“If They Are Kept They Must Retain Their Brightness”
This may well have a dual meaning. in a practical sense, as long as the brass plates (and all the plates, for that matter) are properly cared for, they will not soil or tarnish; they will retain their brightness and will prove a blessing to all who read them. In another sense, as long as the brass plates are retained-preserved, valued, cherished as the scriptural gems they are-they will always keep their brightness, meaning their centrality, their significance, their importance in the minds and hearts of the people.
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