The Book of Mormon
A True Record of the House of Israel
1st Book of Nephi
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
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1 Nephi 1
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
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.
11 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord; And he read, saying: "Wo, wo unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations!"
12 Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem - that it should be destroyed, And the inhabitants thereof - many should perish by the sword, And many should be carried away captive into Babylon.
13 And it came to pass that when my father had read and saw many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord, such as: "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens! And Thy power and goodness and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; And because Thou art merciful, Thou wilt not suffer those who come unto Thee, that they shall perish!"
14 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God, For his soul did rejoice and his whole heart was filled because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
15 And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, For he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams;
16 And he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account, But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days.
17 Behold, I make an abridgment of the record of my father upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; Wherefore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life.
18 Therefore, I would that ye should know that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, Behold, he went forth among the people and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard.
19 And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them, for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations;
20 And he testified that the things which he saw and heard - and also the things which he read in the book - manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah and also the redemption of the world;
21 And when the Jews heard these things, they were angry with him, Yea, even as with the prophets of old whom they had cast out and stoned and slain;
22 And they also sought his life, that they might take it away.
23 But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all them whom He hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty, even unto the power of deliverance.
24 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and saith unto him: "Blessed art thou, Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done;
25 And because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, Behold, they seek to take away thy life."
26 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.
27 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord; Wherefore, he did as the Lord commanded him.
28 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness;
29 And he left his house and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, And took nothing with him save it were his family and provisions and tents, And he departed into the wilderness;
30 And he came down by the borders near the shores of the Red Sea;
31 And he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which were nearer the Red Sea;
32 And he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother Sariah and my elder brethren, which were Laman, Lemuel and Sam.
33 And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a valley beside a river of water.
34 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, And he made an offering unto the Lord and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.
35 And it came to pass that he called the name of the river Laman and it emptied into the Red Sea; And the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof;
36 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!"
37 And he also spake unto Lemuel, saying: "O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!"
38 Now this he spake because of the stiff-neckedness of Laman and Lemuel, For behold, they did murmur in many things against their father because that he was a visionary man and that he had led them out of the Land of Jerusalem, To leave the land of their inheritance and their gold and their silver and their precious things and to perish in the wilderness;
39 And this they said that he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.
40 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father;
41 And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them;
42 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets;
43 And they were like unto the Jews which were at Jerusalem which sought to take away the life of my father.
44 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the Valley of Lemuel with power, Being filled with the Spirit until their frames did shake before him;
45 And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; Wherefore, they did do as he commanded them;
46 And my father dwelt in a tent.
47 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceeding young, nevertheless, being large in stature, And also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God,
48 Wherefore, I cried unto the Lord; And behold, He did visit me and did soften my heart, that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers;
49 And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by His Holy Spirit.
50 And it came to pass that he believed in my words,
51 But behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words;
52 And being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, I cried unto the Lord for them.
53 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought Me diligently with lowliness of heart;
54 And inasmuch as ye shall keep My commandments, ye shall prosper and shall be led to a Land of Promise, Yea, even a land which I have prepared for you, a land which is choice above all other lands;
55 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord;
56 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep My commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren;
57 For behold, in that day that they shall rebel against Me, I will curse them even with a sore curse, And they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against Me also;
58 And if it so be that they rebel against Me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance."
59 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord to the tent of my father.
60 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: "Behold, I have dreamed a dream in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem,
61 For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews, and also a genealogy of my forefathers, And they are engraven upon plates of brass;
62 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban and seek the records and bring them down hither into the wilderness.
63 "And now behold, thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; But behold, I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord;
64 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord because thou hast not murmured."
65 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, For I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them, that they may accomplish the thing which He commandeth them."
66 And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words, he was exceeding glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord;
67 And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness with our tents to go up to the Land of Jerusalem.
68 And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the Land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another, And we cast lots which of us should go in unto the house of Laban.
69 And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; And Laman went in unto the house of Laban and he talked with him as he sat in his house;
70 And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass which contained the genealogy of my father.
71 And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry and thrust him out from his presence, And he would not that he should have the records;
72 Wherefore, he said unto him: "Behold, thou art a robber and I will slay thee!"
73 But Laman fled out of his presence and told the things which Laban had done unto us;
74 And we began to be exceeding sorrowful; And my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness,
75 But behold, I said unto them that, "As the Lord liveth and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us;
76 Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
77 "Therefore, let us go down to the land of our father's inheritance, For behold, he left gold and silver and all manner of riches;
78 And all this he hath done because of the commandment of the Lord, For he knowing that Jerusalem must be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people -
79 For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets -
80 Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after that he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish;
81 Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land.
82 "And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we might preserve unto our children the language of our fathers,
83 And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God since the world began, even down unto this present time."
84 And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.
85 And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, And we did gather together our gold and our silver and our precious things;
86 And after that we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.
87 And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, For which we would give unto him our gold and our silver and all our precious things.
88 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, that it was exceeding great, He did lust after it insomuch that he thrust us out and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.
89 And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, And we were obliged to leave behind our property and it fell into the hands of Laban.
90 And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness and the servants of Laban did not overtake us; And we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock.
91 And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; And also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman;
92 Wherefore, Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, And they did smite us, even with a rod.
93 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them and he spake unto them, saying: "Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?
94 Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?
95 Behold, thou shalt go up to Jerusalem again and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands."
96 And after that the angel had spake unto us, he departed;
97 And after that the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?
98 Behold, he is a mighty man and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; Then why not us?"
99 And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: "Let us go up again unto Jerusalem and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord, For behold, He is mightier than all the earth; Then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?
100 "Therefore, let us go up; Let us be strong like unto Moses, For he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither and our fathers came through out of captivity on dry ground, And the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.
101 "Now behold, ye know that this is true; And ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; Wherefore, can ye doubt?
102 "Let us go up; The Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, And to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians."
103 Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth and did still continue to murmur; Nevertheless, they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem;
104 And it was by night; And I caused that they should hide themselves without the wall;
105 And after that they had hid themselves, I, Nephi, crept into the city and went forth toward the house of Laban;
106 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.
107 Nevertheless, I went forth; And as I came near unto the house of Laban, I beheld a man, And he had fallen to the earth before me, for he was drunken with wine;
108 And when I came to him, I found that it was Laban;
109 And I beheld his sword, And I drew it forth from the sheath thereof and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, And the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine, And I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.
110 And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban,
111 But I said in my heart, 'Never at any time have I shed the blood of man.' And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.
112 And the Spirit saith unto me again: "Behold, the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands." Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; Yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; And he also had taken away our property.
113 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: "Slay him! for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;
114 Behold, the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth His righteous purposes;
115 It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
116 And now when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which He spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that, "Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep My commandments, they shall prosper in the Land of Promise."
117 Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law;
118 And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.
119 And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause: That I might obtain the records according to His commandments;
120 Therefore, I did obey the voice of the Spirit and took Laban by the hair of the head, And I smote off his head with his own sword.
121 And after that I had smote off his own head with his own sword, I took the garments of Laban and put them upon mine own body, yea, even every whit, And I did gird on his armor about my loins;
122 And after that I had done this, I went forth unto the treasury of Laban.
123 And as I went forth toward the treasury of Laban, behold, I saw the servant of Laban which had the keys of the treasury;
124 And I commanded him in the voice of Laban that he should go with me into the treasury, And he supposing me to be his master Laban, for he beheld the garments and also the sword girded about my loins,
125 And he spake unto me concerning the elders of the Jews, he knowing that his master Laban had been out by night among them,
126 And I spake unto him as if it had been Laban.
127 And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings which were upon the plates of brass to my elder brethren which were without the wall.
128 And I also bade him that he should follow me;
129 And he supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slain, wherefore, he did follow me;
130 And he spake unto me many times concerning the elders of the Jews as I went forth unto my brethren which were without the wall.
131 And it came to pass that when Laman saw me, he was exceedingly frightened, and also Lemuel and Sam,
132 And they fled from before my presence, For they supposed it was Laban and that he had slain me and had sought to take away their lives also.
133 And it came to pass that I called after them and they did hear me; Wherefore, they did cease to flee from my presence.
134 And it came to pass that when the servant of Laban beheld my brethren, he began to tremble and was about to flee from before me and return to the City of Jerusalem.
135 And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, Therefore, I did seize upon the servant of Laban and held him that he should not flee.
136 And it came to pass that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my words as the Lord liveth and as I live Even so, that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.
137 And I spake unto him even with an oath that he need not fear, That he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
138 And I also spake unto him, saying: "Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; And shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandment of the Lord?
139 Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father, thou shalt have place with us."
140 And it came to pass that Zoram did take courage at the words which I spake;
141 Now Zoram was the name of the servant, And he promised that he would go down into the wilderness unto our father;
142 Yea, and he also made an oath unto us that he would tarry with us from that time forth.
143 Now we were desirous that he should tarry with us for this cause: That the Jews might not know concerning our flight into the wilderness, lest they should pursue us and destroy us.
144 And it came to pass that when Zoram had made an oath unto us, our fears did cease concerning him.
145 And it came to pass that we took the plates of brass and the servant of Laban and departed into the wilderness and journeyed unto the tent of our father.
146 And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy; And also my mother Sariah was exceeding glad, for she truly had mourned because of us, For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness.
147 And she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man, saying: "Behold, thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, And my sons are no more and we perish in the wilderness."
148 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.
149 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: "I know that I am a visionary man, For if I had not seen the things of God in a vision, I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem and had perished with my brethren.
150 "But behold, I have obtained a Land of Promise, in the which things I do rejoice;
151 Yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness."
152 And after this manner of language did my father Lehi comfort my mother Sariah concerning us while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the Land of Jerusalem to obtain the record of the Jews.
153 And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold, their joy was full and my mother was comforted.
154 And she spake, saying: "Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness;
155 Yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, And gave them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them."
156 And after this manner of language did she speak.
157 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; And they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.
158 And after that they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father Lehi took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass and he did search them from the beginning;
159 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses which gave an account of the creation of the world,
160 And also of Adam and Eve which were our first parents,
161 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah,
162 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah,
163 And also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.
164 And it came to pass that my father Lehi also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers;
165 Wherefore, he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph, Yea, even that Joseph which was the son of Jacob which was sold into Egypt and which was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob and all his household from perishing with famine;
166 And they were also led out of captivity and out of the Land of Egypt by that same God who had preserved them;
167 And thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers;
168 And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph; Wherefore, he and his fathers had kept the records.
169 And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit and began to prophesy concerning his seed, That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds and tongues and people which were of his seed;
170 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish, neither should they be dimmed anymore by time;
171 And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.
172 And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us,
173 And we had obtained the record which the Lord had commanded us and searched them and found that they were desirable, Yea, even of great worth unto us insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children;
174 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us as we journeyed in the wilderness toward the Land of Promise.
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
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.
11 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord; And he read, saying: "Wo, wo unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations!"
12 Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem - that it should be destroyed, And the inhabitants thereof - many should perish by the sword, And many should be carried away captive into Babylon.
13 And it came to pass that when my father had read and saw many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord, such as: "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens! And Thy power and goodness and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; And because Thou art merciful, Thou wilt not suffer those who come unto Thee, that they shall perish!"
14 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God, For his soul did rejoice and his whole heart was filled because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
15 And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, For he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams;
16 And he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account, But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days.
17 Behold, I make an abridgment of the record of my father upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; Wherefore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life.
18 Therefore, I would that ye should know that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, Behold, he went forth among the people and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard.
19 And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them, for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations;
20 And he testified that the things which he saw and heard - and also the things which he read in the book - manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah and also the redemption of the world;
21 And when the Jews heard these things, they were angry with him, Yea, even as with the prophets of old whom they had cast out and stoned and slain;
22 And they also sought his life, that they might take it away.
23 But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all them whom He hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty, even unto the power of deliverance.
24 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and saith unto him: "Blessed art thou, Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done;
25 And because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, Behold, they seek to take away thy life."
26 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.
27 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord; Wherefore, he did as the Lord commanded him.
28 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness;
29 And he left his house and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, And took nothing with him save it were his family and provisions and tents, And he departed into the wilderness;
30 And he came down by the borders near the shores of the Red Sea;
31 And he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which were nearer the Red Sea;
32 And he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother Sariah and my elder brethren, which were Laman, Lemuel and Sam.
33 And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a valley beside a river of water.
34 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, And he made an offering unto the Lord and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.
35 And it came to pass that he called the name of the river Laman and it emptied into the Red Sea; And the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof;
36 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!"
37 And he also spake unto Lemuel, saying: "O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!"
38 Now this he spake because of the stiff-neckedness of Laman and Lemuel, For behold, they did murmur in many things against their father because that he was a visionary man and that he had led them out of the Land of Jerusalem, To leave the land of their inheritance and their gold and their silver and their precious things and to perish in the wilderness;
39 And this they said that he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.
40 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father;
41 And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them;
42 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets;
43 And they were like unto the Jews which were at Jerusalem which sought to take away the life of my father.
44 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the Valley of Lemuel with power, Being filled with the Spirit until their frames did shake before him;
45 And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; Wherefore, they did do as he commanded them;
46 And my father dwelt in a tent.
47 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceeding young, nevertheless, being large in stature, And also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God,
48 Wherefore, I cried unto the Lord; And behold, He did visit me and did soften my heart, that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers;
49 And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by His Holy Spirit.
50 And it came to pass that he believed in my words,
51 But behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words;
52 And being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, I cried unto the Lord for them.
53 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought Me diligently with lowliness of heart;
54 And inasmuch as ye shall keep My commandments, ye shall prosper and shall be led to a Land of Promise, Yea, even a land which I have prepared for you, a land which is choice above all other lands;
55 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord;
56 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep My commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren;
57 For behold, in that day that they shall rebel against Me, I will curse them even with a sore curse, And they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against Me also;
58 And if it so be that they rebel against Me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance."
59 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord to the tent of my father.
60 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: "Behold, I have dreamed a dream in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem,
61 For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews, and also a genealogy of my forefathers, And they are engraven upon plates of brass;
62 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban and seek the records and bring them down hither into the wilderness.
63 "And now behold, thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; But behold, I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord;
64 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord because thou hast not murmured."
65 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, For I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them, that they may accomplish the thing which He commandeth them."
66 And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words, he was exceeding glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord;
67 And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness with our tents to go up to the Land of Jerusalem.
68 And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the Land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another, And we cast lots which of us should go in unto the house of Laban.
69 And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; And Laman went in unto the house of Laban and he talked with him as he sat in his house;
70 And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass which contained the genealogy of my father.
71 And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry and thrust him out from his presence, And he would not that he should have the records;
72 Wherefore, he said unto him: "Behold, thou art a robber and I will slay thee!"
73 But Laman fled out of his presence and told the things which Laban had done unto us;
74 And we began to be exceeding sorrowful; And my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness,
75 But behold, I said unto them that, "As the Lord liveth and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us;
76 Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
77 "Therefore, let us go down to the land of our father's inheritance, For behold, he left gold and silver and all manner of riches;
78 And all this he hath done because of the commandment of the Lord, For he knowing that Jerusalem must be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people -
79 For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets -
80 Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after that he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish;
81 Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land.
82 "And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we might preserve unto our children the language of our fathers,
83 And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God since the world began, even down unto this present time."
84 And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.
85 And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, And we did gather together our gold and our silver and our precious things;
86 And after that we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.
87 And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, For which we would give unto him our gold and our silver and all our precious things.
88 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, that it was exceeding great, He did lust after it insomuch that he thrust us out and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.
89 And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, And we were obliged to leave behind our property and it fell into the hands of Laban.
90 And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness and the servants of Laban did not overtake us; And we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock.
91 And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; And also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman;
92 Wherefore, Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, And they did smite us, even with a rod.
93 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them and he spake unto them, saying: "Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?
94 Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?
95 Behold, thou shalt go up to Jerusalem again and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands."
96 And after that the angel had spake unto us, he departed;
97 And after that the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?
98 Behold, he is a mighty man and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; Then why not us?"
99 And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: "Let us go up again unto Jerusalem and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord, For behold, He is mightier than all the earth; Then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?
100 "Therefore, let us go up; Let us be strong like unto Moses, For he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither and our fathers came through out of captivity on dry ground, And the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.
101 "Now behold, ye know that this is true; And ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; Wherefore, can ye doubt?
102 "Let us go up; The Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, And to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians."
103 Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth and did still continue to murmur; Nevertheless, they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem;
104 And it was by night; And I caused that they should hide themselves without the wall;
105 And after that they had hid themselves, I, Nephi, crept into the city and went forth toward the house of Laban;
106 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.
107 Nevertheless, I went forth; And as I came near unto the house of Laban, I beheld a man, And he had fallen to the earth before me, for he was drunken with wine;
108 And when I came to him, I found that it was Laban;
109 And I beheld his sword, And I drew it forth from the sheath thereof and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, And the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine, And I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.
110 And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban,
111 But I said in my heart, 'Never at any time have I shed the blood of man.' And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.
112 And the Spirit saith unto me again: "Behold, the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands." Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; Yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; And he also had taken away our property.
113 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: "Slay him! for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;
114 Behold, the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth His righteous purposes;
115 It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
116 And now when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which He spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that, "Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep My commandments, they shall prosper in the Land of Promise."
117 Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law;
118 And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.
119 And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause: That I might obtain the records according to His commandments;
120 Therefore, I did obey the voice of the Spirit and took Laban by the hair of the head, And I smote off his head with his own sword.
121 And after that I had smote off his own head with his own sword, I took the garments of Laban and put them upon mine own body, yea, even every whit, And I did gird on his armor about my loins;
122 And after that I had done this, I went forth unto the treasury of Laban.
123 And as I went forth toward the treasury of Laban, behold, I saw the servant of Laban which had the keys of the treasury;
124 And I commanded him in the voice of Laban that he should go with me into the treasury, And he supposing me to be his master Laban, for he beheld the garments and also the sword girded about my loins,
125 And he spake unto me concerning the elders of the Jews, he knowing that his master Laban had been out by night among them,
126 And I spake unto him as if it had been Laban.
127 And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings which were upon the plates of brass to my elder brethren which were without the wall.
128 And I also bade him that he should follow me;
129 And he supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slain, wherefore, he did follow me;
130 And he spake unto me many times concerning the elders of the Jews as I went forth unto my brethren which were without the wall.
131 And it came to pass that when Laman saw me, he was exceedingly frightened, and also Lemuel and Sam,
132 And they fled from before my presence, For they supposed it was Laban and that he had slain me and had sought to take away their lives also.
133 And it came to pass that I called after them and they did hear me; Wherefore, they did cease to flee from my presence.
134 And it came to pass that when the servant of Laban beheld my brethren, he began to tremble and was about to flee from before me and return to the City of Jerusalem.
135 And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, Therefore, I did seize upon the servant of Laban and held him that he should not flee.
136 And it came to pass that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my words as the Lord liveth and as I live Even so, that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.
137 And I spake unto him even with an oath that he need not fear, That he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
138 And I also spake unto him, saying: "Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; And shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandment of the Lord?
139 Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father, thou shalt have place with us."
140 And it came to pass that Zoram did take courage at the words which I spake;
141 Now Zoram was the name of the servant, And he promised that he would go down into the wilderness unto our father;
142 Yea, and he also made an oath unto us that he would tarry with us from that time forth.
143 Now we were desirous that he should tarry with us for this cause: That the Jews might not know concerning our flight into the wilderness, lest they should pursue us and destroy us.
144 And it came to pass that when Zoram had made an oath unto us, our fears did cease concerning him.
145 And it came to pass that we took the plates of brass and the servant of Laban and departed into the wilderness and journeyed unto the tent of our father.
146 And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy; And also my mother Sariah was exceeding glad, for she truly had mourned because of us, For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness.
147 And she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man, saying: "Behold, thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, And my sons are no more and we perish in the wilderness."
148 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.
149 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: "I know that I am a visionary man, For if I had not seen the things of God in a vision, I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem and had perished with my brethren.
150 "But behold, I have obtained a Land of Promise, in the which things I do rejoice;
151 Yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness."
152 And after this manner of language did my father Lehi comfort my mother Sariah concerning us while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the Land of Jerusalem to obtain the record of the Jews.
153 And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold, their joy was full and my mother was comforted.
154 And she spake, saying: "Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness;
155 Yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, And gave them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them."
156 And after this manner of language did she speak.
157 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; And they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.
158 And after that they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father Lehi took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass and he did search them from the beginning;
159 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses which gave an account of the creation of the world,
160 And also of Adam and Eve which were our first parents,
161 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah,
162 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah,
163 And also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.
164 And it came to pass that my father Lehi also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers;
165 Wherefore, he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph, Yea, even that Joseph which was the son of Jacob which was sold into Egypt and which was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob and all his household from perishing with famine;
166 And they were also led out of captivity and out of the Land of Egypt by that same God who had preserved them;
167 And thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers;
168 And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph; Wherefore, he and his fathers had kept the records.
169 And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit and began to prophesy concerning his seed, That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds and tongues and people which were of his seed;
170 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish, neither should they be dimmed anymore by time;
171 And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.
172 And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us,
173 And we had obtained the record which the Lord had commanded us and searched them and found that they were desirable, Yea, even of great worth unto us insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children;
174 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us as we journeyed in the wilderness toward the Land of Promise.
1 Nephi 2
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in this part of my record, Neither at any time shall I give it after upon these plates which I am writing, for it is given in the record which has been kept by my father; Wherefore, I do not write it in this work,
2 For it sufficeth me to say that we are a descendant of Joseph.
3 And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God,
4 For the fullness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and be saved;
5 Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto them which are not of the world;
6 Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men.
7 And now I would that ye might know that after my father Lehi had made an end of prophesying concerning his seed, It came to pass that the Lord spake unto him again, saying that it was not meet for him, Lehi, that he should take his family into the wilderness alone, But that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the Land of Promise.
8 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that I, Nephi, and my brethren should again return into the Land of Jerusalem and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness.
9 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did again, with my brethren, go forth into the wilderness to go up to Jerusalem.
10 And it came to pass that we went up unto the house of Ishmael, And we did gain favor in the sight of Ishmael insomuch that we did speak unto him the words of the Lord.
11 And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael, and also his household, Insomuch that they took their journey with us down into the wilderness to the tent of our father.
12 And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, Behold, Laman and Lemuel and two of the daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families, did rebel against us, Yea, against I, Nephi, and Sam and their father Ishmael and his wife and his three other daughters.
13 And it came to pass that in the which rebellion they were desirous to return unto the Land of Jerusalem.
14 And now, I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore, I spake unto them saying, yea, even unto Laman and unto Lemuel: "Behold, thou art mine elder brethren, And how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts and so blind in your minds that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?
15 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?
16 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?
17 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten how great things the Lord hath done for us in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record?
18 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to His will for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in Him? "Wherefore, let us be faithful in Him;
19 And if it so be that we are faithful in Him, we shall obtain the Land of Promise; And ye shall know at some future period that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem,
20 For all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem must be fulfilled.
21 "For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them;
22 For behold, they have rejected the prophets and Jeremiah have they cast into prison,
23 And they have sought to take away the life of my father insomuch that they have driven him out of the land.
24 "Now behold I say unto you, that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them.
25 "And now if ye have choice, go up to the land and remember the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish, For thus the Spirit of the Lord constraineth me that I should speak."
26 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me.
27 And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceeding wroth; And they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.
28 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: "O Lord, according to my faith which is in me, wilt Thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren?
29 Yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound."
30 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, And I stood before my brethren and I spake unto them again.
31 And it came to pass that they were angry with me again and sought to lay hands upon me;
32 But behold, one of the daughters of Ishmael, yea, and also her mother and one of the sons of Ishmael, did plead with my brethren insomuch that they did soften their hearts and they did cease striving to take away my life.
33 And it came to pass that they were sorrowful because of their wickedness insomuch that they did bow down before me and did plead with me that I would forgive them of the thing that they had done against me.
34 And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, And I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness.
35 And it came to pass that they did so;
36 And after that they had done praying unto the Lord, we did again travel on our journey toward the tent of our father.
37 And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father;
38 And after that I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, They did give thanks unto the Lord their God,
39 And they did offer sacrifice and offer burnt offerings unto Him.
40 And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind - both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruits of every kind.
41 And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness, he spake unto us, saying: "Behold, I have dreamed a dream, or in other words, I have seen a vision;
42 And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi, and also of Sam, For I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved.
43 "But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you, For behold, methought I saw a dark and dreary wilderness.
44 "And it came to pass that I saw a man, And he was dressed in a white robe, And he came and stood before me.
45 "And it came to pass that he spake unto me and bade me follow him.
46 "And it came to pass that as I followed him, and after I had followed him, I beheld myself, that I was in a dark and dreary waste;
47 And after that I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that He would have mercy on me according to the multitude of His tender mercies.
48 "And it came to pass that after I had prayed unto the Lord, behold, a large and spacious field.
49 "And it came to pass that I beheld a tree whose fruit was desirable to make one happy;
50 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof and beheld that it was most sweet above all that I ever had before tasted.
51 "Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen;
52 And as I partook of the fruit thereof, it filled my soul with exceeding great joy;
53 Wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also, for I knew that it was desirous above all other fruit.
54 "And as I cast my eyes round about that perhaps I might discover my family also - And I beheld a river of water, And it ran along and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit;
55 And I looked to behold from whence it came and I saw the head thereof a little way off;
56 And at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah and Sam and Nephi; And they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.
57 "And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them, And I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me and partake of the fruit which was desirable above all other fruit.
58 "And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.
59 "And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also;
60 Wherefore, I cast mine eyes toward the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them.
61 "And it came to pass that I saw them, But they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.
62 "And I beheld a rod of iron; And it extended along the bank of the river and led to the tree by which I stood;
63 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood;
64 And it also led by the head of the fountain unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world;
65 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
66 "And it came to pass that they did come forth and commenced in the path which led to the tree.
67 "And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness, yea, even an exceeding great mist of darkness, Insomuch that they which had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.
68 "And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward; And they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron;
69 And they did press forward through the mists of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
70 "And after that they had partaken of the fruit of the tree, they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.
71 "And I also cast my eyes round about and beheld on the other side of the river of water a great and spacious building,
72 And it stood, as it were, in the air high above the earth;
73 And it was filled with people - both old and young, both male and female;
74 And their manner of dress was exceeding fine;
75 And they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers toward those which had come up and were partaking of the fruit;
76 And after that they had tasted of the fruit, they were ashamed because of those that were a scoffing at them, And they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."
77 And now, I, Nephi, do not speak all the words of my father,
78 But to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward, And they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron, And they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree;
79 And he also saw other multitudes pressing their way toward that great and spacious building;
80 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain,
81 And many were lost from his view wandering in strange roads,
82 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building;
83 And after that they did enter into that building, they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also, But we heeded them not;
84 Thus are the words of my father: "For as many as heeded them had fallen away,
85 And Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, " saith my father.
86 And it came to pass that after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, He said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel -
87 Yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord;
88 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent that they would hearken to his words, in that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them and not cast them off.
89 Yea, my father did preach unto them;
90 And after that he had preached unto them and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord;
91 And he did cease speaking unto them.
92 And all these things did my father see and hear and speak as he dwelt in a tent in the Valley of Lemuel, And also a great many more things which cannot be written upon these plates.
93 And now as I have spoken concerning these plates, behold, they are not the plates upon which I make a full account of the history of my people,
94 For the plates upon which I make a full account of my people I have given the name of Nephi;
95 Wherefore, they are called the plates of Nephi after mine own name; And these plates also are called the plates of Nephi.
96 Nevertheless, I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these plates for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people,
97 And upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people;
98 Wherefore, these plates are for the more part of the ministry, And the other plates are for the more part of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people;
99 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in Him, which purpose I know not,
100 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning;
101 Wherefore, He prepareth a way to accomplish all His works among the children of men, For behold, He hath all power unto the fulfilling of all His words;
102 And thus it is. Amen.
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in this part of my record, Neither at any time shall I give it after upon these plates which I am writing, for it is given in the record which has been kept by my father; Wherefore, I do not write it in this work,
2 For it sufficeth me to say that we are a descendant of Joseph.
3 And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God,
4 For the fullness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and be saved;
5 Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto them which are not of the world;
6 Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men.
7 And now I would that ye might know that after my father Lehi had made an end of prophesying concerning his seed, It came to pass that the Lord spake unto him again, saying that it was not meet for him, Lehi, that he should take his family into the wilderness alone, But that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the Land of Promise.
8 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that I, Nephi, and my brethren should again return into the Land of Jerusalem and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness.
9 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did again, with my brethren, go forth into the wilderness to go up to Jerusalem.
10 And it came to pass that we went up unto the house of Ishmael, And we did gain favor in the sight of Ishmael insomuch that we did speak unto him the words of the Lord.
11 And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael, and also his household, Insomuch that they took their journey with us down into the wilderness to the tent of our father.
12 And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, Behold, Laman and Lemuel and two of the daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families, did rebel against us, Yea, against I, Nephi, and Sam and their father Ishmael and his wife and his three other daughters.
13 And it came to pass that in the which rebellion they were desirous to return unto the Land of Jerusalem.
14 And now, I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore, I spake unto them saying, yea, even unto Laman and unto Lemuel: "Behold, thou art mine elder brethren, And how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts and so blind in your minds that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?
15 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?
16 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?
17 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten how great things the Lord hath done for us in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record?
18 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to His will for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in Him? "Wherefore, let us be faithful in Him;
19 And if it so be that we are faithful in Him, we shall obtain the Land of Promise; And ye shall know at some future period that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem,
20 For all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem must be fulfilled.
21 "For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them;
22 For behold, they have rejected the prophets and Jeremiah have they cast into prison,
23 And they have sought to take away the life of my father insomuch that they have driven him out of the land.
24 "Now behold I say unto you, that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them.
25 "And now if ye have choice, go up to the land and remember the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish, For thus the Spirit of the Lord constraineth me that I should speak."
26 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me.
27 And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceeding wroth; And they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.
28 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: "O Lord, according to my faith which is in me, wilt Thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren?
29 Yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound."
30 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, And I stood before my brethren and I spake unto them again.
31 And it came to pass that they were angry with me again and sought to lay hands upon me;
32 But behold, one of the daughters of Ishmael, yea, and also her mother and one of the sons of Ishmael, did plead with my brethren insomuch that they did soften their hearts and they did cease striving to take away my life.
33 And it came to pass that they were sorrowful because of their wickedness insomuch that they did bow down before me and did plead with me that I would forgive them of the thing that they had done against me.
34 And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, And I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness.
35 And it came to pass that they did so;
36 And after that they had done praying unto the Lord, we did again travel on our journey toward the tent of our father.
37 And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father;
38 And after that I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, They did give thanks unto the Lord their God,
39 And they did offer sacrifice and offer burnt offerings unto Him.
40 And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind - both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruits of every kind.
41 And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness, he spake unto us, saying: "Behold, I have dreamed a dream, or in other words, I have seen a vision;
42 And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi, and also of Sam, For I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved.
43 "But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you, For behold, methought I saw a dark and dreary wilderness.
44 "And it came to pass that I saw a man, And he was dressed in a white robe, And he came and stood before me.
45 "And it came to pass that he spake unto me and bade me follow him.
46 "And it came to pass that as I followed him, and after I had followed him, I beheld myself, that I was in a dark and dreary waste;
47 And after that I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that He would have mercy on me according to the multitude of His tender mercies.
48 "And it came to pass that after I had prayed unto the Lord, behold, a large and spacious field.
49 "And it came to pass that I beheld a tree whose fruit was desirable to make one happy;
50 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof and beheld that it was most sweet above all that I ever had before tasted.
51 "Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen;
52 And as I partook of the fruit thereof, it filled my soul with exceeding great joy;
53 Wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also, for I knew that it was desirous above all other fruit.
54 "And as I cast my eyes round about that perhaps I might discover my family also - And I beheld a river of water, And it ran along and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit;
55 And I looked to behold from whence it came and I saw the head thereof a little way off;
56 And at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah and Sam and Nephi; And they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.
57 "And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them, And I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me and partake of the fruit which was desirable above all other fruit.
58 "And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.
59 "And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also;
60 Wherefore, I cast mine eyes toward the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them.
61 "And it came to pass that I saw them, But they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.
62 "And I beheld a rod of iron; And it extended along the bank of the river and led to the tree by which I stood;
63 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood;
64 And it also led by the head of the fountain unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world;
65 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
66 "And it came to pass that they did come forth and commenced in the path which led to the tree.
67 "And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness, yea, even an exceeding great mist of darkness, Insomuch that they which had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.
68 "And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward; And they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron;
69 And they did press forward through the mists of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
70 "And after that they had partaken of the fruit of the tree, they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.
71 "And I also cast my eyes round about and beheld on the other side of the river of water a great and spacious building,
72 And it stood, as it were, in the air high above the earth;
73 And it was filled with people - both old and young, both male and female;
74 And their manner of dress was exceeding fine;
75 And they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers toward those which had come up and were partaking of the fruit;
76 And after that they had tasted of the fruit, they were ashamed because of those that were a scoffing at them, And they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."
77 And now, I, Nephi, do not speak all the words of my father,
78 But to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward, And they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron, And they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree;
79 And he also saw other multitudes pressing their way toward that great and spacious building;
80 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain,
81 And many were lost from his view wandering in strange roads,
82 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building;
83 And after that they did enter into that building, they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also, But we heeded them not;
84 Thus are the words of my father: "For as many as heeded them had fallen away,
85 And Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, " saith my father.
86 And it came to pass that after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, He said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel -
87 Yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord;
88 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent that they would hearken to his words, in that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them and not cast them off.
89 Yea, my father did preach unto them;
90 And after that he had preached unto them and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord;
91 And he did cease speaking unto them.
92 And all these things did my father see and hear and speak as he dwelt in a tent in the Valley of Lemuel, And also a great many more things which cannot be written upon these plates.
93 And now as I have spoken concerning these plates, behold, they are not the plates upon which I make a full account of the history of my people,
94 For the plates upon which I make a full account of my people I have given the name of Nephi;
95 Wherefore, they are called the plates of Nephi after mine own name; And these plates also are called the plates of Nephi.
96 Nevertheless, I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these plates for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people,
97 And upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people;
98 Wherefore, these plates are for the more part of the ministry, And the other plates are for the more part of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people;
99 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in Him, which purpose I know not,
100 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning;
101 Wherefore, He prepareth a way to accomplish all His works among the children of men, For behold, He hath all power unto the fulfilling of all His words;
102 And thus it is. Amen.
1 Nephi 3
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings and my reign and ministry; Wherefore, to proceed with mine account I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.
2 For behold, it came to pass that after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, He spake unto them concerning the Jews - How that after they were destroyed, yea, even that great City Jerusalem, and that many were carried away captive into Babylon, That according to the own due time of the Lord they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity;
3 And after that they are brought back out of captivity to possess again their land of inheritance,
4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a Prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews, Yea, even a Messiah, or in other words, a Savior of the world.
5 And he also spake concerning the prophets - How great a number had testified of these things concerning this Messiah of which he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world;
6 Wherefore, all mankind was in a lost and in a fallen state and ever would be, save they should rely on this Redeemer.
7 And he spake also concerning a prophet which should come before the Messiah to prepare the way of the Lord;
8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord and make His paths straight,
9 For there standeth One among you whom ye know not; And He is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."
10 And much spake my father concerning this thing;
11 And my father saith that he should baptize in Bethabara beyond Jordan, And he also spake that he should baptize with water, yea, even that he should baptize the Messiah with water;
12 And after that he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God which should take away the sin of the world.
13 And it came to pass that after my father had spoken these words, he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews,
14 And also concerning the dwindling of the Jews in unbelief;
15 And after that they had slain the Messiah which should come, And after that He had been slain, He should rise from the dead and should make Himself manifest by the Holy Ghost unto the Gentiles.
16 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel - That they should be compared like unto an olive tree whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth;
17 Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the Land of Promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth;
18 And after that the house of Israel should be scattered, they should be gathered together again;
19 Or, in fine, that after the Gentiles had received the fullness of the gospel, the natural branches of the olive tree - or the remnants of the house of Israel - should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer.
20 And after this manner of language did my father prophesy and speak unto my brethren,
21 And also many more things which I do not write in this book, For I have written as many of them as were expedient for me in mine other book.
22 And all these things of which I have spoken were done as my father dwelt in a tent in the Valley of Lemuel.
23 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi - Having heard all the words of my father concerning the things which he saw in a vision,
24 And also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God,
25 And the Son of God was the Messiah which should come -
26 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see and hear and know of these things by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek Him, as well in times of old as in the time that He should manifest Himself unto the children of men,
27 For He is the same yesterday, today and forever,
28 And the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto Him.
29 For he that diligently seeketh shall find,
30 And the mysteries of God shall be unfolded to them by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in this time as in times of old,
31 And as well in times of old as in times to come;
32 Wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.
33 Therefore, remember O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment;
34 Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment seat of God,
35 And no unclean thing can dwell with God, wherefore, ye must be cast off forever;
36 And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things and deny them not.
37 For it came to pass that after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me,
38 Wherefore, as I sat pondering in mine heart, I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceeding high mountain, A mountain which I never had before seen and upon which I never had before set my foot.
39 And the Spirit saith unto me: "Behold, what desirest thou?"
40 And I saith: "I desire to behold the things which my father saw."
41 And the Spirit saith unto me: "Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?"
42 And I said: "Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father."
43 And when I had spake these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: "Hosanna to the Lord, the Most High God! for He is God over all the earth, yea, even above all!
44 "And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the Most High God; Wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired;
45 And behold, this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign: That after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit of which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a Man descending out of heaven, And Him shall ye witness; And after that ye shall have witnessed Him, ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God."
46 And it came to pass that the Spirit saith unto me: "Look!" And I looked and beheld a tree; And it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; And the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; And the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.
47 And it came to pass that after that I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: "I behold Thou hast shown unto me the tree which is most precious above all."
48 And He saith unto me: "What desirest thou?"
49 And I said unto Him: "To know the interpretation thereof."
50 For I spake unto Him as a man speaketh, for I beheld that He was in the form of a man, Yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; And He spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.
51 And it came to pass that He said unto me: "Look!" And I looked as if to look upon Him and I saw Him not, for He had gone from before my presence.
52 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great City Jerusalem, and also other cities;
53 And I beheld the City of Nazareth; And in the City of Nazareth I beheld a virgin and she was exceeding fair and white.
54 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open and an angel came down and stood before me; And he saith unto me: "Nephi, what beholdest thou?"
55 And I saith unto him: "A virgin most beautiful and fair above all other virgins."
56 And he saith unto me: "Knowest thou the Condescension of God?"
57 And I said unto him: "I know that He loveth His children, Nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."
58 And he said unto me: "Behold, the virgin which thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh."
59 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit;
60 And after that she had been carried away in the Spirit a time, for the space of a time, the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!"
61 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a Child in her arms;
62 And the angel said unto me: "Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!
63 Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?"
64 And I answered him, saying: "Yea, it is the love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; Wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things."
65 And he spake unto me, saying: "Yea, and the most joyous to the soul!"
66 And after that he had said these words, he said unto me: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the Son of God a going forth among the children of men;
67 And I saw many fall down at His feet and worship Him.
68 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron which my father had seen was the word of God which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life, which waters are a representation of the love of God;
69 And I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
70 And the angel said unto me again: "Look and behold the Condescension of God."
71 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world of which my father had spoken;
72 And I also beheld the prophet which should prepare the way before Him;
73 And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him;
74 And after that He was baptized, I beheld the heavens open and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abode upon Him in the form of a dove;
75 And I beheld that He went forth ministering unto the people in power and great glory;
76 And the multitudes were gathered together to hear Him;
77 And I beheld that they cast Him out from among them;
78 And I also beheld twelve others following Him;
79 And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, that I saw them not.
80 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the heavens open again;
81 And I saw angels descending upon the children of men, And they did minister unto them.
82 And he spake unto me again, saying: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men;
83 And I beheld multitudes of people which were sick and which were afflicted of all manner of diseases and with devils and unclean spirits;
84 And the angel spake and showed all these things unto me;
85 And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God, And the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.
86 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that He was taken by the people, Yea, the Everlasting God was judged of the world; And I saw and bear record;
87 And I, Nephi, saw that He was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world;
88 And after that He was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb, for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord;
89 And the multitude of the earth was gathered together;
90 And I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building like unto the building which my father saw.
91 And the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Behold the world and the wisdom thereof;
92 Yea, behold, the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
93 And it came to pass that I saw and bear record that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world,
94 And it fell; And the fall thereof was exceeding great.
95 And the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
96 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: "Look and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren!"
97 And I looked and beheld the land, the Land of Promise;
98 And I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea.
99 And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle one against the other; And I beheld wars and rumors of wars and great slaughters with the sword among my people.
100 And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass away after the manner of wars and contentions in the land;
101 And I beheld many cities, yea, even that I did not number them.
102 And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the Land of Promise;
103 And I saw lightnings, And I heard thunderings and earthquakes and all manner of tumultuous noises;
104 And I saw the earth, that it rent, And the rocks, that they rent;
105 And I saw mountains tumbling into pieces;
106 And I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up;
107 And I saw many cities, that they were sunk;
108 And I saw many, that they were burnt with fire;
109 And I saw many, that they did tumble to the earth because of the quaking thereof.
110 And it came to pass that after I saw these things, I saw the vapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth.
111 And behold, I saw the multitudes which had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord;
112 And I saw the heavens open and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; And He came down and He showed Himself unto them;
113 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others, And they were ordained of God and chosen.
114 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb which are chosen to minister unto thy seed."
115 And he saith unto me: "Thou remembereth the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold, they are they which shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel;
116 Wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them, for ye are of the house of Israel; And these twelve ministers which thou beholdest shall judge thy seed;
117 And behold, they are righteous forever, For because of their faith in the Lamb of God, their garments are made white in His blood."
118 And the angel saith unto me: "Look!" And I looked and beheld three generations did pass away in righteousness; Their garments were white, even like unto the Lamb of God;
119 And the angel said unto me: "These are made white in the blood of the Lamb because of their faith in Him."
120 And I, Nephi, also saw many of the fourth generation which did pass away in righteousness.
121 And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together;
122 And the angel said unto me: "Behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren."
123 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the people of my seed gathered together in multitudes against the seed of my brethren, And they were gathered together to battle;
124 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw, yea, even the river of which he spake; And the depths thereof are the depths of hell;
125 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil which blindeth the eyes and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, And leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.
126 "And the large and spacious building which thy father saw is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men;
127 And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them, Yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record from the beginning of the world until this time, And from this time henceforth and forever."
128 And while the angel spoke these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed according to the word of the angel;
129 And because of the pride of my seed and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed.
130 And it came to pass that I beheld and saw the people of the seed of my brethren, that they had overcome my seed; And they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land;
131 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes,
132 And I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; And in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away.
133 And the angel said unto me: "Behold, these shall dwindle in unbelief."
134 And it came to pass that I beheld that after they had dwindled in unbelief, They became a dark and loathsome and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
135 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
136 And the angel saith unto me: "What beholdest thou?"
137 And I said: "I behold many nations and kingdoms."
138 And he saith unto me: "These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles."
139 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church;
140 And the angel said unto me: "Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, Which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them, and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity."
141 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; And I saw the devil, that he was the founder of it;
142 And I also saw gold and silver and silks and scarlets and fine-twined linen and all manner of precious clothing; And I saw many harlots.
143 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold, the gold and the silver and the silks and the scarlets and the fine-twined linen and the precious clothing and the harlots are the desires of this great and abominable church;
144 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God and bring them down into captivity."
145 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; And they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
146 And it came to pass that the angel saith unto me: "Behold, the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren!"
147 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles which were separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; And I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man, And he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren which were in the Promised Land.
148 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; And they went forth out of captivity upon the many waters.
149 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of Gentiles upon the Land of Promise;
150 And I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren, And they were scattered before the Gentiles and they were smitten;
151 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, that they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; And I beheld that they were white and exceeding fair and beautiful, like unto my people before that they were slain.
152 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord, And the power of the Lord was with them;
153 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them;
154 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, And also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle;
155 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations;
156 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land.
157 And I beheld a book, And it was carried forth among them;
158 And the angel saith unto me: "Knowest thou the meaning of the book?"
159 And I saith: "I know not."
160 And he saith: "Behold, it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew." And I, Nephi, beheld it;
161 And he saith unto me: "The book which thou beholdest is a record of the Jews which contains the covenants of the Lord which He hath made unto the house of Israel,
162 And it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets;
163 And it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many, Nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord which He hath made unto the house of Israel;
164 Wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles."
165 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: "Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; And when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bore record, And they bore record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God;
166 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.
167 "And after that they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb from the Jews unto the Gentiles, Behold, after this thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is the most abominable of all other churches.
168 "For behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious,
169 And also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away;
170 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.
171 "Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church that there are many plain and most precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God;
172 And after that these plain and precious things were taken away, it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles;
173 And after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles - yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen, with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity -
174 And thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book - which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God -
175 And because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, An exceeding great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.
176 "Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity and have been lifted up above by the power of God above all other nations upon the face of the land - Which is choice above all other lands,
177 Which is the land which the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance - Wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed which is among thy brethren.
178 "Neither will He suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren;
179 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that state of awful woundedness, which thou beholdest that they are in because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen;
180 'Wherefore, ' saith the Lamb of God, 'I will be merciful unto the Gentiles unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.'"
181 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "' Behold, saith the Lamb of God, ' after that I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel - and this remnant of which I speak is the seed of thy father -
182 Wherefore, after that I have visited them in judgment and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles,
183 And after that the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly because of the most plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church which is the mother of harlots, ' saith the Lamb, 'Wherefore, I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, ' saith the Lamb, 'Insomuch that I will bring forth unto them in Mine own power much of My gospel, which shall be plain and most precious, ' saith the Lamb.
184 'For behold, ' saith the Lamb, 'I will manifest Myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious;
185 And after that thy seed shall be destroyed and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, Behold, these things shall be hid up to come forth unto the Gentiles by the gift and power of the Lamb;
186 And in them shall be written My gospel, ' saith the Lamb, 'and My rock and My salvation;
187 And blessed are they which shall seek to bring forth My Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost;
188 And if they endure unto the end, they shall be lifted up at the last day and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb;
189 Yea, whoso shall publish peace, that shall publish tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be! '"
190 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, And also the book of the Lamb of God which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew; And I beheld that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren;
191 And after it had come forth unto them, I beheld other books which came forth by the power of the Lamb from the Gentiles unto them, Unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, And also to the Jews which were scattered upon all the face of the earth, That the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true.
192 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, And shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them;
193 And shall make known to all kindreds, tongues and people that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world, And that all men must come unto Him or they cannot be saved;
194 And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb;
195 And the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb;
196 Wherefore, they both shall be established in one;
197 For there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth;
198 And the time cometh that He shall manifest Himself unto all nations - both unto the Jews, and also unto the Gentiles;
199 And after that He hath manifested Himself unto the Jews, and also unto the Gentiles, Then He shall manifest Himself unto the Gentiles, and also unto the Jews;
200 And the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.
201 "And it shall come to pass that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that He shall manifest Himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, Unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, if it so be that they harden not their hearts against the Lamb, And if it so be that they harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father,
202 Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel;
203 And they shall be a blessed people upon the Promised Land forever;
204 They shall be no more brought down into captivity,
205 And the house of Israel shall no more be confounded;
206 And that great pit which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell,
207 Yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it unto their utter destruction, " saith the Lamb of God -
208 "Not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end -
209 For behold, this is according to the captivity of the devil, And also according to the justice of God upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before Him."
210 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: "Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent, it shall be well with them;
211 And thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel;
212 And thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish;
213 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God,
214 'For the time cometh, ' saith the Lamb of God, ' that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men -
215 A work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other,
216 Either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, Or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, Unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil of which I have spoken.'"
217 And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he saith unto me, "Remember thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel?"
218 I saith unto him, "Yea."
219 And it came to pass that he saith unto me: "Look and behold that great and abominable church which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil."
220 And he saith unto me: "Behold, there are save it be two churches -
221 The one is the church of the Lamb of God, And the other is the church of the devil;
222 Wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abominations,
223 And she is the whore of all the earth."
224 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth; And she sat upon many waters;
225 And she had dominion over all the earth among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
226 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, And its numbers were few because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore which sat upon many waters;
227 Nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, which were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth,
228 And their dominion upon the face of the earth was small because of the wickedness of the great whore which I saw.
229 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together in multitudes upon the face of all the earth among all the nations of the Gentiles to fight against the Lamb of God.
230 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb and upon the covenant people of the Lord which were scattered upon all the face of the earth;
231 And they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
232 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth;
233 And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying:
234 "Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots;
235 And behold, thou seest all these things;
236 And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil,
237 Then at that day, the work of the Father shall commence in preparing the way for the fulfilling of His covenants which He hath made to His people which are of the house of Israel."
238 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld a man; And he was dressed in a white robe;
239 And the angel said unto me: "Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb!
240 Behold, he shall see and write the remainder of these things,
241 Yea, and also many things which have been;
242 And he shall also write concerning the end of the world;
243 Wherefore, the things which he shall write are just and true;
244 And behold, they are written in the book which thou beheld proceeding out of the mouth of the Jew;
245 And at the time they proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, or at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, The things which were written were plain and pure and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men.
246 "And behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen;
247 And behold, the remainder shalt thou see;
248 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter, thou shalt not write, For the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God, that he should write them,
249 And also others which have been - To them hath He shown all things and they have written them;
250 And they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord unto the house of Israel."
251 And I, Nephi, heard and bore record that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.
252 And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw, Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me;
253 And I have not written but a small part of the things which I saw,
254 And I bear record that I saw the things which my father saw; And the angel of the Lord did make them known unto me.
255 And now I make an end of speaking concerning the things which I saw while I was carried away in the Spirit;
256 And if all the things which I saw are not written, the things which I have written are true; And thus it is. Amen.
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings and my reign and ministry; Wherefore, to proceed with mine account I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.
2 For behold, it came to pass that after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, He spake unto them concerning the Jews - How that after they were destroyed, yea, even that great City Jerusalem, and that many were carried away captive into Babylon, That according to the own due time of the Lord they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity;
3 And after that they are brought back out of captivity to possess again their land of inheritance,
4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a Prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews, Yea, even a Messiah, or in other words, a Savior of the world.
5 And he also spake concerning the prophets - How great a number had testified of these things concerning this Messiah of which he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world;
6 Wherefore, all mankind was in a lost and in a fallen state and ever would be, save they should rely on this Redeemer.
7 And he spake also concerning a prophet which should come before the Messiah to prepare the way of the Lord;
8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord and make His paths straight,
9 For there standeth One among you whom ye know not; And He is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."
10 And much spake my father concerning this thing;
11 And my father saith that he should baptize in Bethabara beyond Jordan, And he also spake that he should baptize with water, yea, even that he should baptize the Messiah with water;
12 And after that he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God which should take away the sin of the world.
13 And it came to pass that after my father had spoken these words, he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews,
14 And also concerning the dwindling of the Jews in unbelief;
15 And after that they had slain the Messiah which should come, And after that He had been slain, He should rise from the dead and should make Himself manifest by the Holy Ghost unto the Gentiles.
16 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel - That they should be compared like unto an olive tree whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth;
17 Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the Land of Promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth;
18 And after that the house of Israel should be scattered, they should be gathered together again;
19 Or, in fine, that after the Gentiles had received the fullness of the gospel, the natural branches of the olive tree - or the remnants of the house of Israel - should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer.
20 And after this manner of language did my father prophesy and speak unto my brethren,
21 And also many more things which I do not write in this book, For I have written as many of them as were expedient for me in mine other book.
22 And all these things of which I have spoken were done as my father dwelt in a tent in the Valley of Lemuel.
23 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi - Having heard all the words of my father concerning the things which he saw in a vision,
24 And also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God,
25 And the Son of God was the Messiah which should come -
26 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see and hear and know of these things by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek Him, as well in times of old as in the time that He should manifest Himself unto the children of men,
27 For He is the same yesterday, today and forever,
28 And the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto Him.
29 For he that diligently seeketh shall find,
30 And the mysteries of God shall be unfolded to them by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in this time as in times of old,
31 And as well in times of old as in times to come;
32 Wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.
33 Therefore, remember O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment;
34 Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment seat of God,
35 And no unclean thing can dwell with God, wherefore, ye must be cast off forever;
36 And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things and deny them not.
37 For it came to pass that after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me,
38 Wherefore, as I sat pondering in mine heart, I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceeding high mountain, A mountain which I never had before seen and upon which I never had before set my foot.
39 And the Spirit saith unto me: "Behold, what desirest thou?"
40 And I saith: "I desire to behold the things which my father saw."
41 And the Spirit saith unto me: "Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?"
42 And I said: "Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father."
43 And when I had spake these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: "Hosanna to the Lord, the Most High God! for He is God over all the earth, yea, even above all!
44 "And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the Most High God; Wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired;
45 And behold, this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign: That after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit of which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a Man descending out of heaven, And Him shall ye witness; And after that ye shall have witnessed Him, ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God."
46 And it came to pass that the Spirit saith unto me: "Look!" And I looked and beheld a tree; And it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; And the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; And the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.
47 And it came to pass that after that I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: "I behold Thou hast shown unto me the tree which is most precious above all."
48 And He saith unto me: "What desirest thou?"
49 And I said unto Him: "To know the interpretation thereof."
50 For I spake unto Him as a man speaketh, for I beheld that He was in the form of a man, Yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; And He spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.
51 And it came to pass that He said unto me: "Look!" And I looked as if to look upon Him and I saw Him not, for He had gone from before my presence.
52 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great City Jerusalem, and also other cities;
53 And I beheld the City of Nazareth; And in the City of Nazareth I beheld a virgin and she was exceeding fair and white.
54 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open and an angel came down and stood before me; And he saith unto me: "Nephi, what beholdest thou?"
55 And I saith unto him: "A virgin most beautiful and fair above all other virgins."
56 And he saith unto me: "Knowest thou the Condescension of God?"
57 And I said unto him: "I know that He loveth His children, Nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."
58 And he said unto me: "Behold, the virgin which thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh."
59 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit;
60 And after that she had been carried away in the Spirit a time, for the space of a time, the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!"
61 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a Child in her arms;
62 And the angel said unto me: "Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!
63 Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?"
64 And I answered him, saying: "Yea, it is the love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; Wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things."
65 And he spake unto me, saying: "Yea, and the most joyous to the soul!"
66 And after that he had said these words, he said unto me: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the Son of God a going forth among the children of men;
67 And I saw many fall down at His feet and worship Him.
68 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron which my father had seen was the word of God which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life, which waters are a representation of the love of God;
69 And I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
70 And the angel said unto me again: "Look and behold the Condescension of God."
71 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world of which my father had spoken;
72 And I also beheld the prophet which should prepare the way before Him;
73 And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him;
74 And after that He was baptized, I beheld the heavens open and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abode upon Him in the form of a dove;
75 And I beheld that He went forth ministering unto the people in power and great glory;
76 And the multitudes were gathered together to hear Him;
77 And I beheld that they cast Him out from among them;
78 And I also beheld twelve others following Him;
79 And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, that I saw them not.
80 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the heavens open again;
81 And I saw angels descending upon the children of men, And they did minister unto them.
82 And he spake unto me again, saying: "Look!" And I looked and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men;
83 And I beheld multitudes of people which were sick and which were afflicted of all manner of diseases and with devils and unclean spirits;
84 And the angel spake and showed all these things unto me;
85 And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God, And the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.
86 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that He was taken by the people, Yea, the Everlasting God was judged of the world; And I saw and bear record;
87 And I, Nephi, saw that He was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world;
88 And after that He was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb, for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord;
89 And the multitude of the earth was gathered together;
90 And I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building like unto the building which my father saw.
91 And the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Behold the world and the wisdom thereof;
92 Yea, behold, the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
93 And it came to pass that I saw and bear record that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world,
94 And it fell; And the fall thereof was exceeding great.
95 And the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
96 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: "Look and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren!"
97 And I looked and beheld the land, the Land of Promise;
98 And I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea.
99 And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle one against the other; And I beheld wars and rumors of wars and great slaughters with the sword among my people.
100 And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass away after the manner of wars and contentions in the land;
101 And I beheld many cities, yea, even that I did not number them.
102 And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the Land of Promise;
103 And I saw lightnings, And I heard thunderings and earthquakes and all manner of tumultuous noises;
104 And I saw the earth, that it rent, And the rocks, that they rent;
105 And I saw mountains tumbling into pieces;
106 And I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up;
107 And I saw many cities, that they were sunk;
108 And I saw many, that they were burnt with fire;
109 And I saw many, that they did tumble to the earth because of the quaking thereof.
110 And it came to pass that after I saw these things, I saw the vapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth.
111 And behold, I saw the multitudes which had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord;
112 And I saw the heavens open and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; And He came down and He showed Himself unto them;
113 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others, And they were ordained of God and chosen.
114 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb which are chosen to minister unto thy seed."
115 And he saith unto me: "Thou remembereth the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold, they are they which shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel;
116 Wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them, for ye are of the house of Israel; And these twelve ministers which thou beholdest shall judge thy seed;
117 And behold, they are righteous forever, For because of their faith in the Lamb of God, their garments are made white in His blood."
118 And the angel saith unto me: "Look!" And I looked and beheld three generations did pass away in righteousness; Their garments were white, even like unto the Lamb of God;
119 And the angel said unto me: "These are made white in the blood of the Lamb because of their faith in Him."
120 And I, Nephi, also saw many of the fourth generation which did pass away in righteousness.
121 And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together;
122 And the angel said unto me: "Behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren."
123 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the people of my seed gathered together in multitudes against the seed of my brethren, And they were gathered together to battle;
124 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw, yea, even the river of which he spake; And the depths thereof are the depths of hell;
125 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil which blindeth the eyes and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, And leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.
126 "And the large and spacious building which thy father saw is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men;
127 And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them, Yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record from the beginning of the world until this time, And from this time henceforth and forever."
128 And while the angel spoke these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed according to the word of the angel;
129 And because of the pride of my seed and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed.
130 And it came to pass that I beheld and saw the people of the seed of my brethren, that they had overcome my seed; And they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land;
131 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes,
132 And I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; And in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away.
133 And the angel said unto me: "Behold, these shall dwindle in unbelief."
134 And it came to pass that I beheld that after they had dwindled in unbelief, They became a dark and loathsome and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
135 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
136 And the angel saith unto me: "What beholdest thou?"
137 And I said: "I behold many nations and kingdoms."
138 And he saith unto me: "These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles."
139 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church;
140 And the angel said unto me: "Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, Which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them, and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity."
141 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; And I saw the devil, that he was the founder of it;
142 And I also saw gold and silver and silks and scarlets and fine-twined linen and all manner of precious clothing; And I saw many harlots.
143 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "Behold, the gold and the silver and the silks and the scarlets and the fine-twined linen and the precious clothing and the harlots are the desires of this great and abominable church;
144 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God and bring them down into captivity."
145 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; And they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
146 And it came to pass that the angel saith unto me: "Behold, the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren!"
147 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles which were separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; And I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man, And he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren which were in the Promised Land.
148 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; And they went forth out of captivity upon the many waters.
149 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of Gentiles upon the Land of Promise;
150 And I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren, And they were scattered before the Gentiles and they were smitten;
151 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, that they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; And I beheld that they were white and exceeding fair and beautiful, like unto my people before that they were slain.
152 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord, And the power of the Lord was with them;
153 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them;
154 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, And also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle;
155 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles which had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations;
156 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land.
157 And I beheld a book, And it was carried forth among them;
158 And the angel saith unto me: "Knowest thou the meaning of the book?"
159 And I saith: "I know not."
160 And he saith: "Behold, it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew." And I, Nephi, beheld it;
161 And he saith unto me: "The book which thou beholdest is a record of the Jews which contains the covenants of the Lord which He hath made unto the house of Israel,
162 And it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets;
163 And it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many, Nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord which He hath made unto the house of Israel;
164 Wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles."
165 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: "Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; And when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bore record, And they bore record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God;
166 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.
167 "And after that they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb from the Jews unto the Gentiles, Behold, after this thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is the most abominable of all other churches.
168 "For behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious,
169 And also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away;
170 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.
171 "Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church that there are many plain and most precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God;
172 And after that these plain and precious things were taken away, it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles;
173 And after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles - yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen, with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity -
174 And thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book - which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God -
175 And because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, An exceeding great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.
176 "Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity and have been lifted up above by the power of God above all other nations upon the face of the land - Which is choice above all other lands,
177 Which is the land which the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance - Wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed which is among thy brethren.
178 "Neither will He suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren;
179 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that state of awful woundedness, which thou beholdest that they are in because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen;
180 'Wherefore, ' saith the Lamb of God, 'I will be merciful unto the Gentiles unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.'"
181 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: "' Behold, saith the Lamb of God, ' after that I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel - and this remnant of which I speak is the seed of thy father -
182 Wherefore, after that I have visited them in judgment and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles,
183 And after that the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly because of the most plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church which is the mother of harlots, ' saith the Lamb, 'Wherefore, I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, ' saith the Lamb, 'Insomuch that I will bring forth unto them in Mine own power much of My gospel, which shall be plain and most precious, ' saith the Lamb.
184 'For behold, ' saith the Lamb, 'I will manifest Myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious;
185 And after that thy seed shall be destroyed and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, Behold, these things shall be hid up to come forth unto the Gentiles by the gift and power of the Lamb;
186 And in them shall be written My gospel, ' saith the Lamb, 'and My rock and My salvation;
187 And blessed are they which shall seek to bring forth My Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost;
188 And if they endure unto the end, they shall be lifted up at the last day and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb;
189 Yea, whoso shall publish peace, that shall publish tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be! '"
190 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, And also the book of the Lamb of God which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew; And I beheld that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren;
191 And after it had come forth unto them, I beheld other books which came forth by the power of the Lamb from the Gentiles unto them, Unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, And also to the Jews which were scattered upon all the face of the earth, That the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true.
192 And the angel spake unto me, saying: "These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, And shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them;
193 And shall make known to all kindreds, tongues and people that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world, And that all men must come unto Him or they cannot be saved;
194 And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb;
195 And the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb;
196 Wherefore, they both shall be established in one;
197 For there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth;
198 And the time cometh that He shall manifest Himself unto all nations - both unto the Jews, and also unto the Gentiles;
199 And after that He hath manifested Himself unto the Jews, and also unto the Gentiles, Then He shall manifest Himself unto the Gentiles, and also unto the Jews;
200 And the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.
201 "And it shall come to pass that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that He shall manifest Himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, Unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, if it so be that they harden not their hearts against the Lamb, And if it so be that they harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father,
202 Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel;
203 And they shall be a blessed people upon the Promised Land forever;
204 They shall be no more brought down into captivity,
205 And the house of Israel shall no more be confounded;
206 And that great pit which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell,
207 Yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it unto their utter destruction, " saith the Lamb of God -
208 "Not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end -
209 For behold, this is according to the captivity of the devil, And also according to the justice of God upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before Him."
210 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: "Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent, it shall be well with them;
211 And thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel;
212 And thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish;
213 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God,
214 'For the time cometh, ' saith the Lamb of God, ' that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men -
215 A work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other,
216 Either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, Or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, Unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil of which I have spoken.'"
217 And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he saith unto me, "Remember thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel?"
218 I saith unto him, "Yea."
219 And it came to pass that he saith unto me: "Look and behold that great and abominable church which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil."
220 And he saith unto me: "Behold, there are save it be two churches -
221 The one is the church of the Lamb of God, And the other is the church of the devil;
222 Wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abominations,
223 And she is the whore of all the earth."
224 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth; And she sat upon many waters;
225 And she had dominion over all the earth among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
226 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, And its numbers were few because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore which sat upon many waters;
227 Nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, which were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth,
228 And their dominion upon the face of the earth was small because of the wickedness of the great whore which I saw.
229 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together in multitudes upon the face of all the earth among all the nations of the Gentiles to fight against the Lamb of God.
230 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb and upon the covenant people of the Lord which were scattered upon all the face of the earth;
231 And they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
232 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth;
233 And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying:
234 "Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots;
235 And behold, thou seest all these things;
236 And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil,
237 Then at that day, the work of the Father shall commence in preparing the way for the fulfilling of His covenants which He hath made to His people which are of the house of Israel."
238 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: "Look!" And I looked and beheld a man; And he was dressed in a white robe;
239 And the angel said unto me: "Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb!
240 Behold, he shall see and write the remainder of these things,
241 Yea, and also many things which have been;
242 And he shall also write concerning the end of the world;
243 Wherefore, the things which he shall write are just and true;
244 And behold, they are written in the book which thou beheld proceeding out of the mouth of the Jew;
245 And at the time they proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, or at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, The things which were written were plain and pure and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men.
246 "And behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen;
247 And behold, the remainder shalt thou see;
248 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter, thou shalt not write, For the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God, that he should write them,
249 And also others which have been - To them hath He shown all things and they have written them;
250 And they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord unto the house of Israel."
251 And I, Nephi, heard and bore record that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.
252 And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw, Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me;
253 And I have not written but a small part of the things which I saw,
254 And I bear record that I saw the things which my father saw; And the angel of the Lord did make them known unto me.
255 And now I make an end of speaking concerning the things which I saw while I was carried away in the Spirit;
256 And if all the things which I saw are not written, the things which I have written are true; And thus it is. Amen.
1 Nephi 4
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in the Spirit and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my father.
2 And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren; And they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them,
3 For he truly spake many great things unto them which were hard to be understood save a man should inquire of the Lord;
4 And they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they had ought.
5 And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also because of the things which I had seen, And knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men.
6 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, For I considered that mine afflictions were great above all because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
7 And it came to pass that after I had received strength, I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations.
8 And they said: "Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles."
9 And I said unto them: "Have ye inquired of the Lord?"
10 And they said unto me: "We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."
11 "Behold, " I said unto them, "how is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?
12 How is it that ye will perish because of the hardness of your hearts?
13 "Do ye not remember the thing which the Lord hath said: ' If ye will not harden your hearts and ask Me in faith, believing that ye shall receive - with diligence in keeping My commandments - surely these things shall be made known unto you ' ?
14 "Behold, I say unto you that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father.
15 "And behold, are we not broken off from the house of Israel? And are we not a branch of the house of Israel?
16 "And now the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fullness of the Gentiles is that in the latter days when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, Yea, for the space of many years and many generations after that the Messiah hath manifested Himself in body unto the children of men, Then shall the fullness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, And from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed.
17 "And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord;
18 And then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, And also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer which was ministered unto their fathers by Him;
19 Wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of His doctrine, that they may know how to come unto Him and be saved.
20 "And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their Everlasting God, their Rock and their Salvation?
21 Yea, at that day will they not receive strength and nourishment from the True Vine?
22 Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?
23 "Behold, I say unto you, Yea; They shall be numbered again among the house of Israel;
24 They shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive tree, into the true olive tree.
25 "And this is what our father meaneth.
26 "And he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after that they are scattered by the Gentiles;
27 And he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show His power unto the Gentiles for the very cause that He shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.
28 "Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days,
29 Which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: ' In thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. '"
30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them concerning these things,
31 Yea, I spake unto them concerning the restoration of the Jews in the latter days;
32 And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah which spake concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel;
33 And after that they were restored, they should no more be confounded, neither should they be scattered again.
34 And it came to pass that I did speak so many words unto my brethren that they were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord.
35 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying: "What meaneth the thing which our father saw in a dream?
36 What meaneth the tree which he saw?"
37 And I said unto them: "It was a representation of the tree of life."
38 And they said unto me: "What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw that led to the tree?"
39 And I said unto them that it was the word of God and that whoso would hearken unto the word of God and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish,
40 Neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness to lead them away to destruction.
41 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord,
42 Yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul and with all the faculty which I possessed that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep His commandments always in all things.
43 And they said unto me: "What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?"
44 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness,
45 And so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
46 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf which separateth the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
47 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
48 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justices of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous,
49 And the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever and hath no end.
50 And they said unto me: "Doth this thing mean the torment of the body in the days of probation? Or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body? Or doth it speak of the things which are temporal?"
51 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual,
52 For the day should come that they must be judged of their works, Yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.
53 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness, they must be cast off also as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining unto righteousness;
54 Wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God to be judged of their works;
55 And if their works have been filthiness, they must needs be filthy;
56 And if they be filthy, it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God,
57 If so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also;
58 But behold I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, And there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God
59 Wherefore, there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy;
60 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, And the devil is the preparator of it.
61 Wherefore, the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken;
62 Wherefore, the wicked are separated from the righteous, And also from that tree of life whose fruit is most precious and most desirable of all other fruits;
63 Yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
64 And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in the Spirit and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my father.
2 And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren; And they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them,
3 For he truly spake many great things unto them which were hard to be understood save a man should inquire of the Lord;
4 And they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they had ought.
5 And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also because of the things which I had seen, And knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men.
6 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, For I considered that mine afflictions were great above all because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
7 And it came to pass that after I had received strength, I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations.
8 And they said: "Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles."
9 And I said unto them: "Have ye inquired of the Lord?"
10 And they said unto me: "We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."
11 "Behold, " I said unto them, "how is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?
12 How is it that ye will perish because of the hardness of your hearts?
13 "Do ye not remember the thing which the Lord hath said: ' If ye will not harden your hearts and ask Me in faith, believing that ye shall receive - with diligence in keeping My commandments - surely these things shall be made known unto you ' ?
14 "Behold, I say unto you that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father.
15 "And behold, are we not broken off from the house of Israel? And are we not a branch of the house of Israel?
16 "And now the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fullness of the Gentiles is that in the latter days when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, Yea, for the space of many years and many generations after that the Messiah hath manifested Himself in body unto the children of men, Then shall the fullness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, And from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed.
17 "And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord;
18 And then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, And also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer which was ministered unto their fathers by Him;
19 Wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of His doctrine, that they may know how to come unto Him and be saved.
20 "And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their Everlasting God, their Rock and their Salvation?
21 Yea, at that day will they not receive strength and nourishment from the True Vine?
22 Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?
23 "Behold, I say unto you, Yea; They shall be numbered again among the house of Israel;
24 They shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive tree, into the true olive tree.
25 "And this is what our father meaneth.
26 "And he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after that they are scattered by the Gentiles;
27 And he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show His power unto the Gentiles for the very cause that He shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.
28 "Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days,
29 Which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: ' In thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. '"
30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them concerning these things,
31 Yea, I spake unto them concerning the restoration of the Jews in the latter days;
32 And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah which spake concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel;
33 And after that they were restored, they should no more be confounded, neither should they be scattered again.
34 And it came to pass that I did speak so many words unto my brethren that they were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord.
35 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying: "What meaneth the thing which our father saw in a dream?
36 What meaneth the tree which he saw?"
37 And I said unto them: "It was a representation of the tree of life."
38 And they said unto me: "What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw that led to the tree?"
39 And I said unto them that it was the word of God and that whoso would hearken unto the word of God and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish,
40 Neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness to lead them away to destruction.
41 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord,
42 Yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul and with all the faculty which I possessed that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep His commandments always in all things.
43 And they said unto me: "What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?"
44 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness,
45 And so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
46 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf which separateth the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
47 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
48 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justices of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous,
49 And the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever and hath no end.
50 And they said unto me: "Doth this thing mean the torment of the body in the days of probation? Or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body? Or doth it speak of the things which are temporal?"
51 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual,
52 For the day should come that they must be judged of their works, Yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.
53 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness, they must be cast off also as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining unto righteousness;
54 Wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God to be judged of their works;
55 And if their works have been filthiness, they must needs be filthy;
56 And if they be filthy, it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God,
57 If so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also;
58 But behold I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, And there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God
59 Wherefore, there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy;
60 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, And the devil is the preparator of it.
61 Wherefore, the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken;
62 Wherefore, the wicked are separated from the righteous, And also from that tree of life whose fruit is most precious and most desirable of all other fruits;
63 Yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
64 And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.
1 Nephi 5
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold, they said unto me: "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than that which we are able to bear."
2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; And the righteous have I justified and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; Wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
3 "And now my brethren, if ye were righteous, and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, Then ye would not murmur because of the truth and say, 'Thou speakest hard things against us.'"
4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.
5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness;
6 Now all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife, And also my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife, And also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.
8 And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him;
9 And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly.
10 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness.
11 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning and went forth to the tent door, and to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship and it was of fine brass;
12 And within the ball were two spindles, And the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.
13 And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us;
14 And we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness.
15 And it came to pass that we did take our tents and departed into the wilderness across the River Laman.
16 And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days nearly a south, southeast direction; And we did pitch our tents again; And we did call the name of the place Shazer.
17 And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; And after that we had slain food for our families, we did return again to our families in the wilderness to the Place of Shazer;
18 And we did go forth again in the wilderness following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness which were in the borders near the Red Sea.
19 And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings.
20 And we did follow the directions of the ball which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
21 And after that we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.
22 And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow which was made of fine steel; And after that I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.
23 And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families;
24 And being much fatigued because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.
25 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness, And also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; Yea, and they were all exceeding sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.
26 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceeding difficult, Yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food.
27 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren because that they had hardened their hearts again, even unto complaining against the Lord their God.
28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow and out of a straight stick an arrow; Wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones;
29 And I said unto my father: "Whither shall I go to obtain food?"
30 And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words, for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.
31 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, And he was truly chastened because of his murmurings against the Lord insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.
32 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him: "Look upon the ball and behold the things which are written!"
33 And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, And also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives.
34 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
35 And there was also written upon them a new writing which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; And it was written and changed from time to time according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it.
36 And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.
37 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain according to the directions which were given upon the ball.
38 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts insomuch that I did obtain food for our families.
39 And it came to pass that I did return to our tents bearing the beasts which I had slain;
40 And now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy.
41 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord and did give thanks unto Him.
42 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning;
43 And after that we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.
44 And it came to pass that Ishmael died and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.
45 And it came to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly because of the loss of their father and because of their afflictions in the wilderness;
46 And they did murmur against my father because that he had brought them out of the Land of Jerusalem, saying: "Our father is dead, yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, And we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst and fatigue; And after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger."
47 And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me, And they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem.
48 And Laman saith unto Lemuel, and also unto the sons of Ishmael: "Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi who hath taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.
49 "Now he saith that the Lord hath talked with him, and also that angels hath ministered unto him!
50 "But behold, we know that he lieth unto us and he telleth us these things; And he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking perhaps that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness;
51 And after that he hath led us away, he hath thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure."
52 And after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger.
53 And it came to pass that the Lord was with us; Yea, even the voice of the Lord came and did speak many words unto them and did chasten them exceedingly;
54 And after that they were chastened by the voice of the Lord, they did turn away their anger and did repent of their sins insomuch that the Lord did bless us again with food, that we did not perish.
55 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; And we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth;
56 And we did travail and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; And our women bore children in the wilderness;
57 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; And they began to bear their journeyings without murmuring.
58 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled;
59 And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God, He doth nourish them and strengthen them and provide ways and means whereby they can accomplish the thing which He hath commanded them;
60 Wherefore, He did provide ways and means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
61 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.
62 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful because of its much fruit, and also wild honey;
63 And all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish;
64 And we beheld the sea which we called Irreantum, which being interpreted is "many waters."
65 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore;
66 And notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, We were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore;
67 And we called the place Bountiful because of its much fruit.
68 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the Land Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: "Arise and get thee into the mountain."
69 And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain and cried unto the Lord.
70 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me saying: "Thou shalt construct a ship after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters."
71 And I saith: "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?"
72 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore that I might make tools.
73 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts;
74 And after that I had made bellows that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire,
75 For the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire as we journeyed in the wilderness,
76 For He saith: "I will make that thy food shall become sweet, that ye cook it not;
77 And I will also be your light in the wilderness;
78 And I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep My commandments;
79 Wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep My commandments ye shall be led toward the Promised Land, And ye shall know that it is by Me that ye are led."
80 Yea, and the Lord said also that, "After ye have arrived to the Promised Land ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God,
81 And that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction -
82 Yea, that I did bring you out of the Land of Jerusalem."
83 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, And I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.
84 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.
85 And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying:
86 "Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship,
87 Yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters."
88 And thus my brethren did complain against me and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship,
89 Neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
90 And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceeding sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts;
91 And now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful, they were glad in their hearts insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying:
92 "We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; Wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.
93 "And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart;
94 Yea, he hath led us out of the Land of Jerusalem and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years,
95 And our women have toiled, being big with child, And they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death;
96 And it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.
97 "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance, Yea, and we might have been happy.
98 "And we know that the people which were in the Land of Jerusalem were a righteous people,
99 For they keep the statutes and the judgments of the Lord and all His commandments according to the law of Moses, Wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people;
100 And our father hath judged them and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his word;
101 Yea, and our brother is like unto him."
102 And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.
103 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake unto them, saying: "Do ye believe that our fathers, which were the children of Israel, would have been led away out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord?
104 "Yea, do ye suppose that they would have been led out of bondage if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he should lead them out of bondage?
105 "Now ye know that the children of Israel were in bondage; And ye know that they were laden with tasks which were grievous to be borne;
106 Wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them that they should be brought out of bondage.
107 "Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work;
108 And ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither and they passed through on dry ground.
109 "But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, which were the armies of Pharaoh.
110 "And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.
111 "Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word, according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock and there came forth water that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.
112 "And notwithstanding they being led - The Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day, and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive - They hardened their hearts, and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses, and against the true and living God.
113 "And it came to pass that according to His word He did destroy them;
114 And according to His word He did lead them;
115 And according to His word He did do all things for them;
116 And there was not anything done save it were by His word.
117 "And after they had crossed the River Jordan, He did make them mighty unto the driving out the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction.
118 "And now do ye suppose that the children of this land - which were in the Land of Promise, which were driven out by our fathers - do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
119 "Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they, if they had been righteous?
120 I say unto you, Nay.
121 "Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one;
122 He that is righteous is favored of God;
123 But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, And they were ripe in iniquity, And the fullness of the wrath of God was upon them;
124 And the Lord did curse the land against them and bless it unto our fathers; Yea, He did curse it against them unto their destruction,
125 And He did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.
126 "Behold, the Lord hath created the earth, that it should be inhabited;
127 And He hath created His children, that they should possess it.
128 "And He raiseth up a righteous nation, And destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
129 "And He leadeth away the righteous into precious lands; And the wicked He destroyeth, And curseth the land unto them for their sakes.
130 "He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is His throne and this earth is His footstool.
131 "And He loveth them which will have Him to be their God;
132 Behold, He loved our fathers, And He covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, And He remembered the covenants which He had made;
133 Wherefore, He did bring them out of the Land of Egypt."And He did straiten them in the wilderness with His rod, for they hardened their hearts even as ye have; And the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity;
134 He sent flying fiery serpents among them; And after they were bitten, He prepared a way that they might be healed;
135 And the labor which they had to perform was to look; And because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many which perished.
136 "And they did harden their hearts from time to time, And they did revile against Moses and also against God;
137 Nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by His matchless power into the Land of Promise.
138 "And now after all these things, the time has come that they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness;
139 And I know not but they are at this day about to be destroyed,
140 For I know that the day must surely come that they must be destroyed, save a few only which shall be led away into captivity.
141 "Wherefore, the Lord commanded my father that he should depart into the wilderness;
142 And the Jews also sought to take away his life, yea, and ye also have sought to take away his life;
143 Wherefore, ye are murderers in your hearts and ye are like unto them.
144 "Ye are swift to do iniquity, but slow to remember the Lord your God;
145 Ye have seen an angel and he spake unto you; Yea, ye have heard His voice from time to time,
146 And He hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling that ye could not feel His words;
147 Wherefore, He hath spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.
148 "And ye also know that by the power of His almighty word He can cause the earth that it shall pass away;
149 Yea, and ye know that by His word He can cause that rough places be made smooth and smooth places shall be broken up;
150 O then, why is it that ye can be so hard in your hearts?
151 "Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever;
152 Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God insomuch as if my frame had no strength."
153 And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words, they were angry with me and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea;
154 And as they came forth to lay their hands upon me, I spake unto them, saying: "In the name of the Almighty God I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God even unto the consuming of my flesh;
155 And whoso shall lay their hands upon me shall wither even as a dried weed, And he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him."
156 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, saith unto them that they should murmur no more against their father, Neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.
157 And I saith unto them: "If God had commanded me to do all things, I could do it;
158 If He should command me that I should say unto this water, 'Be thou earth! '-And it shall be earth; And if I should say it, it would be done.
159 "And now, if the Lord hath such great power and hath wrought so many miracles among the children of men, How is it that He cannot instruct me that I should build a ship?"
160 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend against me,
161 Neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days;
162 Now they durst not do this lest they should wither before me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; And thus it had wrought upon them.
163 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: "Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, " saith the Lord; "And this will I do that they may know that I Am the Lord their God."
164 And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren and they did not wither before me, but the Lord did shake them even according to the word which He had spoken.
165 And now they said: "We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that hath shaken us."
166 And they fell down before me and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer them, saying: "I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother;
167 Wherefore, worship the Lord thy God and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee."
168 And it came to pass that they did worship the Lord and did go forth with me; And we did work timbers of curious workmanship,
169 And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.
170 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, Neither did I build the ship after the manner of man,
171 But I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; Wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.
172 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft and I did pray oft unto the Lord; Wherefore, the Lord showed unto me great things.
173 And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good and that the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine;
174 Wherefore, they did humble themselves again before the Lord.
175 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship.
176 And it came to pass that on the morrow, after that we had prepared all things - much fruits and meat from the wilderness and honey in abundance and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us -
177 We did go down into the ship with all our loading and our seeds and whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age;
178 Wherefore, we did all go down into the ship with our wives and our children.
179 And now my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; The elder was called Jacob and the younger Joseph.
180 And it came to pass that after we had all gone down into the ship and had taken with us our provisions and things which had been commanded us,
181 We did put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind toward the Promised Land.
182 And after that we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, Behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael, and also their wives, began to make themselves merry insomuch that they began to dance and to sing and to speak with much rudeness,
183 Yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither -
184 Yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.
185 And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us and smite us because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the sea;
186 Wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness;
187 But behold, they were angry with me, saying: "We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us."
188 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, And they did treat me with much harshness;
189 Nevertheless, the Lord suffered it that He might show forth His power unto the fulfilling of His word which He hath spoken concerning the wicked.
190 And it came to pass that after they had bound me insomuch that I could not move, the compass which had been prepared of the Lord did cease to work;
191 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest;
192 And we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days;
193 And they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea,
194 Nevertheless, they did loose me not.
195 And on the fourth day which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceeding sore,
196 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea.
197 And after that we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities;
198 Wherefore, they came unto me and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists; And behold, they had much swollen exceedingly, And also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof;
199 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God and I did praise Him all the day long, And I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.
200 Now my father Lehi had said many things unto them, and also unto the sons of Ishmael, But behold, they did breathe out much threatenings against anyone that should speak for me;
201 And my parents, being stricken in years and having suffered much grief because of their children, they were brought down, yea, even upon their sickbeds;
202 Because of their grief and much sorrow and the iniquity of my brethren, they were brought near even to be carried out of this time to meet their God;
203 Yea, their grey hairs were about to be brought down to lie low in the dust,
204 Yea, even they were near to be cast with sorrow into a watery grave.
205 And Jacob and Joseph also being young, having need of much nourishment, were grieved because of the afflictions of their mother;
206 And also my wife with her tears and prayers, and also my children, did not soften the hearts of my brethren that they would loose me.
207 And there was nothing, save it were the power of God which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts;
208 Wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea, they repented of the thing which they had done insomuch that they loosed me.
209 And it came to pass that after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass and it did work whither I desired it;
210 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; And after that I had prayed, the winds did cease and the storm did cease, And there was a great calm.
211 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again toward the Promised Land.
212 And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days, we did arrive to the Promised Land;
213 And we went forth upon the land and did pitch our tents, And we did call it the Promised Land.
214 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth and we began to plant seeds, Yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth which we had brought from the Land of Jerusalem.
215 And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; Wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.
216 And it came to pass that we did find upon the Land of Promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, That there were beasts in the forests of every kind - both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, And all manner of wild animals which were for the use of men;
217 And we did find all manner of ore - both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.
218 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore, that I might engraven upon them the record of my people;
219 And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness and the prophecies of my father; And also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them.
220 And I knew not at that time when I made them that I should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates;
221 Wherefore, the record of my father and the genealogy of his forefathers and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken;
222 Wherefore, the things which transpired before that I made these plates are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.
223 And after that I made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies - the more plain and precious parts of them - should be written upon these plates;
224 And that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people which should possess the land, And also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.
225 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other plates which gives an account, or which gives a greater account, of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people;
226 And now this have I done and commanded my people that they should do after that I was gone, And that these plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord.
227 And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter;
228 And then behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; And this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people.
229 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred;
230 And now if I do err, even did they err of old -
231 Not that I would excuse myself because of other men, But because of the weakness which is in me according to the flesh, I would excuse myself.
232 For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet;
233 Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet;
234 I say trample under their feet, but I would speak in other words -
235 They do set Him at naught and hearken not to the voice of His counsels.
236 And behold, He cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.
237 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge Him to be a thing of naught; Wherefore, they scourge Him, and He suffereth it; And they smite Him, and He suffereth it;
238 Yea, they spit upon Him, and He suffereth it - Because of His loving-kindness and His long-suffering toward the children of men.
239 And the God of our fathers, which were led out of Egypt out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by Him,
240 Yea, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and the God of Jacob yieldeth Himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man into the hands of wicked men, To be lifted up, according to the words of Zenoch,
241 And to be crucified, according to the words of Neum,
242 And to be buried in a sepulcher, according to the words of Zenos which he spake concerning the three days of darkness,
243 Which should be a sign given of His death unto them who should inhabit the isles of the sea,
244 More especially given unto them which are of the house of Israel.
245 For thus spake the prophet: "The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel eat that day -
246 Some with His voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation,
247 And others with the thunderings and the lightnings of His power - by tempest, by fire, and by smoke and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.
248 "And all these things must surely come, " saith the prophet Zenos;
249 "And the rocks of the earth must rend;
250 And because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God to exclaim, 'The God of nature suffers! '
251 "And as for they which are at Jerusalem, " saith the prophet, "they shall be scourged by all people, " saith the prophet, "because they crucified the God of Israel and turned their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders and power and glory of the God of Israel.
252 "And because they have turned their hearts aside, " saith the prophet, "and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh and perish, And become a hiss and a byword and be hated among all nations.
253 "Nevertheless, when that day cometh, " saith the prophet, "that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, Then will He remember the covenants which He made to their fathers;
254 Yea, then will He remember the isles of the sea;
255 'Yea, and all the people which are of the house of Israel will I gather in, ' saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, 'from the four quarters of the earth.'
256 "Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, " saith the prophet;
257 "Every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed."
258 And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer.
259 Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these things.
260 For behold, I have workings in the Spirit which doth weary me, even that all my joints are weak for they which are at Jerusalem;
261 For hast not the Lord been merciful to show unto me concerning them, even as He hast prophets of old?
262 For He surely did show unto prophets of old all things concerning them,
263 And also He did show unto many concerning us;
264 Wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them, for they are written upon the plates of brass.
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold, they said unto me: "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than that which we are able to bear."
2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; And the righteous have I justified and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; Wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
3 "And now my brethren, if ye were righteous, and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, Then ye would not murmur because of the truth and say, 'Thou speakest hard things against us.'"
4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.
5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness;
6 Now all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife, And also my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife, And also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.
8 And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him;
9 And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly.
10 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness.
11 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning and went forth to the tent door, and to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship and it was of fine brass;
12 And within the ball were two spindles, And the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.
13 And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us;
14 And we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness.
15 And it came to pass that we did take our tents and departed into the wilderness across the River Laman.
16 And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days nearly a south, southeast direction; And we did pitch our tents again; And we did call the name of the place Shazer.
17 And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; And after that we had slain food for our families, we did return again to our families in the wilderness to the Place of Shazer;
18 And we did go forth again in the wilderness following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness which were in the borders near the Red Sea.
19 And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings.
20 And we did follow the directions of the ball which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
21 And after that we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.
22 And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow which was made of fine steel; And after that I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.
23 And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families;
24 And being much fatigued because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.
25 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness, And also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; Yea, and they were all exceeding sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.
26 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceeding difficult, Yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food.
27 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren because that they had hardened their hearts again, even unto complaining against the Lord their God.
28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow and out of a straight stick an arrow; Wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones;
29 And I said unto my father: "Whither shall I go to obtain food?"
30 And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words, for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.
31 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, And he was truly chastened because of his murmurings against the Lord insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.
32 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him: "Look upon the ball and behold the things which are written!"
33 And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, And also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives.
34 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
35 And there was also written upon them a new writing which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; And it was written and changed from time to time according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it.
36 And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.
37 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain according to the directions which were given upon the ball.
38 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts insomuch that I did obtain food for our families.
39 And it came to pass that I did return to our tents bearing the beasts which I had slain;
40 And now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy.
41 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord and did give thanks unto Him.
42 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning;
43 And after that we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.
44 And it came to pass that Ishmael died and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.
45 And it came to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly because of the loss of their father and because of their afflictions in the wilderness;
46 And they did murmur against my father because that he had brought them out of the Land of Jerusalem, saying: "Our father is dead, yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, And we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst and fatigue; And after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger."
47 And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me, And they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem.
48 And Laman saith unto Lemuel, and also unto the sons of Ishmael: "Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi who hath taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.
49 "Now he saith that the Lord hath talked with him, and also that angels hath ministered unto him!
50 "But behold, we know that he lieth unto us and he telleth us these things; And he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking perhaps that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness;
51 And after that he hath led us away, he hath thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure."
52 And after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger.
53 And it came to pass that the Lord was with us; Yea, even the voice of the Lord came and did speak many words unto them and did chasten them exceedingly;
54 And after that they were chastened by the voice of the Lord, they did turn away their anger and did repent of their sins insomuch that the Lord did bless us again with food, that we did not perish.
55 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; And we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth;
56 And we did travail and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; And our women bore children in the wilderness;
57 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; And they began to bear their journeyings without murmuring.
58 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled;
59 And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God, He doth nourish them and strengthen them and provide ways and means whereby they can accomplish the thing which He hath commanded them;
60 Wherefore, He did provide ways and means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
61 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.
62 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful because of its much fruit, and also wild honey;
63 And all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish;
64 And we beheld the sea which we called Irreantum, which being interpreted is "many waters."
65 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore;
66 And notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, We were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore;
67 And we called the place Bountiful because of its much fruit.
68 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the Land Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: "Arise and get thee into the mountain."
69 And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain and cried unto the Lord.
70 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me saying: "Thou shalt construct a ship after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters."
71 And I saith: "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?"
72 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore that I might make tools.
73 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts;
74 And after that I had made bellows that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire,
75 For the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire as we journeyed in the wilderness,
76 For He saith: "I will make that thy food shall become sweet, that ye cook it not;
77 And I will also be your light in the wilderness;
78 And I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep My commandments;
79 Wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep My commandments ye shall be led toward the Promised Land, And ye shall know that it is by Me that ye are led."
80 Yea, and the Lord said also that, "After ye have arrived to the Promised Land ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God,
81 And that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction -
82 Yea, that I did bring you out of the Land of Jerusalem."
83 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, And I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.
84 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.
85 And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying:
86 "Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship,
87 Yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters."
88 And thus my brethren did complain against me and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship,
89 Neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
90 And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceeding sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts;
91 And now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful, they were glad in their hearts insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying:
92 "We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; Wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.
93 "And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart;
94 Yea, he hath led us out of the Land of Jerusalem and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years,
95 And our women have toiled, being big with child, And they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death;
96 And it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.
97 "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance, Yea, and we might have been happy.
98 "And we know that the people which were in the Land of Jerusalem were a righteous people,
99 For they keep the statutes and the judgments of the Lord and all His commandments according to the law of Moses, Wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people;
100 And our father hath judged them and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his word;
101 Yea, and our brother is like unto him."
102 And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.
103 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake unto them, saying: "Do ye believe that our fathers, which were the children of Israel, would have been led away out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord?
104 "Yea, do ye suppose that they would have been led out of bondage if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he should lead them out of bondage?
105 "Now ye know that the children of Israel were in bondage; And ye know that they were laden with tasks which were grievous to be borne;
106 Wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them that they should be brought out of bondage.
107 "Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work;
108 And ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither and they passed through on dry ground.
109 "But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, which were the armies of Pharaoh.
110 "And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.
111 "Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word, according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock and there came forth water that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.
112 "And notwithstanding they being led - The Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day, and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive - They hardened their hearts, and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses, and against the true and living God.
113 "And it came to pass that according to His word He did destroy them;
114 And according to His word He did lead them;
115 And according to His word He did do all things for them;
116 And there was not anything done save it were by His word.
117 "And after they had crossed the River Jordan, He did make them mighty unto the driving out the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction.
118 "And now do ye suppose that the children of this land - which were in the Land of Promise, which were driven out by our fathers - do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
119 "Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they, if they had been righteous?
120 I say unto you, Nay.
121 "Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one;
122 He that is righteous is favored of God;
123 But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, And they were ripe in iniquity, And the fullness of the wrath of God was upon them;
124 And the Lord did curse the land against them and bless it unto our fathers; Yea, He did curse it against them unto their destruction,
125 And He did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.
126 "Behold, the Lord hath created the earth, that it should be inhabited;
127 And He hath created His children, that they should possess it.
128 "And He raiseth up a righteous nation, And destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
129 "And He leadeth away the righteous into precious lands; And the wicked He destroyeth, And curseth the land unto them for their sakes.
130 "He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is His throne and this earth is His footstool.
131 "And He loveth them which will have Him to be their God;
132 Behold, He loved our fathers, And He covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, And He remembered the covenants which He had made;
133 Wherefore, He did bring them out of the Land of Egypt."And He did straiten them in the wilderness with His rod, for they hardened their hearts even as ye have; And the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity;
134 He sent flying fiery serpents among them; And after they were bitten, He prepared a way that they might be healed;
135 And the labor which they had to perform was to look; And because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many which perished.
136 "And they did harden their hearts from time to time, And they did revile against Moses and also against God;
137 Nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by His matchless power into the Land of Promise.
138 "And now after all these things, the time has come that they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness;
139 And I know not but they are at this day about to be destroyed,
140 For I know that the day must surely come that they must be destroyed, save a few only which shall be led away into captivity.
141 "Wherefore, the Lord commanded my father that he should depart into the wilderness;
142 And the Jews also sought to take away his life, yea, and ye also have sought to take away his life;
143 Wherefore, ye are murderers in your hearts and ye are like unto them.
144 "Ye are swift to do iniquity, but slow to remember the Lord your God;
145 Ye have seen an angel and he spake unto you; Yea, ye have heard His voice from time to time,
146 And He hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling that ye could not feel His words;
147 Wherefore, He hath spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.
148 "And ye also know that by the power of His almighty word He can cause the earth that it shall pass away;
149 Yea, and ye know that by His word He can cause that rough places be made smooth and smooth places shall be broken up;
150 O then, why is it that ye can be so hard in your hearts?
151 "Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever;
152 Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God insomuch as if my frame had no strength."
153 And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words, they were angry with me and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea;
154 And as they came forth to lay their hands upon me, I spake unto them, saying: "In the name of the Almighty God I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God even unto the consuming of my flesh;
155 And whoso shall lay their hands upon me shall wither even as a dried weed, And he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him."
156 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, saith unto them that they should murmur no more against their father, Neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.
157 And I saith unto them: "If God had commanded me to do all things, I could do it;
158 If He should command me that I should say unto this water, 'Be thou earth! '-And it shall be earth; And if I should say it, it would be done.
159 "And now, if the Lord hath such great power and hath wrought so many miracles among the children of men, How is it that He cannot instruct me that I should build a ship?"
160 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend against me,
161 Neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days;
162 Now they durst not do this lest they should wither before me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; And thus it had wrought upon them.
163 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: "Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, " saith the Lord; "And this will I do that they may know that I Am the Lord their God."
164 And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren and they did not wither before me, but the Lord did shake them even according to the word which He had spoken.
165 And now they said: "We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that hath shaken us."
166 And they fell down before me and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer them, saying: "I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother;
167 Wherefore, worship the Lord thy God and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee."
168 And it came to pass that they did worship the Lord and did go forth with me; And we did work timbers of curious workmanship,
169 And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.
170 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, Neither did I build the ship after the manner of man,
171 But I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; Wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.
172 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft and I did pray oft unto the Lord; Wherefore, the Lord showed unto me great things.
173 And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good and that the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine;
174 Wherefore, they did humble themselves again before the Lord.
175 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship.
176 And it came to pass that on the morrow, after that we had prepared all things - much fruits and meat from the wilderness and honey in abundance and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us -
177 We did go down into the ship with all our loading and our seeds and whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age;
178 Wherefore, we did all go down into the ship with our wives and our children.
179 And now my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; The elder was called Jacob and the younger Joseph.
180 And it came to pass that after we had all gone down into the ship and had taken with us our provisions and things which had been commanded us,
181 We did put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind toward the Promised Land.
182 And after that we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, Behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael, and also their wives, began to make themselves merry insomuch that they began to dance and to sing and to speak with much rudeness,
183 Yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither -
184 Yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.
185 And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us and smite us because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the sea;
186 Wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness;
187 But behold, they were angry with me, saying: "We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us."
188 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, And they did treat me with much harshness;
189 Nevertheless, the Lord suffered it that He might show forth His power unto the fulfilling of His word which He hath spoken concerning the wicked.
190 And it came to pass that after they had bound me insomuch that I could not move, the compass which had been prepared of the Lord did cease to work;
191 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest;
192 And we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days;
193 And they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea,
194 Nevertheless, they did loose me not.
195 And on the fourth day which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceeding sore,
196 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea.
197 And after that we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities;
198 Wherefore, they came unto me and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists; And behold, they had much swollen exceedingly, And also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof;
199 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God and I did praise Him all the day long, And I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.
200 Now my father Lehi had said many things unto them, and also unto the sons of Ishmael, But behold, they did breathe out much threatenings against anyone that should speak for me;
201 And my parents, being stricken in years and having suffered much grief because of their children, they were brought down, yea, even upon their sickbeds;
202 Because of their grief and much sorrow and the iniquity of my brethren, they were brought near even to be carried out of this time to meet their God;
203 Yea, their grey hairs were about to be brought down to lie low in the dust,
204 Yea, even they were near to be cast with sorrow into a watery grave.
205 And Jacob and Joseph also being young, having need of much nourishment, were grieved because of the afflictions of their mother;
206 And also my wife with her tears and prayers, and also my children, did not soften the hearts of my brethren that they would loose me.
207 And there was nothing, save it were the power of God which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts;
208 Wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea, they repented of the thing which they had done insomuch that they loosed me.
209 And it came to pass that after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass and it did work whither I desired it;
210 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; And after that I had prayed, the winds did cease and the storm did cease, And there was a great calm.
211 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again toward the Promised Land.
212 And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days, we did arrive to the Promised Land;
213 And we went forth upon the land and did pitch our tents, And we did call it the Promised Land.
214 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth and we began to plant seeds, Yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth which we had brought from the Land of Jerusalem.
215 And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; Wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.
216 And it came to pass that we did find upon the Land of Promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, That there were beasts in the forests of every kind - both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, And all manner of wild animals which were for the use of men;
217 And we did find all manner of ore - both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.
218 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore, that I might engraven upon them the record of my people;
219 And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness and the prophecies of my father; And also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them.
220 And I knew not at that time when I made them that I should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates;
221 Wherefore, the record of my father and the genealogy of his forefathers and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken;
222 Wherefore, the things which transpired before that I made these plates are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.
223 And after that I made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies - the more plain and precious parts of them - should be written upon these plates;
224 And that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people which should possess the land, And also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.
225 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other plates which gives an account, or which gives a greater account, of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people;
226 And now this have I done and commanded my people that they should do after that I was gone, And that these plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord.
227 And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter;
228 And then behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; And this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people.
229 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred;
230 And now if I do err, even did they err of old -
231 Not that I would excuse myself because of other men, But because of the weakness which is in me according to the flesh, I would excuse myself.
232 For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet;
233 Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet;
234 I say trample under their feet, but I would speak in other words -
235 They do set Him at naught and hearken not to the voice of His counsels.
236 And behold, He cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.
237 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge Him to be a thing of naught; Wherefore, they scourge Him, and He suffereth it; And they smite Him, and He suffereth it;
238 Yea, they spit upon Him, and He suffereth it - Because of His loving-kindness and His long-suffering toward the children of men.
239 And the God of our fathers, which were led out of Egypt out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by Him,
240 Yea, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and the God of Jacob yieldeth Himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man into the hands of wicked men, To be lifted up, according to the words of Zenoch,
241 And to be crucified, according to the words of Neum,
242 And to be buried in a sepulcher, according to the words of Zenos which he spake concerning the three days of darkness,
243 Which should be a sign given of His death unto them who should inhabit the isles of the sea,
244 More especially given unto them which are of the house of Israel.
245 For thus spake the prophet: "The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel eat that day -
246 Some with His voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation,
247 And others with the thunderings and the lightnings of His power - by tempest, by fire, and by smoke and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.
248 "And all these things must surely come, " saith the prophet Zenos;
249 "And the rocks of the earth must rend;
250 And because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God to exclaim, 'The God of nature suffers! '
251 "And as for they which are at Jerusalem, " saith the prophet, "they shall be scourged by all people, " saith the prophet, "because they crucified the God of Israel and turned their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders and power and glory of the God of Israel.
252 "And because they have turned their hearts aside, " saith the prophet, "and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh and perish, And become a hiss and a byword and be hated among all nations.
253 "Nevertheless, when that day cometh, " saith the prophet, "that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, Then will He remember the covenants which He made to their fathers;
254 Yea, then will He remember the isles of the sea;
255 'Yea, and all the people which are of the house of Israel will I gather in, ' saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, 'from the four quarters of the earth.'
256 "Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, " saith the prophet;
257 "Every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed."
258 And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer.
259 Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these things.
260 For behold, I have workings in the Spirit which doth weary me, even that all my joints are weak for they which are at Jerusalem;
261 For hast not the Lord been merciful to show unto me concerning them, even as He hast prophets of old?
262 For He surely did show unto prophets of old all things concerning them,
263 And also He did show unto many concerning us;
264 Wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them, for they are written upon the plates of brass.
1 Nephi 6
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things;
2 And it came to pass that I did read many things to them which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands among people of old;
3 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses;
4 But that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, Wherefore, I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah,
5 For I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.
6 Wherefore, I spake unto them, saying: "Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye which are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch which have been broken off; Hear ye the words of the prophet which were written unto all the house of Israel and liken it unto yourselves, that ye may have hope, as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off."
7 For after this manner hath the prophet written:
8 "Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, Which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness;
9 Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, But they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, which is the Lord of Hosts - Yea, the Lord of Hosts is His name:
10 "Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; And they went forth out of My mouth and I showed them - I did show them suddenly.
11 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck was an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
12 And I have, even from the beginning, declared to thee - Before it came to pass, I showed them thee; And I showed them for fear, lest thou shouldst say, ' Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image and my molten image hath commanded them. '
13 "Thou hast heard and seen all this, And will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, And thou didst not know them.
14 They are created now and not from the beginning; Even before the day when thou heardest them not, they were declared unto thee, Lest thou shouldst say, 'Behold, I knew them.'
15 Yea, and thou heardest not. Yea, thou knewest not, Yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; For I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
16 "Nevertheless, for My name's sake will I defer Mine anger, And for My praise will I refrain from thee that I cut thee not off.
17 For behold, I have refined thee - I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
18 For Mine own sake, yea, for Mine own sake, will I do this; For I will not suffer My name to be polluted. And I will not give My glory unto another.
19 "Hearken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called - for I Am He, and I Am the first, and I Am also the last.
20 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand hath spanned the heavens. And I called unto them, And they stand up together.
21 "All ye, assemble yourselves and hear! Which among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him. Yea, and He will fulfill His word which He hath declared by them. And He will do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall come upon the Chaldeans."
22 Also saith the Lord: "I, the Lord, yea, I have spoken. Yea, I have called him to declare; I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.
23 "Come ye near unto Me; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was declared have I spoken. And the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent Me."
24 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I have sent Him, The Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
25 O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
26 Thy seed also had been as the sand, The offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me."
27 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans. With a voice of singing, declare ye - tell this - utter to the end of the earth - say ye, "The Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob!"
28 And they thirsted not - He led them through the deserts - He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He cleaved the rock also and the waters gushed out.
29 And notwithstanding He hath done all this, and greater also, "There is no peace, " saith the Lord, "unto the wicked.
30 "And again, hearken, O ye house of Israel - All ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of My people; Yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, which are of My people, O house of Israel.
31 Listen, O isles, unto Me, And hearken, ye people from far. The Lord hath called Me from the womb; From the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name.
32 And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me and made Me a polished shaft - In His quiver hath He hid Me.
33 "And said unto Me, 'Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'
34 Then I said, 'I have labored in vain. I have spent My strength for naught and in vain; Surely My judgment is with the Lord, And My work with My God.'
35 "And now, saith the Lord that formed Me from the womb, that I should be His Servant to bring Jacob again to Him; Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength.
36 And He said, 'It is a light thing that Thou shouldst be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.'"
37 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nations abhorreth, to Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord that is faithful."
38 Thus said the Lord: "In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, And in a day of salvation have I helped thee; And I will preserve thee and give thee My Servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages,
39 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, 'Go forth! ' To them that sit in darkness, 'Show yourselves! ' "They shall feed in the ways and their pastures shall be in all high places,
40 They shall not hunger, nor thirst, Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; For He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, Even by the springs of water shall He guide them.
41 And I will make all My mountains a way, And My highways shall be exalted.
42 And then, O house of Israel, Behold, these shall come from far; And lo, these, from the north and from the west, And these, from the Land of Sinim."
43 Sing, O heavens! and be joyful, O earth! For the feet of them which are in the east shall be established. And break forth into singing, O mountains! For they shall be smitten no more. For the Lord hath comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted.
44 But behold, Zion hath said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me." But He will show that He hath not.
45 "For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.
46 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; Thy walls are continually before Me.
47 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers. And they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
48 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; All these gather themselves together and they shall come to thee. And as I live, " saith the Lord, "thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, And bind them on even as a bride.
49 "For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
50 The children which thou shalt have - after thou hast lost the other - shall again in thine ears say: ' The place is too strait for me; Give place to me that I may dwell.'
51 Then shalt thou say in thine heart: 'Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, And am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; These - where have they been?'"
52 Thus saith the Lord God: "Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles and set up My standard to the people; And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders;
53 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And their queens thy nursing mothers; They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I Am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me."
54 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty? Or the lawful captive delivered?
55 But thus saith the Lord: "Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, And I will save thy children.
56 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh. They shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior, And thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things;
2 And it came to pass that I did read many things to them which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands among people of old;
3 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses;
4 But that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, Wherefore, I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah,
5 For I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.
6 Wherefore, I spake unto them, saying: "Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye which are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch which have been broken off; Hear ye the words of the prophet which were written unto all the house of Israel and liken it unto yourselves, that ye may have hope, as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off."
7 For after this manner hath the prophet written:
8 "Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, Which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness;
9 Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, But they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, which is the Lord of Hosts - Yea, the Lord of Hosts is His name:
10 "Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; And they went forth out of My mouth and I showed them - I did show them suddenly.
11 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck was an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
12 And I have, even from the beginning, declared to thee - Before it came to pass, I showed them thee; And I showed them for fear, lest thou shouldst say, ' Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image and my molten image hath commanded them. '
13 "Thou hast heard and seen all this, And will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, And thou didst not know them.
14 They are created now and not from the beginning; Even before the day when thou heardest them not, they were declared unto thee, Lest thou shouldst say, 'Behold, I knew them.'
15 Yea, and thou heardest not. Yea, thou knewest not, Yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; For I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
16 "Nevertheless, for My name's sake will I defer Mine anger, And for My praise will I refrain from thee that I cut thee not off.
17 For behold, I have refined thee - I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
18 For Mine own sake, yea, for Mine own sake, will I do this; For I will not suffer My name to be polluted. And I will not give My glory unto another.
19 "Hearken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called - for I Am He, and I Am the first, and I Am also the last.
20 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand hath spanned the heavens. And I called unto them, And they stand up together.
21 "All ye, assemble yourselves and hear! Which among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him. Yea, and He will fulfill His word which He hath declared by them. And He will do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall come upon the Chaldeans."
22 Also saith the Lord: "I, the Lord, yea, I have spoken. Yea, I have called him to declare; I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.
23 "Come ye near unto Me; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was declared have I spoken. And the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent Me."
24 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I have sent Him, The Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
25 O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
26 Thy seed also had been as the sand, The offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me."
27 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans. With a voice of singing, declare ye - tell this - utter to the end of the earth - say ye, "The Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob!"
28 And they thirsted not - He led them through the deserts - He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He cleaved the rock also and the waters gushed out.
29 And notwithstanding He hath done all this, and greater also, "There is no peace, " saith the Lord, "unto the wicked.
30 "And again, hearken, O ye house of Israel - All ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of My people; Yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, which are of My people, O house of Israel.
31 Listen, O isles, unto Me, And hearken, ye people from far. The Lord hath called Me from the womb; From the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name.
32 And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me and made Me a polished shaft - In His quiver hath He hid Me.
33 "And said unto Me, 'Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'
34 Then I said, 'I have labored in vain. I have spent My strength for naught and in vain; Surely My judgment is with the Lord, And My work with My God.'
35 "And now, saith the Lord that formed Me from the womb, that I should be His Servant to bring Jacob again to Him; Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength.
36 And He said, 'It is a light thing that Thou shouldst be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.'"
37 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nations abhorreth, to Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord that is faithful."
38 Thus said the Lord: "In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, And in a day of salvation have I helped thee; And I will preserve thee and give thee My Servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages,
39 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, 'Go forth! ' To them that sit in darkness, 'Show yourselves! ' "They shall feed in the ways and their pastures shall be in all high places,
40 They shall not hunger, nor thirst, Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; For He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, Even by the springs of water shall He guide them.
41 And I will make all My mountains a way, And My highways shall be exalted.
42 And then, O house of Israel, Behold, these shall come from far; And lo, these, from the north and from the west, And these, from the Land of Sinim."
43 Sing, O heavens! and be joyful, O earth! For the feet of them which are in the east shall be established. And break forth into singing, O mountains! For they shall be smitten no more. For the Lord hath comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted.
44 But behold, Zion hath said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me." But He will show that He hath not.
45 "For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.
46 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; Thy walls are continually before Me.
47 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers. And they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
48 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; All these gather themselves together and they shall come to thee. And as I live, " saith the Lord, "thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, And bind them on even as a bride.
49 "For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
50 The children which thou shalt have - after thou hast lost the other - shall again in thine ears say: ' The place is too strait for me; Give place to me that I may dwell.'
51 Then shalt thou say in thine heart: 'Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, And am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; These - where have they been?'"
52 Thus saith the Lord God: "Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles and set up My standard to the people; And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders;
53 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And their queens thy nursing mothers; They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I Am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me."
54 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty? Or the lawful captive delivered?
55 But thus saith the Lord: "Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, And I will save thy children.
56 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh. They shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior, And thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
1 Nephi 7
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, after that I had read these things which were engraven upon the plates of brass, My brethren came unto me and said unto me: "What meaneth these things which ye have read?
2 Behold, are they to be understood according to things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh?"
3 And I, Nephi, saith unto them: "Behold, they were made manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit,
4 For by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.
5 "Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual;
6 For it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations.
7 "And behold, there are many which are already lost from the knowledge of they which are at Jerusalem;
8 Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away,
9 And they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea;
10 And whither they are, none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away.
11 "And since that they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, And also concerning all they which shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded because of the Holy One of Israel, For against Him will they harden their hearts;
12 Wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated by all men.
13 "Nevertheless, after that they have been nursed by the Gentiles and the Lord hath lifted up His hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard - And their children shall be carried in their arms, And their daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders; Behold, these things of which are spoken are temporal, For thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers;
14 And it meaneth us in the days to come, And also all our brethren which are of the house of Israel.
15 "And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, Yea, even upon the face of this land;
16 And by them shall our seed be scattered.
17 "And after that our seed is scattered, the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles which shall be of great worth unto our seed;
18 Wherefore, it is likened unto their being nursed by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.
19 "And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles,
20 And not only unto the Gentiles, but unto all the house of Israel unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: ' In thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. '
21 "And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless He shall make bare His arm in the eyes of the nations;
22 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare His arm in the eyes of all the nations in bringing about His covenants and His gospel unto they which are of the house of Israel.
23 "Wherefore, He will bring them again out of captivity, And they shall be gathered together to the lands of their first inheritance;
24 And they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness;
25 And they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
26 "And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads,
27 For they shall war among themselves; And the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, And they shall be drunken with their own blood.
28 "And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another;
29 And they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord;
30 And all they which fight against Zion shall be destroyed;
31 And that great whore which hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust, And great shall be the fall of it.
32 "'For behold, ' saith the prophet, 'that the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men;
33 For the day soon cometh that all the proud and they which do wickedly shall be as stubble; And the day cometh that they must be burned.
34 'For the time soon cometh that the fullness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men,
35 For He will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
36 'Wherefore, He will preserve the righteous by His power, even if it so be that the fullness of His wrath must come, And the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire;
37 Wherefore, the righteous need not fear '; For thus saith the prophet: ' They shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.'
38 "Behold my brethren, I say unto you that these things must shortly come, Yea, even blood and fire and vapor of smoke must come;
39 And it must needs be upon the face of this earth;
40 And it cometh unto men according to the flesh, if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.
41 "For behold, the righteous shall not perish;
42 For the time surely must come that all they which fight against Zion shall be cut off.
43 "And the Lord will surely prepare a way for His people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses which he spake, saying:
44 'A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you;
45 And it shall come to pass that all they which will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among the people.'
46 "And now I, Nephi, declare unto you that this Prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel;
47 Wherefore, He shall execute judgment in righteousness.
48 "And the righteous need not fear, for it is they which shall not be confounded;
49 But it is the kingdom of the devil which shall be built up among the children of men, Which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh.
50 "For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, And all they which are built up to get power over the flesh, And they which are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, And they which seek the lusts of the flesh, and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity,
51 Yea, in fine, all they which belong to the kingdom of the devil - It is they which need fear and tremble and quake;
52 It is they which must be brought low in the dust;
53 It is they which must be consumed as stubble;
54 And this is according to the words of the prophet.
55 "And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, And the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion and might and power and great glory.
56 "And He gathereth His children from the four quarters of the earth;
57 And He numbereth His sheep and they know Him;
58 And there shall be one fold and one Shepherd;
59 And He shall feed His sheep, And in Him they shall find pasture.
60 "And because of the righteousness of His people, Satan hath no power;
61 Wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years,
62 For he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, And the Holy One of Israel reigneth.
63 "And now behold, I, Nephi, say unto you that all these things must come according to the flesh;
64 But behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel, if it so be that they will repent.
65 "And now I, Nephi, make an end, for I durst not speak further as yet concerning these things.
66 "Wherefore my brethern, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true,
67 And they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God.
68 "Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I and my father are the only ones which have testified and also taught them.
69 "Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day.
70 And thus it is. Amen."
(Click for Audio, This Chapter Only)
(Note: text is RCE version, audio is 1908 Version by Harold Whitehead)
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, after that I had read these things which were engraven upon the plates of brass, My brethren came unto me and said unto me: "What meaneth these things which ye have read?
2 Behold, are they to be understood according to things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh?"
3 And I, Nephi, saith unto them: "Behold, they were made manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit,
4 For by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.
5 "Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual;
6 For it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations.
7 "And behold, there are many which are already lost from the knowledge of they which are at Jerusalem;
8 Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away,
9 And they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea;
10 And whither they are, none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away.
11 "And since that they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, And also concerning all they which shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded because of the Holy One of Israel, For against Him will they harden their hearts;
12 Wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated by all men.
13 "Nevertheless, after that they have been nursed by the Gentiles and the Lord hath lifted up His hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard - And their children shall be carried in their arms, And their daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders; Behold, these things of which are spoken are temporal, For thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers;
14 And it meaneth us in the days to come, And also all our brethren which are of the house of Israel.
15 "And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, Yea, even upon the face of this land;
16 And by them shall our seed be scattered.
17 "And after that our seed is scattered, the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles which shall be of great worth unto our seed;
18 Wherefore, it is likened unto their being nursed by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.
19 "And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles,
20 And not only unto the Gentiles, but unto all the house of Israel unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: ' In thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. '
21 "And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless He shall make bare His arm in the eyes of the nations;
22 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare His arm in the eyes of all the nations in bringing about His covenants and His gospel unto they which are of the house of Israel.
23 "Wherefore, He will bring them again out of captivity, And they shall be gathered together to the lands of their first inheritance;
24 And they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness;
25 And they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
26 "And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads,
27 For they shall war among themselves; And the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, And they shall be drunken with their own blood.
28 "And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another;
29 And they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord;
30 And all they which fight against Zion shall be destroyed;
31 And that great whore which hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust, And great shall be the fall of it.
32 "'For behold, ' saith the prophet, 'that the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men;
33 For the day soon cometh that all the proud and they which do wickedly shall be as stubble; And the day cometh that they must be burned.
34 'For the time soon cometh that the fullness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men,
35 For He will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
36 'Wherefore, He will preserve the righteous by His power, even if it so be that the fullness of His wrath must come, And the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire;
37 Wherefore, the righteous need not fear '; For thus saith the prophet: ' They shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.'
38 "Behold my brethren, I say unto you that these things must shortly come, Yea, even blood and fire and vapor of smoke must come;
39 And it must needs be upon the face of this earth;
40 And it cometh unto men according to the flesh, if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.
41 "For behold, the righteous shall not perish;
42 For the time surely must come that all they which fight against Zion shall be cut off.
43 "And the Lord will surely prepare a way for His people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses which he spake, saying:
44 'A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you;
45 And it shall come to pass that all they which will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among the people.'
46 "And now I, Nephi, declare unto you that this Prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel;
47 Wherefore, He shall execute judgment in righteousness.
48 "And the righteous need not fear, for it is they which shall not be confounded;
49 But it is the kingdom of the devil which shall be built up among the children of men, Which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh.
50 "For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, And all they which are built up to get power over the flesh, And they which are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, And they which seek the lusts of the flesh, and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity,
51 Yea, in fine, all they which belong to the kingdom of the devil - It is they which need fear and tremble and quake;
52 It is they which must be brought low in the dust;
53 It is they which must be consumed as stubble;
54 And this is according to the words of the prophet.
55 "And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, And the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion and might and power and great glory.
56 "And He gathereth His children from the four quarters of the earth;
57 And He numbereth His sheep and they know Him;
58 And there shall be one fold and one Shepherd;
59 And He shall feed His sheep, And in Him they shall find pasture.
60 "And because of the righteousness of His people, Satan hath no power;
61 Wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years,
62 For he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, And the Holy One of Israel reigneth.
63 "And now behold, I, Nephi, say unto you that all these things must come according to the flesh;
64 But behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel, if it so be that they will repent.
65 "And now I, Nephi, make an end, for I durst not speak further as yet concerning these things.
66 "Wherefore my brethern, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true,
67 And they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God.
68 "Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I and my father are the only ones which have testified and also taught them.
69 "Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day.
70 And thus it is. Amen."
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