11 And they were handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands. And I, Mormon, pray to God that they may be preserved from this time henceforth. And I know that they will be preserved; for there are great things written upon them, out of which my people and their brethren shall be judged at the great and last day, according to the word of God which is written.
And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written (D&C 84:57).
In 1986, Ezra Taft Benson commented on this passage:
If the early Saints were rebuked for treating the Book of Mormon lightly, are we under any less condemnation if we do the same? The Lord Himself bears testimony that it is of eternal significance…. What will we say at the Judgment when we stand before Him and meet His probing gaze if we are among those described as forgetting the new covenant (“The Book of Mormon–Keystone of Our Religion,” General Conference, October 1986).
Today, I reaffirm my commitment not to treat lightly the scriptures we have been given, including the Book of Mormon. I will follow the counsel of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants and recommit not only to study, read, and talk about the Book of Mormon this year, but to actually put its teachings into practice in my life.