1 Nephi 17:1
And it came
to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly
eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women
did bear children in the wilderness.
2 And so great were the blessings
of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did
give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto
the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.
3 And thus we see that the commandments
of God must be fulfilled.
And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments
of God
he doth nourish them,
and strengthen them,
and provide means
whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded
them;
wherefore, he did provide means for us
while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
4 And we did sojourn for the space
of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.
5 And we did come to the land which
we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and
all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we
beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which,
being interpreted, is many waters.
6 And it came to pass that we did
pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had
suffered many
afflictions
and much
difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were
exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful,
because of its much fruit.
7 And it came to pass that after I,
Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the
voice of the Lord came unto me, saying:
Arise, and get thee into the mountain.
And it came to pass that I arose and went up into
the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.
8 And it came to pass that the Lord
spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship,
after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across
these waters.
9 And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore
to molten, that I may make tools to
construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?
10 And it came to pass that the Lord
told me whither I should go to find ore,
that I might make tools.
11 And it came to pass that I,
Nephi, did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of
beasts;
and after I had made a bellows, that I
might have wherewith to blow the fire,
I did smite two stones together that I might make
fire.
12 For the Lord had not hitherto
suffered that we should make much fire, as we journeyed in the
wilderness;
for he said: I will make thy food
become sweet, that ye cook it not;
13 And I will also be your light
in the wilderness;
and I will prepare the way before you,
if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments;
wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments
ye shall be led towards the promised land;
and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.
14 Yea, and the Lord said
also that:
After ye have arrived in the promised land,
ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God;
and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction;
yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem.
15 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive
to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to
faithfulness and diligence.
16 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did
molten out of the rock.
17 And when my brethren saw
that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying:
Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a
ship;
yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.
18 And thus my brethren did
complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor,
for they did not believe that I could
build a ship;
neither would they believe that I was
instructed of the Lord.
19 And now it came to pass that I,
Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their
hearts;
and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful
they were glad in their hearts,
insomuch that they did rejoice over me,
saying:
We knew that ye could not construct a ship,
for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment;
wherefore, thou canst not accomplish
so great a work.
20 And thou art like unto our
father, led away by 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;
and our women have toiled, being big with child;
and they have borne children in the wilderness
and suffered
all things, save it were death;
and it would have been better that
they had died before they came out
of Jerusalem
than to have suffered these afflictions.
21 Behold, these many years we have
suffered in the wilderness,
which time we might have enjoyed our
possessions and the land of our inheritance;
yea, and we might have been happy.
22 And 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 commandments, according 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 because we would hearken unto his words; yea,
and our brother is like unto him.
And after this manner of language did my
brethren murmur and complain against us.
23 And it came to pass that I,
Nephi, spake unto them, saying:
Do ye believe that our fathers,
who were the children of Israel, would have been led away out of the
hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord?
24 Yea, do ye suppose that they
would have been led out of bondage,
if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he
should lead them out of bondage?
25 Now ye know that the children of
Israel were in bondage;
and ye know that they were laden with
tasks, which were grievous to be borne;
wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a
good thing for them, that they should be brought out of bondage.
26 Now ye know that Moses was
commanded of the Lord to do that great work;
and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea
were divided hither and thither,
and they passed through on dry ground.
27 But ye know that the Egyptians
were drowned
in the Red Sea, who were the armies of
Pharaoh.
28 And ye also know that they were fed
with manna in the wilderness.
29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses,
by his word according to the power of God which was in him,
smote the rock,
and there came forth water, that the children of Israel might
quench their thirst.
30 And notwithstanding they being led,
the Lord
their God, their Redeemer,
going before them, leading them by day and giving light unto them
by night,
and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to
receive,
they hardened their
hearts and blinded their minds,
and reviled against Moses
and against the true and living God.
31 And it came to pass that according
to his word he did destroy them;
and according to his word he did lead
them;
and according to his word he did do
all things for them;
and there was not any thing done save it were
by his word.
32 And after they had crossed the
river Jordan he did make them mighty unto the driving
out of the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to
destruction.
33 And now, do ye suppose that the children
of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out
by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say
unto you, Nay.
34 Do ye suppose that our fathers
would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous? I
say unto you, Nay.
35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one;
a he that is righteous is favored of God.
b But behold, this people had rejected every word of God,
c and they were ripe in iniquity;
c’ and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them;
b’ and the Lord did curse the land against them,
a’ and bless it unto our fathers;
yea, he did curse it against them
unto their destruction,
and he did bless it unto our fathers
unto their obtaining power over it.
OR
35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one;
a he that is righteous is favored
of God.
b But behold, this people had rejected
every word of God,
b’ and they were ripe in iniquity;
a’ and the fulness of the wrath
of God was upon them;
and the
Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our fathers;
yea, he
did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did
bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.
A 36 Behold, the Lord hath created the
earth that it should be inhabited;
and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
B a) 37 And he (1-raiseth) up a righteous
b) nation,
b’) and
(1-destroyeth)
the nations
a’) of
the wicked.
B’ a) 38 And he leadeth away
b) the righteous into (2-precious lands),
b’) and
the wicked
a’) he
destroyeth, and (2-curseth the
land) unto them for their sakes.
A’ 39 He ruleth
high in the heavens, for it is his throne,
and this earth is his footstool.
40 And he loveth those who will have
him to be their God.
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;
wherefore, he did bring them out of the land
of Egypt.
41 And he did straiten them
in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the
Lord straitened them because of their iniquity.
He sent fiery flying serpents among them;
and after they were bitten
he prepared a way that they might be healed;
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.
42 And 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 by his matchless power into the
land of promise.
43 And now, after all these things,
the time has come that they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness;
and I know not but they are at this day about
to be destroyed;
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.
44 Wherefore, the Lord commanded my
father that he should depart into the wilderness;
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 but slow to remember the Lord your God.
Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you;
yea, ye have heard his voice from time to
time;
and he
hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past
feeling, that ye could not feel his words;
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.
46 And ye also know that by
the power of his almighty word he can cause the earth that
it shall pass away; 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. O, then, why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts?
47 Behold,
my soul is rent with anguish because
of you,
and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye
shall be cast off forever.
Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God,
insomuch that my frame has no strength.
48 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; 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;
and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall
wither even as a dried reed;
and he shall be as naught before the power
of God, for God shall smite him.
49 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.
50 And I said unto them: If God had
commanded me to do all things I could do them. 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.
51 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 cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?
52 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;
neither durst they lay their hands
upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days.
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.
53 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.
54 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.
55 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. 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;
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.