IN THE WILDERNESS; TO THE PROMISED LAND 1 Nephi 16-18

Transcription

1 43 IN TH WILRNSS; TO TH PROMIS LN 1 Nephi nd now it ame to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my rethren, ehold they said unto me:[1] Thou hast delared unto us hard things, more than we are ale to ear. 2 nd it ame to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wiked, aording to the truth; 1 and the righteous have I justified, 2 and testified that they should e lifted up at the last day; 1 wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to e hard, 2 for it utteth them to the very enter.[2] 3 nd now my rethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly efore God, then ye would not murmur eause of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us. 4 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my rethren, with all diligene, to keep the ommandments of the Lord. 5 nd it ame to pass that they did humle themselves efore the Lord; insomuh 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 whih he alled Lemuel. 7 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my rethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife. 8 nd thus my father had fulfilled all the ommandments of the Lord whih had een given unto him. nd also, I, Nephi, had een lessed of the Lord exeedingly. 9 nd it ame to pass that the voie of the Lord spake unto my father y night, and ommanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness. 10 nd it ame to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he eheld upon the ground a round all of urious workmanship; and it was of fine rass. nd within the all were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness. 11 nd it ame to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should arry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of our provisions whih the Lord had given unto us; and we did take seed of every kind that we might arry into the wilderness. 12 nd it ame to pass that we did take our tents and depart into the wilderness, aross the river Laman. 13 nd it ame to pass that we traveled for the spae of four days, nearly a south-southeast diretion, and we did pith our tents again;

2 44 1 Nephi 16 and we did all the name of the plae Shazer. 14 nd it ame to pass that we did take our ows and our arrows, and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; and after we had slain food for our families we did return again to our families in the wilderness, to the plae of Shazer. nd we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same diretion, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, whih were in the orders near the Red Sea. 15 nd it ame to pass that we did travel for the spae of many days, slaying food y the way, with our ows and our arrows and our stones and our slings. 16 nd we did follow the diretions of the all, whih led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness. 17 nd after we had traveled for the spae of many days, we did pith our tents for the spae of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and otain food for our families. 18 nd it ame to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, ehold, I did reak my ow, whih was made of fine steel; and after I did reak my ow, ehold, my rethren were angry with me eause of the loss of my ow, for we did otain no food. 19 nd it ame to pass that we did return without food to our families, and eing muh fatigued, eause of their journeying, they did suffer muh for the want of food. 20 nd it ame to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did egin to murmur exeedingly, eause of their sufferings and afflitions in the wilderness; and also my father egan to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exeedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord. 21 Now it ame to pass that I, Nephi, having een afflited with my rethren eause of the loss of my ow, and their ows having lost their springs, it egan to e exeedingly diffiult, yea, insomuh that we ould otain no food.[3] 22

3 1 Nephi nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did speak muh unto my rethren, eause they had hardened their hearts again, even unto omplaining against the Lord their God nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a ow, and out of a straight stik, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a ow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. 2 nd I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to otain food? 24 3 nd it ame to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humled themselves eause of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul. 25 nd it ame to pass that the voie of the Lord ame unto my father; and he was truly hastened eause of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuh that he was rought down into the depths of sorrow. 26 nd it ame to pass that the voie of the Lord said unto him: Look upon the all, and ehold the things whih are written. 27 nd it ame to pass that when my father eheld the things whih were written upon the all, he did fear and tremle exeedingly, and also my rethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives. 28 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, eheld the pointers whih were in the all, that they did work aording to the faith and diligene and heed whih we did give unto them. 29 nd there was also written upon them a new writing, whih was plain to e read, whih did give us understanding onerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and hanged from time to time, aording to the faith and diligene whih we gave unto it. nd thus we see that y small means the Lord an ring aout great things. 30 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, aording to the diretions whih were given upon the all nd it ame to pass that I did slay wild easts, 2 insomuh that I did otain food for our families. 32 nd it ame to pass that I did return to our tents, earing the easts whih I had slain; and now when they eheld that I had otained food, how great was their joy! 3 nd it ame to pass that they did humle themselves efore the Lord, and did give thanks unto him. 33 nd it ame to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same ourse as in the eginning; and after we had traveled for the spae of many days we did pith our tents again, that we might tarry for the spae of a time. 34 nd it ame to pass that Ishmael died, and was uried in the plae whih was alled Nahom. 35 nd it ame to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exeedingly, eause of the loss of their father, and eause of their afflitions in the wilderness;

4 46 1 Nephi 16 and they did murmur against my father, eause he had rought them out of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; yea, and we have wandered muh in the wilderness, and we have suffered muh afflition, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger. 36 nd thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me; and they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem. 37 nd Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons of Ishmael: ehold, let us slay our father, and also our rother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to e our ruler and our teaher, who are his elder rethren. 38 Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him, and also that angels have ministered unto him. ut ehold, we know that he lies unto us; and he tells us these things, and he worketh many things y his unning arts, that he may deeive our eyes, thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us aording to his will and pleasure. nd after this manner did my rother Laman stir up their hearts to anger. 39 nd it ame to pass that the Lord was with us, yea, even the voie of the Lord ame and did speak many words unto them, and did hasten them exeedingly; and after they were hastened y the voie of the Lord they did turn away their anger, and did repent of their sins, insomuh that the Lord did less us again with food, that we did not perish. 17:1 nd it ame to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. nd we did travel and wade through muh afflition in the wilderness; and our women did ear hildren in the wilderness.[4] 2 nd so great were the lessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suk for their hildren, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they egan to ear their journeyings without murmurings. 3 nd thus we see that the ommandments of God must e fulfilled. nd if it so e that the hildren of men keep the ommandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means wherey they an aomplish the thing whih he has ommanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness. 4 nd we did sojourn for the spae of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness. 5

5 1 Nephi nd we did ome to the land 2 whih we alled ountiful, 3 eause of its muh fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. nd we eheld the sea, whih we alled Irreantum, whih, eing interpreted, is many waters. 6 nd it ame to pass that we did pith our tents y the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflitions and muh diffiulty, yea, even so muh that we annot write them all, we were exeedingly rejoied 1 when we ame to the seashore; 2 and we alled the plae ountiful, 3 eause of its muh fruit. 7 nd it ame to pass that after I, Nephi, had een in the land of ountiful for the spae of many days, the voie of the Lord ame unto me, saying: rise, and get thee into the mountain. nd it ame to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and ried unto the Lord. 8 nd it ame to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt onstrut a ship, after the manner whih I shall show thee, that I may arry thy people aross these waters. 9 nd I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to onstrut the ship after the manner whih thou hast shown unto me? 10 nd it ame to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools. 11 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did make a ellows wherewith to low the fire, of the skins of easts; and after I had made a ellows, that I might have wherewith to low the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire. 12 or the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make muh fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness; for he said: I will make thy food eome sweet, that ye ook it not; 13 I nd I will also e your light in the wilderness; II and I will prepare the way efore you, III if it so e that ye shall keep my ommandments; III wherefore, inasmuh as ye shall keep my ommandments II ye shall e led towards the promised land; I and ye shall know that it is y me that ye are led.[5] 14 Yea, and the Lord said also that: fter ye have arrived in the promised land,

6 48 1 Nephi 17 G ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destrution; G yea, that I did ring you out of the land of Jerusalem. 15 H Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the ommandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my rethren to faithfulness and diligene.[6] 16 nd it ame to pass that I did make tools of the ore whih I did molten out of the rok. 17 a 1 nd when my rethren saw that I was aout to uild a ship, they egan to murmur against me, saying: a 2 Our rother is a fool, a 3 for he thinketh that he an uild a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he an ross these great waters. 18 nd thus my rethren did omplain against me, and were desirous that they might not laor, for they did not elieve that I ould uild a ship; neither would they elieve that I was instruted of the Lord. 19 nd now it ame to pass that I, Nephi, was exeedingly sorrowful eause of the hardness of their hearts; a 1 and now when they saw that I egan to e sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuh that they did rejoie over me, saying: a 2 We knew that ye ould not onstrut a ship, for we knew that ye were laking in judgment; a 3 wherefore, thou anst not aomplish so great a work. 20 nd thou art like unto our father, led away y the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; G and our women have toiled, eing ig with hild; and they have orne hildren in the wilderness and suffered all things, H H save it were death; and it would have een etter that they had died G efore they ame out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflitions. 21 ehold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, whih time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritane; yea, and we might have een happy. 22

7 1 Nephi nd we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his ommandments, aording to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away eause we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our rother is like unto him. nd after this manner of language did my rethren murmur and omplain against us. 23 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, spake unto them, saying: 1 o ye elieve that our fathers, who were the hildren of Israel, 2 would have een led away out of the hands of the gyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord? 24 a Yea, do ye suppose that they would have een led out of ondage, if the Lord had not ommanded d Moses e that he should lead them out of ondage? 25 f f Now ye know that the hildren of Israel were in ondage; and ye know that they were laden with tasks, whih were grievous to e orne; e wherefore, ye know that it must needs e a good thing for them, that they should e rought out of ondage. 26 d Now ye know that Moses was ommanded of the Lord a to do that great work; and ye know that y his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground. 27 ut ye know that the gyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh. 28 nd ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness. 29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses, y his word aording to the power of God whih was in him, smote the rok, and there ame forth water, that the hildren of Israel might quenh their thirst. 30 nd notwithstanding they eing led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going efore them, leading them y day and giving light unto them y night,

8 50 1 Nephi 17 and doing all things for them whih were expedient for man to reeive, they hardened their hearts and linded their minds, and reviled against Moses and against the true and living God. 31 nd it ame to pass that aording to his word he did destroy them; and aording to his word he did lead them; and aording to his word he did do all things for them; and there was not any thing done save it were y his word.[7] 32 nd after they had rossed the river Jordan he did make them mighty unto the driving out of the hildren of the land, yea, unto the sattering them to destrution. 33 a nd now, do ye suppose that the hildren of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out y our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? ehold, I say unto you, Nay. 34 o ye suppose that our fathers would have een more hoie than they if they had een righteous? I say unto you, Nay. 35 ehold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. ut ehold, this people had rejeted every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them; and the Lord did urse the land against them, and less it unto our fathers; yea, he did urse it against them unto their destrution, and he did less it unto our fathers unto their otaining power over it. 36 ehold, the Lord hath reated the earth that it should e inhaited; and he hath reated his hildren that they should possess it. 37 a i nd he raiseth up a righteous nation, ii and destroyeth the nations of the wiked. 38 i nd he leadeth away the righteous into preious lands, ii and the wiked he destroyeth, and urseth the land unto them for their sakes. 39 iii He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool. 40 nd he loveth those who will have him to e their God. 1 ehold, he loved our fathers, and he ovenanted with them, yea, even raham, Isaa, and Jao; and he rememered the ovenants whih he had made; 2 wherefore, he did ring them out of the land of gypt. 41 nd he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them eause of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were itten he prepared a way that they might e healed; and the laor whih they had to perform was to look; and eause of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished. 42

9 1 Nephi nd they did harden their hearts from time to time, and they did revile against Moses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth y his mathless power into the land of promise. 43 nd now, after all these things, the time has ome that they have eome wiked, yea, nearly unto ripeness; and I know not ut they are at this day aout to e destroyed; for I know that the day must surely ome that they must e destroyed, save a few only, who shall e led away into aptivity. 44 Wherefore, the Lord ommanded my father that he should depart into the wilderness;[8] and the Jews also sought to take away his life; yea, and ye also have sought to take away his life; wherefore, ye are murderers in your hearts and ye are like unto them. 45 Ye are swift to do iniquity ut slow to rememer the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voie from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voie, ut ye were past feeling, that ye ould not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voie of thunder, whih did ause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. 46 a nd ye also know that y the power of his almighty word he an ause the earth that it shall pass away; a yea, and ye know that y his word he an ause the rough plaes to e made smooth, and smooth plaes shall e roken up. d O, then, why is it, that ye an e so hard in your hearts? 47 ehold, my soul is rent with anguish eause of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall e ast off forever. ehold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuh that my frame has no strength. 48 nd now it ame 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; and as they ame forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the lmighty God, I ommand you that ye touh me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the onsuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall e as naught efore the power of God, for God shall smite him. 49 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their laor from me, for God had ommanded me that I should uild a ship. 50

10 52 1 Nephi 17 nd I said unto them: If God had ommanded me to do all things I ould do them. If he should ommand me that I should say unto this water, e thou earth, it should e earth; and if I should say it, it would e done. 51 nd now, if the Lord has suh great power, and has wrought so many mirales among the hildren of men, how is it that he annot instrut me, that I should uild a ship? 52 nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my rethren, insomuh that they were onfounded and ould not ontend against me; neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touh me with their fingers, even for the spae of many days. Now they durst not do this lest they should wither efore me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; and thus it had wrought upon them. 53 nd it ame to pass that the Lord said unto me: Streth forth thine hand again unto thy rethren, and they shall not wither efore thee, ut I will shok them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God. 54 nd it ame to pass that I strethed forth my hand unto my rethren, and they did not wither efore me; ut the Lord did shake them, even aording to the word whih he had spoken. 55 nd 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. nd they fell down efore me, and were aout to worship me, ut I would not suffer them, saying: I am thy rother, yea, even thy younger rother; wherefore, worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may e long in the land whih the Lord thy God shall give thee. 18:1 nd it ame to pass that they did worship the Lord, and did go forth with me; and we did work timers of urious workmanship.[9] nd the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timers of the ship. 2 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timers after the manner whih was learned y men, neither did I uild the ship after the manner of men; ut I did uild it after the manner whih the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men. 3 nd I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things. 4 nd it ame to pass that after I had finished the ship, aording to the word of the Lord, my rethren eheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exeedingly fine; wherefore, they did humle themselves again efore the Lord. 5

11 1 Nephi nd it ame to pass that the voie of the Lord ame unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship. 6 nd it ame to pass that on the morrow, after we had prepared all things, muh fruits and meat from the wilderness, and honey in aundane, and provisions aording to that whih the Lord had ommanded us, 1 we did go down into the ship, 2 with all our loading and our seeds, and whatsoever thing we had rought with us, every one aording to his age; 1 wherefore, we did all go down into the ship, 2 with our wives and our hildren. 7 nd now, my father had egat two sons in the wilderness; the elder was alled Jao and the younger Joseph. 8 nd it ame to pass after we had all gone down into the ship, and had taken with us our provisions and things whih had een ommanded us, we did put forth into the sea and were driven forth efore the wind towards the promised land. 9 nd after we had een driven forth efore the wind for the spae of many days, ehold, my rethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives egan to make themselves merry, insomuh that they egan to dane, and to sing, and to speak with muh rudeness, yea, even that they did forget y what power they had een rought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exeeding rudeness. 10 nd I, Nephi, egan to fear exeedingly lest the Lord should e angry with us, and smite us eause of our iniquity, that we should e swallowed up in the depths of the sea; wherefore, I, Nephi, egan to speak to them with muh soerness; ut ehold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger rother shall e a ruler over us. 11 nd it ame to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and ind me with ords, and they did treat me with muh harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word whih he had spoken onerning the wiked. 12 nd it ame to pass that after they had ound me insomuh that I ould not move, the ompass, whih had een prepared of the Lord, did ease to work. 13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuh that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrile tempest, and we were driven ak upon the waters for the spae of three days; and they egan to e frightened exeedingly lest they should e drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me. 14 nd on the fourth day, whih we had een driven ak, the tempest egan to e exeedingly sore. 15 nd it ame to pass that we were aout to e swallowed up in the depths of the sea. nd after we had een driven ak upon the waters for the spae of four days, my rethren egan to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they ame unto me, and loosed the ands whih were upon my wrists, and ehold they had swollen exeedingly; and also mine ankles were muh swollen, and great was the soreness thereof. 16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord eause of mine afflitions. 17 Now my father, Lehi, had said many things unto them, and also unto the sons of Ishmael; ut, ehold, they did reathe out muh threatenings against anyone that should speak for me;

12 54 1 Nephi 18 G and my parents eing striken in years, H 1 and having suffered muh grief eause of their hildren, H 2 they were rought down, yea, even upon their sik-eds. 18 H 1 eause of their grief and muh sorrow, and the iniquity of my rethren, H 2 they were rought near even to e arried out of this time to meet their God; G yea, their grey hairs were aout to e rought down to lie low in the dust; yea, even they were near to e ast with sorrow into a watery grave. 19 nd Jao and Joseph also, eing young, having need of muh nourishment, were grieved eause of the afflitions of their mother; and also my wife with her tears and prayers, and also my hildren, did not soften the hearts of my rethren that they would loose me. 20 nd there was nothing save it were the power of God, whih threatened them with destrution, ould soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were aout to e swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing whih they had done, insomuh that they loosed me. 21 a nd it ame to pass after they had loosed me, ehold, I took the ompass, and it did work whither I desired it. nd it ame to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did ease, and the storm did ease, and there was a great alm. 22 a nd it ame to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land. 23 nd it ame to pass that after we had sailed for the spae of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pith our tents; and we did all it the promised land. 24 nd it ame to pass that we did egin to till the earth, and we egan to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, whih we had rought from the land of Jerusalem. nd it ame to pass that they did grow exeedingly; wherefore, we were lessed in aundane. 25 nd it ame to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were easts in the forests of every kind, oth the ow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, whih were for the use of men.

13 1 Nephi nd we did find all manner of ore, oth of gold, and of silver, and of opper.[10] 1. hapter 5 in the 1830 edition egins with this verse. 2. Note the ontrast in the 2 s. Notes 3. 1 Nephi 16:18e-21 is an example of a hevron that proaly would not e lassified as a hiasm. In fat, Parry doesn t show it. There are a few word parallels ( otain no food in the s, Laman and Lemuel in the first and my rethren in the seond, afflitions and afflited in the s). The s are related only thematially, the seond summarizing the first. The foal point,, is learly the point of emphasis of the text. 4. Notie how did is used in 16:39 and 17:1. This is a 16 th entury syntax that disappeared efore the KJ was produed. See The Impliations of Past-Tense Syntax in the ook of Mormon, Stanford armak, Mormon Interpreter, Volume 14, 2015, Pages Nephi 17:13. Roman numerals per WP. This is a themati hevron, with no word mathes in the I and II elements. Here we have an example of multiple strutures, eah emphasizing different aspets of the message. I I nd I will also e your light in the wilderness; II and I will prepare the way efore you, III if it so e that ye shall keep my ommandments; III wherefore, inasmuh as ye shall keep my ommandments II ye shall e led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is y me that ye are led Nephi 17:9-15 is a paired ehelon with a lear point of emphasis, H. 7. oth s tell what God did for Israel in the wilderness Nephi 17:30-44 is a doule ehelon (doule apital guide letters) with emphasis, with the point of emphasis eing verses Nephi 18:1. One of Wester s (1828) definitions of urious is Wrought with are and art; elegant; neat; finished, with is onsistent with exeedingly fine (seond ). 10. This onludes what Spener terms reation, the reation of the Lehite olony. Next omes the fall, 2 Nephi19-2 Nephi 5.

14 56 NPHI'S OMMNTRY ON ISIH 48, 49 1 Nephi nd it ame to pass that the Lord ommanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the reord of my people. nd upon the plates whih I made I did engraven the reord of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the propheies of my father; and also many of mine own propheies have I engraven upon them. 2 nd I knew not at the time when I made them that I should e ommanded of the Lord to make these plates; wherefore, the reord of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proeedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of whih I have spoken; wherefore, the things whih transpired efore I made these plates are, of a truth, more partiularly made mention upon the first plates. 3 a nd after I had made these plates y way of ommandment, I, Nephi, reeived a ommandment that the ministry and the propheies, the more plain and preious parts of them, should e written upon these plates; and that the things whih were written should e kept for the instrution of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, whih purposes are known unto the Lord. 4 a Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a reord upon the other plates, whih gives an aount, or whih gives a greater aount of the wars and ontentions and destrutions of my people. nd this have I done, and ommanded my people what they should do after I was gone; and that these plates should e handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further ommandments of the Lord. 5 a nd an aount of my making these plates shall e given hereafter; and then, ehold, I proeed aording to that whih I have spoken; and this I do that the more sared things may e kept for the knowledge of my people. 6 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it e that I think it e sared. nd now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would exuse myself eause of other men, ut eause of the weakness whih is in me, aording to the flesh, I would exuse myself. 7 I a or the things whih some men esteem to e of great worth, oth to the ody and soul, others set at naught and