DAY 16 – I Nephi 4:41-5:16

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 justice 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 for ever 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 to 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 can not 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 can not 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 foundation 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 rejected from the righteous and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above 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.

CHAPTER 5

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 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, 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 depart 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, south-east direction, and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer.

DAY 15 – I Nephi 4:1-40

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.

DAY 14 – I NEPHI 3:217-256

DAY 14 – I NEPHI 3:217-256

217 And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me, Remember thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel?

218 I said unto him, Yea.

219 And it came to pass that he said unto me, Look and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil.

220 And he said unto me, Behold, there are save two churches only:

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 who sat upon many waters;

227 Nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth;

228 And their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom 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, who 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 the 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 foundation 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, who 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 who 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 bear 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 and heard; 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.

DAY 13 – I Nephi 3:181-216

DAY 13 – I Nephi 3:181-216

181 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying, Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel, and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father;

182 Wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles;

183 And after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which has been kept back, by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb, I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and 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 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 who 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 And whoso shall publish peace, yea, 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, 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 the Jews, who 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 son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him or they can not 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 he has 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, and 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 for ever;

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.

DAY 12 – I Nephi 3:145-180

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 said 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, who was 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, who 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 the 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 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 they were slain.

152 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who 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 that 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 said unto me, Knowest thou the meaning of the book?

159 And I said unto him, I know not.

160 And he said, Behold, it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew; and I, Nephi, beheld it;

161 And he said unto me, The book that 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 plainness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear 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 they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the foundation of a great and abominable church, which is most abominable above 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 precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God;

172 And after 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 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 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 who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up 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 that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance, will not utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are 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 for ever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest they are in because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have 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.