pgs. 38 and 39...Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God.

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 ^arejoice 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 ^aimaginations 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 ^arighteous 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 ^aEgyptians 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 ^alead them out of bondage?

25 Now ye know that the children of Israel were in ^abondage; and ye know that they were laden with ^btasks, which were grievous to be borne; wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them, that they should be ^cbrought out of bondage.

26 Now ye know that ^aMoses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his ^bword 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 ^adrowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh.

28 And ye also know that they were fed with ^amanna in the wilderness.

29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word according to the power of God which was in him, ^asmote 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, ^aleading them by day and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were ^bexpedient for man to receive, they hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and ^creviled against Moses and against the true and living God.

31 And it came to pass that according to his word he did ^adestroy them; and according to his word he did ^blead 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 ^adriving 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 ^aflesh in one; he that is ^brighteous is ^cfavored of God. But behold, this ^dpeople had rejected 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 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.

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the ^aearth that it should be ^binhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.

37 And he ^araiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.

38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious ^alands, and the wicked he ^bdestroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes.

39 He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his ^afootstool.

40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our ^afathers, and he ^bcovenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, ^cIsaac, and ^dJacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of ^eEgypt.

41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they ^ahardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying ^bserpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be ^chealed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the ^dsimpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.




My Mom was trying to explain to me what it means to be favored of God as mentioned in verse 35. In D&C 1:35 we are told that "the Lord is no respecter of persons." If all are respected equally how can any be favored? My Mom points out there is a difference between being favored versus being favorite. The Lord has no favorites...he loves all of us equally, every single one. He does favor those who are righteous. It's a very small nuance in our English language but very important in our effort to understand the Lord's love for all of us.