pgs. 54 and 55...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall ^anone come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.

7 Wherefore, this ^aland is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of ^bliberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound ^ccursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

8 And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be ^akept as yet from the knowledge of other ^bnations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.

9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a ^apromise, that ^binasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall ^cprosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall ^dkeep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their ^einheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in ^aunbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true ^bMessiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is ^cjust shall rest upon them.

11 Yea, he will bring ^aother nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be ^bscattered and smitten.

12 Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be ^abloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words.

13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep ^asleep, yea, even from the sleep of ^bhell, and shake off the awful ^cchains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal ^dgulf of misery and woe.

14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling ^aparent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent ^bgrave, from whence no traveler can ^creturn; a few more ^ddays and I go the ^eway of all the earth.

15 But behold, the Lord hath ^aredeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his ^bglory, and I am encircled about eternally in the ^carms of his ^dlove.

16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the ^astatutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.

17 My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his ^awrath upon you, that ye be ^bcut off and destroyed forever;

18 Or, that a ^acursing should come upon you for the space of ^bmany generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the ^cdevil.

19 O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a ^afavored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ^bways are righteousness forever.

20 And he hath said that: ^aInasmuch as ye shall keep my ^bcommandments ye shall ^cprosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.

21 And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be ^amen, and be determined in ^bone mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;

22 That ye may not be ^acursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a ^bjust God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.

23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of ^arighteousness. Shake off the ^bchains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.

24 Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been ^aglorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with ^bhunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to ^ctake away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you.

Note: Chapters 1-3 are Lehi's last messages to his people. In these chapters he teaches, reviews, prophecies and blesses his children.


Once again in these verses we read of Lehi telling his children how important the promised land is and how the Lord stopped other nations from discovering it and preserved it for them (verse 8.) He also tells them that if they "drop the ball" and don't fulfill the Lord's commandments that the land will be taken away (verse 11.) This reminds me of so many things in life...if we will be righteous and allow the Lord to bless us, He will. BUT, if we choose not to be righteous He can and will carry out His plan without us. Of course that means we would forfeit the blessings that could have been ours and things in life will be harder for us than they need to be (verse 20.) This basic truth seems so simple in theory but in practice it can be so hard...