pgs. 10 and 11...these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time.

CHAPTER 5

Sariah complains against Lehi—Both rejoice over the return of their sons—They offer sacrifices—The plates of brass contain writings of Moses and the prophets—They identify Lehi as a descendant of Joseph—Lehi prophesies concerning his seed and the preservation of the plates. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

1 And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us.

2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had ^acomplained against my father, telling him that he was a ^bvisionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.

4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a ^avisionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a ^bvision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.

5 But behold, I have ^aobtained a ^bland of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I ^cknow that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.

6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, ^acomfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.

7 And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted.

8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath ^acommanded my husband to ^bflee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could ^caccomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.

9 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer ^asacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave ^bthanks unto the God of Israel.

10 And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the ^aplates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.

11 And he beheld that they did contain the five ^abooks of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;

12 And also a ^arecord of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;

13 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of ^aZedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of ^bJeremiah.

14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the ^aplates of brass a ^bgenealogy of his ^cfathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of ^dJoseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of ^eJacob, who was ^fsold into Egypt, and who was ^gpreserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.

15 And they were also ^aled out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them.

16 And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of ^aJoseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the ^brecords.

17 And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—

18 That these ^aplates of brass should go forth unto all ^bnations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.

19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should ^anever perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.

20 And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us.

21 And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great ^aworth unto us, insomuch that we could ^bpreserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.

22 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.

CHAPTER 6

Nephi writes of the things of God—His purpose is to persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and be saved. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

1 And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in ^athis part of my record; neither at any time shall I give it after upon these ^bplates which I am ^cwriting; for it is given in the record which has been kept by my ^dfather; wherefore, I do not write it in this work.

2 For it sufficeth me to say that we are descendants of ^aJoseph.

3 And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon ^athese plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God.

4 For the fulness of mine intent is that I may ^apersuade men to ^bcome unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.

5 Wherefore, the things which are ^apleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

6 Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men.

Sariah is one of few women written about in the Book of Mormon and therefore fascinates me! The testimony given by her in Chapter 5 verse 8 is beautiful. It is also nice to know that she wasn't always perfect in her faith (verse 2) and complained once in a while. I'm touched by the way Lehi comforted her and I'm sure a lot of missionary mom's have received similar comfort when their children have been away serving the Lord.

These pages are also where we learn that Lehi is a descendant of Joseph and how much he values his genealogy and the commandments of the Lord as recorded on the plates. Nephi only briefly mentions his ancestry because it had all been recorded previously by his father. It is said that those are the writings that were lost in the 116 pages that Joseph gave to Martin Harris. Hopefully someday we will have a chance to read more of Lehi's writings. For now I am thankful for the 531 pages that we do have.