DAY 43 – II Nephi 9:82-115 (Friday, 8/29)

82 Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
83 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless;
84 And what will ye do in the days of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
85 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
86 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is their indignation.
87 I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
88 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but in his heart it is to destroy and cut off nations nota few.
89 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
90 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
91 As my hand hath founded the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
92 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and to her idols?
93 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
94 For he saith, By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things: for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man;
95 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathered eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
96 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
97 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones, leanness: and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
98 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
99 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
100 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
101 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them: but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
102 The remnant shall return, yea, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
103 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
104 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in all the land.
105 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
106 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
107 And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
108 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
109 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages;
110 They are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramath is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
111 Lift up the voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
112 Madmenah is removed: the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
113 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
114 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down: and the haughty shall be humbled.
115 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

DAY 43 – II Nephi 9:39-81 (Thursday, 2/28)

39 Moreover, the word of the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalal-hash-baz.
40 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
41 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalal-hash-baz.
42 For behold, the child shall not have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
43 The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,
44 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
45 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
46 And he shall pass through Judah; and he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
47 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
48 Take counsel together and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
49 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
50 Say ye not, a confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, a confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
51 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
52 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
53 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
54 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
55 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
56 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.
57 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to hear from the dead?
58 To the law and to the testimony: and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
59 And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
60 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble, and darkness, dimness of anguish, and shall be driven to darkness.
61 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict by the way of the Red Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations.
62 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
63 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
64 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor.
65 For every battle of the warrior with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
66 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
67 Of the increase of government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
68 The Lord sent his word unto Jacob and it hath lighted upon Israel.
69 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
70 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
71 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
72 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
73 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.
74 Therefore, will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day.
75 The ancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
76 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
77 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
78 For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forests, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
79 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother.
80 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
81 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.

DAY 42 – II Nephi 9:1-38 (Wednesday, 2/27)

CHAPTER 9

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he said, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, for there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it there shall be a tenth, and they shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil-tree, and as an oak whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
14 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up towards Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
15 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
16 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jasub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;
17 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking fire-brands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and the son of Remaliah.
18 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
19 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, yea, the son of Tabeal:
20 Thus saith the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
21 For the head of Syria, is Damascus; and the head of Damascus, Rezin: and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
22 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
23 Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
24 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depths, or in the heights above.
25 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
26 And he said: Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
27 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
28 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.
29 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
30 The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, the king of Assyria.
31 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
32 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
33 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard.
34 And it shall come to pass in that day, a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
35 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk they shall give, he shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
36 And it shall come to pass in that day, every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, which shall be for briers and thorns.
37 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
38 And all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and the treading of lesser cattle.

DAY 41 – II Nephi 8:69-100 (Tuesday, 2/26)

69 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defense.
70 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain.
71 And then will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
72 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
73 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
74 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes.
75 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
76 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
77 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, and behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
78 Wo unto them that join house to house, till there can be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
79 In mine ears, saith the Lord of hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant.
80 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
81 Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, and wine inflame them!
82 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the works of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
83 Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
84 Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
85 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
86 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
87 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
88 Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope;
89 That say, Let him make speed, hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it.
90 Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
91 Wo unto the wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
92 Wo unto the mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
93 Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
94 Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, their root shall be rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
95 Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
96 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
97 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
98 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion.
99 They shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver.
100 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

DAY 40 – II Nephi 8:27-68 (Monday, 2/25)

28 For the day of the Lord of hosts soon cometh upon all nations; yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up; and he shall be brought low;
29 Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
30 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up,
31 And upon every people, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
32 And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
33 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
34 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
35 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them: and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
36 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
37 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them, and the majesty of his glory shall smite them when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
38 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
39 For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water,
40 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
41 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
42 And I will give children unto them to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
43 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.
44 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, and shall say, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let not this ruin come under thy hand;
45 In that day shall he swear, saying: I will not be a ruler; for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
46 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongues and their doings have been against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
47 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them, and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom, and they can not hide it. Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
48 Say unto the righteous, that it is well with them; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
49 Wo unto the wicked! for they shall perish: for the reward of their hands shall be upon them.
50 And my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
51 The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
52 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor in your houses.
53 What mean ye? Ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor, saith the Lord God of hosts.
54 Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
55 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.
56 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon,
57 The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
58 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings,
59 The rings, and nose-jewels,
60 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins,
61 The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils.
62 And it shall come to pass, instead of sweet smell, there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty.
63 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
64 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate, and shall sit upon the ground.
65 And in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
66 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the earth excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel.
67 And it shall come to pass, them that are left in Zion, and remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
68 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

DAY 39 – II Nephi 7:33-8:27

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EDITOR'S NOTE: this email should be followed by five others, which will be the readings for next week.

Hasta luego!

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33 And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off;
34 Nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land:
35 For the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.
36 But great are the promises of the Lord unto those who are upon the isles of the sea;
37 Wherefore, as it says isles, there must needs be more than this; and they are inhabited also by our brethren.
38 For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure.
39 And now, behold, the Lord remembereth all those who have been broken off; wherefore, he remembereth us also.
40 Therefore cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves; to choose the way of everlasting death, or the way of eternal life.
41 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh;
42 And remember after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.
43 Wherefore, may God raise you from death, by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death, by the power of the atonement,
44 That ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen.

CHAPTER 8

1 And now Jacob spake many more things to my people at that time; nevertheless, only these things have I caused to be written; for the things which I have written sufficeth me.
2 And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah; for my soul delighteth in his words.
3 For I will liken his words unto my people; and I will send them forth unto all my children: for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.
4 And my brother Jacob also, has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children, to prove unto them that my words are true.
5 Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word.
6 Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses; and he proveth all his words.
7 Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ:
8 For, for this end hath the law of Moses been given:
9 And all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.
10 And also, my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers;
11 Yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and his justice, and power, and mercy, in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.
12 And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people, that save Christ should come, all men must perish.
13 For if there be no Christ, there be no God; and if there be no God, we are not, for there could have been no creation.
14 But there is a God, and he is Christ; and he cometh in the fullness of his own time.
15 And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words, may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men.
16 Now, these are the words; and ye may liken them unto you, and unto all men.
17 The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw, concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
18 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hill, and all nations shall flow unto it,
19 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
20 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
21 O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.
22 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
23 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots;
24 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
25 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not: therefore forgive him not.
26 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord, and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.
27 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

DAY 38 – II Nephi 6:99-7:32

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EDITOR'S NOTE: I will be out of town next week and will be unable to make daily posts, so I'm planning to post all the readings for next week at the end of tomorrow's posting. Things will be back to normal on March 3rd. Please remember Aubrey and me in your prayers; we're traveling to the Yucatan reunion! God bless.

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99 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
100 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which can not satisfy.
101 Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel,
102 And feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.
103 Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night.
104 Let your hearts rejoice, and behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men;
105 And because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations, they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel.
106 And now, my brethren, I would speak unto you more; but on the morrow I will declare unto you the remainder of my words. Amen.

CHAPTER 7

1 And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.
2 For behold, the promises which we have obtained, are promises unto us according to the flesh;
3 Wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh, because of unbelief, nevertheless God will be merciful unto many;
4 And our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.
5 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ (for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name) should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world;
6 And they shall crucify him: For thus it behooveth our God;
7 And there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.
8 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations, they would repent, and know that he be their God;
9 But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.
10 Wherefore, because of their iniquities, destructions, famines, pestilence and bloodsheds, shall come upon them;
11 And they who shall not be destroyed, shall be scattered among all nations.
12 But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers, that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance.
13 And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth;
14 And the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.
15 Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers;
16 Wherefore the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?
17 But behold, this land, saith God, shall be a land of thine inheritance; and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.
18 And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles: and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.
19 And I will fortify this land against all other nations;
20 And he that fighteth against Zion, shall perish, saith God; for he that raiseth up a king against me, shall perish.
21 For I the Lord, the King of heaven, will be their king; and I will be a light upon them forever, that hear my words.
22 Wherefore, for this cause, that my covenants may be fulfilled, which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh, I must needs destroy the secret works of darkness, and of murders, and of abominations;
23 Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall perish:
24 For they are they who are the whore of all the earth;
25 For they who are not for me, are against me, saith our God.
26 For I will fulfill my promises which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh.
27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, thus saith our God: I will afflict thy seed by the hand of the Gentiles;
28 Nevertheless, I will soften the hearts of the Gentiles, that they shall be like unto a father to them;
29 Wherefore, the Gentiles shall be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel.
30 Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and they who shall be numbered among thy seed, for ever, for the land of their inheritance:
31 For it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands;
32 Wherefore, I will have all men that dwell thereon, that they shall worship me, saith God.