pgs. 106 and 107...I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder.

24 And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him:

25 ^aForasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do ^bhonor me, but have removed their ^chearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the ^dprecepts of men—

26 Therefore, I will proceed to do a ^amarvelous work among this people, yea, a ^bmarvelous work and a wonder, for the ^cwisdom of their wise and ^dlearned shall perish, and the ^eunderstanding of their ^fprudent shall be hid.

27 And ^awo unto them that seek deep to hide their ^bcounsel from the Lord! And their works are in the ^cdark; and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? And they also say: Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the ^dpotter’s clay. But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I ^eknow all their works. For shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he had no understanding?

28 But behold, saith the Lord of Hosts: I will show unto the children of men that it is yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the ^afruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.

29 ^aAnd in that day shall the ^bdeaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

30 And the ^ameek also shall increase, and their ^bjoy shall be in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

31 For assuredly as the Lord liveth they shall see that the ^aterrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off;

32 And they that make a man an ^aoffender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the ^bgate, and ^cturn aside the just for a thing of naught.

33 Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall ^anot now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

34 But when he ^aseeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

35 They also that ^aerred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall ^blearn doctrine.

CHAPTER 28

Many false churches shall be built up in the last days—They shall teach false and vain and foolish doctrines—Apostasy shall abound because of false teachers—The devil shall rage in the hearts of men—He shall teach all manner of false doctrines. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now, behold, my brethren, I have spoken unto you, according as the Spirit hath constrained me; wherefore, I know that they must surely come to pass.

2 And the things which shall be written out of the ^abook shall be of great ^bworth unto the children of men, and especially unto our seed, which is a ^cremnant of the house of Israel.

3 For it shall come to pass in that day that the ^achurches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up ^bchurches, and not unto the Lord—

4 And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their ^alearning, and deny the ^bHoly Ghost, which giveth utterance.

5 And they ^adeny the ^bpower of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is ^cno God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;

6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of ^amiracles; he hath done his work.

7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: ^aEat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: ^aEat, drink, and be ^bmerry; nevertheless, fear God—he will ^cjustify in committing a little ^dsin; yea, ^elie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a ^fpit for thy neighbor; there is ^gno harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, ^afalse and vain and ^bfoolish ^cdoctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

10 And the ^ablood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.

11 Yea, they have all gone out of the ^away; they have become ^bcorrupted.

12 Because of ^apride, and because of ^bfalse teachers, and ^cfalse doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.

13 They ^arob the ^bpoor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their ^cpride they are puffed up.
14 They wear ^astiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and ^bwhoredoms, they have all ^cgone astray save it be a ^dfew, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are ^eled, that in many instances they do ^ferr because they are taught by the precepts of men.

In the commentary on chapter 28 from the Book of Mormon Student Manual there is a great summary and question focusing on verses 2-14. It caused me to think a lot about the far reaching impact of the Book of Mormon on religion today and on many other aspects of life in our culture. I am including it here because I hope it will do the same for you!

The book mentioned in 2 Nephi 28:2 is the Book of Mormon, described by Nephi in 2 Nephi 27. Nephi said the book would be of great worth because of conditions in the last days. The “for” in 2 Nephi 28:3 means “because.” In other words, the Book of Mormon will be of great worth in our day because of the following conditions:

1. Churches will be built up that—

a. Claim to be the Lord’s but really are full of contention (see vv. 3–4;compare with Joseph Smith—History 1:5).

b. Teach with their own learning and deny the Holy Spirit (see 2 Nephi 28:4).

c. Deny the power of God by denying priesthood authority, and by denying God still operates in the lives of men in the same way (see vv. 5–6).

d. Teach that sin and wickedness are excusable (see vv. 7–8).

2. There will be many who teach false doctrines, are puffed up in their pride, work in darkness, and become corrupted (see vv. 9–12).

3. Pride, false teachers, and false doctrines will lead to many evils (see v. 12):

a. Exploitation of the poor (see v. 13).

b. Persecution of the humble (see v. 13).

c. Widespread apostasy (see v. 14).

d. Deception of the humble followers of Christ (see v. 14).

How does the Book of Mormon help counteract these conditions in our time? Sincerely pondering the answer to this question will broaden our perspective about the impact of this book and why it plays such a central role in the restoration of the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ.