THE SECOND BOOK OF NEPHI
An account of the death of Lehi. Nephi’s brethren rebel against him. The Lord warns Nephi to depart into the wilderness. His journeyings in the wilderness, and so forth.
CHAPTER 1
Lehi prophesies of a land of liberty—His seed shall be scattered and smitten if they reject the Holy One of Israel—He exhorts his sons to put on the armor of righteousness. Between 588 and 570 B.C.
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of teaching my brethren, our afather, Lehi, also spake many things unto them, and rehearsed unto them, how great things the Lord had done for them in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem.
2 And he spake unto them concerning their arebellions upon the waters, and the mercies of God in sparing their lives, that they were not swallowed up in the sea.
3 And he also spake unto them concerning the land of promise, which they had obtained—how amerciful the Lord had been in bwarning us that we should flee out of the land of Jerusalem.
4 For, behold, said he, I have aseen a bvision, in which I know that cJerusalem is ddestroyed; and had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have eperished.
5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a aland of promise, a land which is bchoice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath ccovenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath dcovenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be eled out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.
6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall anone come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, this aland is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of bliberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound ccursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.
8 And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be akept as yet from the knowledge of other bnations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.
9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a apromise, that binasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall cprosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall dkeep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their einheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.
10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in aunbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true bMessiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is cjust shall rest upon them.
11 Yea, he will bring aother nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be bscattered and smitten.
12 Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be abloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words.
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep asleep, yea, even from the sleep of bhell, and shake off the awful cchains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal dgulf of misery and woe.
14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling aparent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent bgrave, from whence no traveler can creturn; a few more ddays and I go the eway of all the earth.
15 But behold, the Lord hath aredeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his bglory, and I am encircled about eternally in the carms of his dlove.
16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the astatutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.
17 My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his awrath upon you, that ye be bcut off and destroyed forever;
18 Or, that a acursing should come upon you for the space of bmany generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the cdevil.
19 O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a afavored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his bways are righteousness forever.
20 And he hath said that: aInasmuch as ye shall keep my bcommandments ye shall cprosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
21 And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be amen, and be determined in bone mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;
22 That ye may not be acursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a bjust God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.
23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of arighteousness. Shake off the bchains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.
24 Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been aglorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with bhunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to ctake away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you.
25 And I exceedingly fear and tremble because of you, lest he shall suffer again; for behold, ye have aaccused him that he sought power and bauthority over you; but I know that he hath not sought for power nor authority over you, but he hath sought the glory of God, and your own eternal welfare.
26 And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used asharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his bsharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities.
27 And it must needs be that the apower of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the bSpirit of the Lord which was in him, which copened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it.
28 And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a ablessing, yea, even my first blessing.
29 But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my afirst blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him.
30 And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the aservant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true bfriend unto my son, Nephi, forever.
31 Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed awith his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land forever.
32 Wherefore, if ye shall keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this land for the security of thy seed with the seed of my son.
Oh, how I love this chapter. I love hearing what Lehi's last words to his sons are. It makes me think of one of my Grandfathers. What he would have said if he could have on his death bed. What would he have taught me. I know it would have been righteousness. Here is Lehi, knowing he will soon die, and trying to teach his sons one last time. I love the liberty verses. Every time I read them they bring chills. We really are blessed to be born in this promised land.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the reminder that: "his ways are righteousness forever."
ReplyDeleteThis chapter pulls at my heart strings as a parent. Every parent wants to plead with their kids to be go, to follow the commandments - so we can be together again as a family.
ReplyDeleteLehi’s “famous last words”… could it be that his family was really listening, knowing that their father is dying?
ReplyDeleteOf course this chapter is all about this great land we live in (I marked these verses using blue and red pens to look like American flags, Cody taught me that). I always pray for the leaders of our nation, whether I agree with them or not, they are my leaders. More importantly I pray for the citizens of our country, that we might turn to the Lord, trust Him, follow Him and obey Him. That is where the strength of this nation comes from, our obedience.
As I tried likening (1N 19:23), this chapter I thought of my own home instead of my nation. Verse 7: Wherefore, this Bowler home is consecrated unto those whom live and visit here. And if it so be that they shall serve Him according to the commandments which He hath given, or your parents have given, it shall be a home of liberty and trust and more freedom unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity, or restrictions, or time outs, or ugly lectures; if so, it shall be because of iniquity, disobedience, disrespect, poor ch0ices; cursed shall be our home for their sakes, but unto the righteous, repentant, it shall be blessed forever.
Look how many times Lehi (the prophet, not just father), says ‘awake’ and ‘arise’ in verses 13 – 23. My favorite is in verse 21; “… arise from the dust, my sons, and be men…” When I think of awake and arise, I think of seminary, getting up early to study and learn. I also think of the Christ healing of the man at the waters of Bathesda, in John 5:1-15, especially verses 8-9. The man had some kind of infirmity for 38 years, Christ tells him to rise, pick up his stuff, and walk, he was healed. Thirty-eight years??? His life had to have been miserable, yet in verse 14 Christ teaches us that there are worse things. So for me and my home let’s awake, arise, work, make good choices, draw closer to Father and Christ through study and prayer, “… try a little harder to be a little better…” GBH. If we keep trying to do these things we will be “… encircled about eternally in the arms of His love.” 2N 1:15, we will be safe!
I heart my home and America!