hearer being addressed. “bind on earth” stands at seven distinct frozen verses in the corpus, counted case-insensitively: Matthew 16:19, Matthew 18:18, and five in the Doctrine and Covenants — this verse, D&C 127:7, D&C 128:8, D&C 128:10, and D&C 132:46. Of those seven, only D&C 128:10 names its source; the rest, this verse included, carry the clause without attribution.

[Textual] — paraphrase / allusion. () — D&C 124:113: “And when he shall prove himself faithful in all things that shall be entrusted unto his care, yea, even a few things, he shall be made ruler over many” — Matthew 25:21: “thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things”

The parable’s pairing of “a few things” with “ruler over many things” is kept and its grammar changed from a master’s speech to a stated rule. “ruler over many” stands at seven distinct frozen verses in the corpus, counted case-insensitively: Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23, and five in the Doctrine and Covenants — D&C 52:13, D&C 117:10, D&C 132:44, D&C 132:53, and this verse. The phrase is therefore a recurring formula in the later book, not a single echo, and this record is one carrier among several rather than the connection.

§ The city told to take a Book of Mormon name

D&C 125 is four verses long, and the third of them does something no other verse in the frozen Doctrine and Covenants does: it assigns a Book of Mormon place name to a new city. “Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it” (D&C 125:3).

The name “Zarahemla” stands at 140 distinct frozen verses in the corpus: 139 in the Book of Mormon and exactly one in the Doctrine and Covenants — this verse. The section states nothing about why the name was chosen, and neither does this page; the textual fact is the naming itself, and the reader can weigh it against the Book of Mormon city of the same name at Zarahemla.

§ The offices, and the rooms for them

D&C 124:123–145 lists officers and quorums by name and closes by tying the whole list back to the building: “And that ye should prepare rooms for all these offices in my house when you build it unto my name” (D&C 124:145). That closing verse is why the list is drained on this page rather than left unhosted — the offices are stated as a fixture of the commanded house. The offices themselves are treated on the existing church-order pages (see Extension flags); this page states only the tie: a high council is given “for the cornerstone of Zion” (D&C 124:131), the twelve named men “hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth” (D&C 124:128), and the whole list is given “for helps and for governments, for the work of the ministry and the perfecting of my saints” (D&C 124:143), subject to a vote: “or else disapprove of them at my general conference” (D&C 124:144).

Significance

These sections are the plainest administrative writing in the book, and that is their interest. A house is ordered with a start date (D&C 115:10); a boarding house is ordered with a floor and a ceiling on the share price — “they shall not receive less than fifty dollars for a share” (D&C 124:64), “they shall not be permitted to receive over fifteen thousand dollars stock from any one man” (D&C 124:65) — and a misappropriation clause that requires fourfold repayment (D&C 124:71). A reader coming to the Doctrine and Covenants from the Book of Mormon meets, here, a text that states commandments in the same first- person voice whether the subject is the fulness of the priesthood (D&C 124:28) or the price of a share. The sections themselves draw no line between the two, and this page does not draw one for them.

Key references

• D&C 115:1–19 — the name of the church; Far West; the pattern condition
• D&C 124:1–11 — the proclamation to the kings
• D&C 124:22–48 — the two houses; the font; the acceptance conditions
• D&C 124:49–55 — the hindered-work rule and the Jackson county case
• D&C 124:56–122 — the Nauvoo House, its quorum, and the stock rules
• D&C 124:123–145 — the officers, and rooms for them in the house
• D&C 125:1–4 — the city opposite Nauvoo, named Zarahemla
• D&C 95:7, 95:11–16 — the solemn assembly; the pattern promised to three; the dimensions and the divided inner court

Sources

Doctrine and Covenants sections 115, 124, and 125, and section 95 verses 7 and 11–16 (verse text only; headnotes excluded); section 95’s remaining verses are hosted on Chastening. James 5 and 1 Nephi 17 are quoted; Romans 9, John 1, John 9, Hebrews 8, Moses 6, D&C 87, D&C 88, D&C 94, and D&C 98 are cited inside disclosures. Cross-references quoted from Exodus 3, Exodus 19, Genesis 28, 1 Peter 1, Mark 16, Matthew 16, and Matthew 25. Genesis 12, Genesis 22, and Abraham 2 are cited inside a disclosure rather than registered.

Nine connection records are registered here, all [textual]. One — D&C 124:58, where the verse names Abraham at the point of quotation — was ruled at the 2026-08-10 editorial review: it stays asserted_by: wiki — the verse names Abraham, but the frozen verse whose wording matches is addressed to Jacob, and the mismatch stands reported. Distribution figures are counts of distinct frozen verses in the corpus, derived by search at the time of writing.