DAY 24 – I Nephi 6:35-56

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 saith 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, Shew 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 those who 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 shew 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 whom thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the first, shall again in thine ears say, The place is too straight 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 towards 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 captives delivered?
55 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives 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.

DAY 23 – I Nephi 6:1-34

CHAPTER 6

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 book of Moses;
4 But that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, 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 who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch who have been broken off, hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren, from whom ye have been broken off.
7 For after this manner has the prophet written:
8 Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, who 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, who 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 shewed them; I did shew 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 shewed them thee; and I shewed 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 seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them? And that I have shewed 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; 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; I call unto them, and they stand up together.
21 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who 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 who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, has done it.
25 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandment! 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 clave 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, who 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 nought, and in vain; surely, my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

DAY 22 – I Nephi 5:218-264

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 engrave 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 the 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 plates of which I have spoken;
222 Wherefore, the things which transpired before I made these plates, are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.
223 And after I had 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, who 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 this have I done, and commanded my people what they should do, after 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 nought, 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 set him at nought, 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 nought; 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 towards the children of men.
239 And the God of our fathers, who [our fathers] 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 Zenock,
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 those who should inhabit the isles of the sea;
244 More especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.
245 For thus spake the prophet, The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at 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 those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and power and glory of the God of Israel;
252 And because they turn 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 who 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 those who are at Jerusalem;
261 For had not the Lord been merciful, to shew unto me concerning them, even as he had prophets of old, I should have perished also;
262 And he surely did shew unto the prophets of old, all things concerning them;
263 And also he did shew unto many concerning us;
264 Wherefore, it must needs be, that we know concerning them, for they are written upon the plates of brass.

(Fixed) DAY 21 – I Nephi 5:179-217

179 And now, my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; the eldest was called Jacob, and the younger, Joseph.
180 And it came to pass 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, towards the promised land;
182 And after 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 did suffer it, that he might shew forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had 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 not loose me.
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 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 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 any one 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 sick beds.
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 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 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 towards 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.

DAY 20 – I Nephi 5:132-178

131 And he loveth those who 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 straighten them in the wilderness with his rod, for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straightened them because of their iniquity.
134 He sent fiery-flying 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 who 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 who 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 has 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 the rough places to 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 for ever.
152 Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuch that my frame has 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 reed; and he shall be as nought before the power of God, for God shall smite him.
156 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said 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 said unto them, If God had commanded me to do all things, I could do them.
158 If he should command me that I should say unto this water, Be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
159 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he can not 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 has 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 shew 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 men;
171 But I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shewn 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 shewed 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 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 children.