Source: Dean C. Jessee, comp. and ed., The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984). Summer 1831-Feb 1832.
“In December following we [our] move to Susquehana [Susquehanna] by the assistance of a man by the name of Martin Haris [Harris] who became convinced of the visions and gave me fifty dollars to bear my expenses and because of his faith and this righteous deed the Lord appeared unto him in a vision and shewed unto him his marvelous work which he was about to do and he immediately came to Susquehanna and said the Lord had shown him that he must go to New York City with some of the characters, so we proceeded to copy some of them and he took his journey to the eastern cities and to the learned saying read this I pray thee and the learned said I cannot but if he would bring the plates they would read it but the Lord had forbidden it and he returned to me and gave them to me to translate and I said [I] cannot for I am not learned but the Lord had prepared spectacles [for] to read the book, therefore I commenced translating the characters and thus the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled which is written in the 29 chapter concerning the book. And it came to pass that after we had translated 116 pages that he desired to carry them to read to his friends that peradventure he might convince them of the truth therefore I inquired of the Lord and the Lord said unto me that he must not take them and I spoke unto him (Martin) the word of the Lord and he said inquire again and I inquired again and also the third time and the Lord said unto me let him go with them only he shall covenant with me that he will not shew them to only but four persons and he covenanted with the Lord that he would do according to the word of the Lord, therefore he took them and took his journey unto his friends to Palmira [Palmyra], Wayne County and state of New York and he broke the covenant which he made before the Lord and the Lord suffered the writings to fall into the hands of wicked men and Martin was chastened for my transgression and I also was chastened for my transgression for asking the Lord the third time wherefore the plates was [were] taken from me by the power of God and I was not able to obtain them for a season. . .”