6 Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with afamine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.
11 And now behold, I command you, that ye shall go and declare unto this people, that thus saith the Lord God, who is the Almighty: Except ye repent ye shall be smitten, even unto adestruction.
12 And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent.
13 Now behold, anotwithstanding that great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord.
14 Therefore Nephi did declare unto them the word of the Lord, saying: Except ye repent, thus saith the Lord, ye shall be asmitten even unto destruction.
15 And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not hearken unto his words; therefore they did arevile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison.
16 But behold, the power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and aconveyed away out of the midst of them.
17 And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people.
18 And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword.
19 And thus ended the seventy and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
THE BOOK OF HELAMAN
CHAPTER 11
Nephi persuades the Lord to replace their war with a famine—Many people perish—They repent, and Nephi importunes the Lord for rain—Nephi and Lehi receive many revelations—The Gadianton robbers entrench themselves in the land. Between 20 and 7 B.C.
1 And now it came to pass in the *seventy and second year of the reign of the judges that the contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.
2 And it was this asecret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. And this war did last all that year; and in the *seventy and third year it did also last.
5 And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the *seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine.
6 And this work of destruction did also continue in the *seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was adry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.
7 And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to aremember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.
8 And the people abegan to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning our bdestruction be fulfilled.
9 And it came to pass that the judges did say unto Nephi, according to the words which had been desired. And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had arepented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying:
10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans in the earth.
11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed.
12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land.
13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth arain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.
14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto amy words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them.
15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them.
It's inspiring to read how close to the Spirit Nephi was and how he aligned his will with the Lord's will. The fact that he asks the Lord to give his people the trial of famine rather than war is quite a statement. Why didn't he ask the Lord to take away the trial all together? Could it be because human beings need trials in their lives to keep them going through the pride cycle again and again and again? I've heard so many people ask why God let's hard things like war, earthquake or disease happen. This reading helps us see that these things can actually serve as reminders to rely on God and respect Him and His commandments.
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