THE OATH OF VENGEANCE was once sworn inside Mormon temples. Dropped in 1927, its wording bound members for four generations—about 120 years—lasting, on paper, until February 14, 2047.

The covenant declared:

“You and each of you do solemnly promise and vow that you will pray, and never cease to pray, and never cease to importune high heaven to avenge the blood of the prophets on this nation, and that you will teach this to your children and your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.”

This was no call to forgiveness. It was a ritual demand for generational vengeance—proof that Mormonism’s sacred spaces once carried the weight of retribution, not grace.