Title Page 1 Intro: THE BOOK OF MORMON
An account written by the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi.
1 Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, And also of the Lamanites.
2 Written to the Lamanites which are a remnant of the house of Israel, And also to Jew and Gentile.
3 Written by way of commandment, And also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation.
4 Written and sealed up and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed, To come forth by the gift and power of God, unto the interpretation thereof; Sealed by the hand of Moroni and hid up unto the Lord, To come forth in due time by the way of Gentile, the interpretation thereof by the gift of God -
5 An abridgment taken from the book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, Which were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to heaven -
6 Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel how great things the Lord hath done for their fathers, And that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.
7 And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting Himself unto all nations.
8 And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men; Wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of Christ.
Moroni
1 Nephi 1 Intro: An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah and his four sons, being called, beginning at the eldest, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. The Lord warns Lehi to depart out of the Land of Jerusalem because he prophesieth unto the people concerning their iniquity and they seek to destroy his life.He taketh three days' journey into the wilderness with his family.Nephi taketh his brethren and returns to the Land of Jerusalem after the record of the Jews. The account of their sufferings.They take the daughters of Ishmael to wife.They take their families and depart into the wilderness. Their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness.The course of their travels. They come to the large waters.Nephi's brethren rebelleth against him. He confoundeth them and buildeth a ship.They call the name of the place Bountiful.They cross the large waters into the Promised Land, etc.This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.
1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore, I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father, And having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days, Yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, Therefore, I make a record of my proceedings in my days; Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews, and the language of the Egyptians;
2 And I know that the record which I make to be true, And I make it with mine own hand, And I make it according to my knowledge.
3 For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, my father Lehi having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days, And in that same year there came many prophets prophesying unto the people that they must repent or that great City Jerusalem must be destroyed;
4 Wherefore, it came to pass that my father Lehi, as he went forth, prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.
5 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him, And he saw and heard much; And because of the things which he saw and heard, he did quake and tremble exceedingly.
6 And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen;
7 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, And he thought he saw God sitting upon His throne surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
8 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, And he beheld that His luster was above that of the sun at noonday;
9 And he also saw twelve others following Him, And their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament; And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth.
10 And the first came and stood before my father and gave unto him a book and bade him that he should read it.
