CHAPTER 4
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 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 can not 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 things 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 fathers;
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 the Messiah shall be manifested 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 the 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 remembered 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 they are scattered by the Gentiles;
27 And he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may shew 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, who spake concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel;
33 And after 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 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 this 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 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment