pgs. 118 and 119...and we did magnify our office unto the Lord.

THE BOOK OF JACOB

THE BROTHER OF NEPHI

The words of his preaching unto his brethren. He confoundeth a man who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. A few words concerning the history of the people of Nephi.

CHAPTER 1

Jacob and Joseph seek to persuade men to believe in Christ and keep his commandments—Nephi dies—Wickedness prevails among the Nephites. Between 544 and 421 B.C.

1 For behold, it came to pass that *fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a ^acommandment concerning the ^bsmall plates, upon which these things are engraven.

2 And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should ^awrite upon ^bthese plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi.

3 For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his ^aother plates, and that I should ^bpreserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.

4 And if there were preaching which was ^asacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the ^bheads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people.

5 For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should ^ahappen unto them.

6 And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of ^aChrist and his kingdom, which should come.

7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to ^acome unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his ^brest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not ^center in, as in the ^dprovocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the ^ewilderness.

8 Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men ^anot to rebel against God, to ^bprovoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his ^ccross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi.

9 Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon ^adie; wherefore, he ^banointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the ^ckings.

10 The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the ^asword of Laban in their defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare—

11 Wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people, second Nephi, third Nephi, and so forth, according to the reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatever name they would.

12 And it came to pass that Nephi died.

13 Now the people which were not ^aLamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, ^bZoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.

14 But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish ^athem by these names, but I shall ^bcall them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call ^cNephites, or the ^dpeople of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings.

15 And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many ^awives and ^bconcubines, and also Solomon, his son.

16 Yea, and they also began to search much ^agold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride.

17 Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the ^atemple, having first obtained mine ^berrand from the Lord.

18 For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been ^aconsecrated priests and ^bteachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi.

19 And we did ^amagnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the ^bresponsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not ^cteach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their ^dblood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

* VERSE 1 (544 B.C.).

CHAPTER 2

Jacob denounces the love of riches, pride, and unchastity—Men should seek riches to help their fellow men—Jacob condemns the unauthorized practice of plural marriage—The Lord delights in the chastity of women. Between 544 and 421 B.C.

1 The ^awords which Jacob, the brother of Nephi, spake unto the people of Nephi, after the death of Nephi:

2 Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the ^aresponsibility which I am under to God, to ^bmagnify mine office with ^csoberness, and that I might ^drid my garments of your sins, I come up into the temple this day that I might declare unto you the word of God.

3 And ye yourselves know that I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the ^awelfare of your souls than I have hitherto been.

4 For behold, as yet, ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you.

5 But behold, hearken ye unto me, and know that by the help of the all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth I can tell you concerning your ^athoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me, yea, and abominable unto God.

6 Yea, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts.

7 And also it grieveth me that I must use so much ^aboldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and ^bchaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God;

How many times have you been encouraged to "magnify your calling?" Well, I hope next time you hear that you will remember Jacob because he is the originator of the concept! He is an inspiration and example of doing just that. Just in this chapter it seems to me that he genuinely loves the Nephites and truly wants to help them in their lives. Even though his writings are not long he blesses us with the Allegory of the Olive Tree and the teaching that unauthorized plural marriage is an abomination to God. Those are both teachings that we will be going over in our next few days of reading.

pgs. 116 and 117...for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it into the hearts of men.

CHAPTER 33

Nephi’s words are true—They testify of Christ—Those who believe in Christ will believe Nephi’s words—They shall stand as a witness before the judgment bar. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I ^amighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man ^bspeaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.

2 But behold, there are many that ^aharden their ^bhearts against the Holy ^cSpirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught.

3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great ^aworth, and especially unto my people. For I ^bpray continually for them by day, and mine ^ceyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it ^apersuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life ^beternal.

5 And it speaketh ^aharshly against sin, according to the ^bplainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil.

6 I ^aglory in ^bplainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath ^credeemed my soul from hell.

7 I have ^acharity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat.

8 I have charity for the ^aJew—I say Jew, because I mean them from whence I came.

9 I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of ^athese can I hope except they shall be ^breconciled unto Christ, and enter into the ^cnarrow ^dgate, and ^ewalk in the ^fstrait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of ^gprobation.

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also ^aJew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and ^bbelieve in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall ^cbelieve in Christ ye will believe in these ^dwords, for they are the ^ewords of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they ^fteach all men that they should do good.

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with ^apower and great ^bglory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his ^akingdom at that great and last day.

13 And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one ^acrying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

14 And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the ^aJews, and also my ^bwords, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall ^ccondemn you at the last day.

15 For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the ^ajudgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must ^bobey. Amen.


The last verse we hear from Nephi really sank in this time. It's kind of harsh but I guess you can't blame him for saying "I hope I see you at the judgement bar BUT if you haven't followed the teachings the Savior has asked me to record for you then I won't see you, SO just in case, let's say goodbye now." It's actually quite effective because I know when I read it I decided I would definitely like to be among those who meet him. I can't imagine how the people who were there and heard his actual voice would have felt any differently.



I know it's cheesy but I have to admit, this is the first time I have felt like I should be writing Nephi a thank you note or something after reading First and Second Nephi. I'm really going to miss his writings. It seems like I've gotten to know him a little better. I want to tell him that I realize how much he sacrificed to get the gold plates and bring them to the Americas. I want to tell him that his faith and his sheer determination to fulfill the Lord's commands was simply remarkable! I want him to know that millions are reading his writings now and all his sacrifices were for good reason. I want to thank him for living such an amazing journey and recording it for all of our benefit. I want him to know that he really, truly, changed my life.

pgs. 114 and 115...ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men.

14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should ^adeny me, it would have been ^bbetter for you that ye had not known me.

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the ^awords of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that ^bendureth to the ^cend, the same shall be saved.

16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall ^aendure to the end, in following the ^bexample of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and ^abaptism by water; and then cometh a ^bremission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this ^astrait and narrow ^bpath which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which ^cwitnesses of the ^dFather and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow ^apath, I would ask if all is ^bdone? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken ^cfaith in him, ^drelying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to ^esave.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the ^away; and there is ^bnone other way nor ^cname given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the ^ddoctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the ^eFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is ^fone God, without end. Amen.

CHAPTER 32

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost—Men must pray and gain knowledge for themselves from the Holy Ghost. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had ^areceived the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the ^btongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

3 ^aAngels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, ^bfeast upon the ^cwords of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will ^dtell you all things what ye should do.

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ^aask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will ^ashow unto you all things what ye should do.

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall ^amanifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the ^aunbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the ^bstiffneckedness of men; for they will ^cnot search ^dknowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in ^eplainness, even as plain as word can be.

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the ^aSpirit which teacheth a man to ^bpray ye would know that ye must ^cpray; for the ^devil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must ^apray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall ^bpray unto the Father in the ^cname of Christ, that he will ^dconsecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the ^ewelfare of thy soul.

Yesterdays, today's, and tomorrow's pages all include Nephi's final teachings to his people. I guess because he knew it was his last chance to teach his people in this life he packed these chapters full of great wisdom and doctrine. There are so many wonderful admonitions that apply to us today just as they did to his people then. Probably one of the most quoted and beautiful verses in the entire Book of Mormon is verse 20 of chapter 31. I recently read an explanation of "enduring to the end" that changed my perspective on it's meaning. For some reason I had always thought of it as surviving through lifes challenges and trying to stay faithful. Now I realize that it is living life experiences with the peace and comfort that gospel truths bring. It is also taking every step of our journey through life, no matter how difficult, with wonder and strength, knowing the amazing purpose our time on this earth serves in our eternal progress.

pgs. 112 and 113...For my soul delighteth in plainness.

6 And then shall they rejoice; for they shall ^aknow that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their ^bscales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a ^cdelightsome people.

7 And it shall come to pass that the ^aJews which are scattered also shall ^bbegin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.

8 And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the ^arestoration of his people upon the earth.

9 And with righteousness shall the ^aLord God ^bjudge the poor, and reprove with equity for the ^cmeek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

10 For the ^atime speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great ^bdivision among the people, and the wicked will he ^cdestroy; and he will ^dspare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must ^edestroy the wicked by fire.

11 And ^arighteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

12 And then shall the wolf ^adwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them.

13 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

14 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.

15 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy ^amountain; for the earth shall be full of the ^bknowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

16 Wherefore, the things of ^aall nations shall be made known; yea, all things shall be made ^bknown unto the children of men.

17 There is nothing which is secret save it shall be ^arevealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made manifest in the light; and there is nothing which is sealed upon the earth save it shall be loosed.

18 Wherefore, all things which have been revealed unto the children of men shall at that ^aday be revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men ^bno more, for a long time. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings.

CHAPTER 31

Nephi tells why Christ was baptized—Men must follow Christ, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end to be saved—Repentance and baptism are the gate to the strait and narrow path—Eternal life comes to those who keep the commandments after baptism. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now I, Nephi, make an end of my ^aprophesying unto you, my beloved brethren. And I cannot write but a few things, which I know must surely come to pass; neither can I write but a few of the ^bwords of my brother Jacob.

2 Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me, save it be a few words which I ^amust speak concerning the doctrine of Christ; wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying.

3 For my soul delighteth in ^aplainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the ^bunderstanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their ^clanguage, unto their understanding.

4 Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that ^aprophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the ^bLamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.

5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being ^aholy, should have need to be ^bbaptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be ^cbaptized, yea, even by water!

6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?

7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be ^aobedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the ^aform of a ^bdove.

9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the ^agate, by which they should enter, he having set the ^bexample before them.

10 And he said unto the children of men: ^aFollow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we ^bfollow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father ^agive the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, ^bfollow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall ^afollow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no ^bhypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real ^cintent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are ^dwilling to take upon you the ^ename of Christ, by ^fbaptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the ^gbaptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the ^htongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

There has been much discussion among theologians in and out of the church about what it actually means for the Holy Ghost's to descend in the shape of a dove, as mentioned in verse 8. I like this explanation from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, not just for it's explanation of the Holy Ghost but also for it's teachings about John the Baptist.

The question arose from the saying of Jesus--"Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." How is it that John was considered one of the greatest prophets? His miracles could not have constituted his greatness.First. He was entrusted with a divine mission of preparing the way before the face of the Lord. Whoever had such a trust committed to him before or since? No man.Secondly. He was entrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his hands, to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 275

pgs. 110 and 111...because that ye have a Bible, ye need not suppose that it contains all my words.

4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a ^aBible; and it shall proceed forth from the ^bJews, mine ancient covenant people. And what ^cthank they the ^dJews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?

5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have ^acursed them, and have ^bhated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

6 Thou fool, that shall say: A ^aBible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

7 Know ye not that there are more ^anations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the ^bisles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the ^cearth beneath; and I bring forth my ^dword unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the ^atestimony of ^btwo nations is a ^cwitness unto you that I am God, that I remember one ^dnation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two ^enations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the ^asame yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my ^bwords according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one ^cword ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my ^dwork is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my ^awords; neither ^bneed ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.

11 For I command ^aall men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall ^bwrite the words which I speak unto them; for out of the ^cbooks which shall be written I will ^djudge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

12 For behold, I shall speak unto the ^aJews and they shall ^bwrite it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall ^cwrite it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto ^dall nations of the earth and they shall write it.

13 And it shall come to pass that the ^aJews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the ^blost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.

14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the ^ahouse of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the ^blands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in ^cone. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my ^dpeople, who are of the ^ehouse of Israel, that I am God, and that I ^fcovenanted with ^gAbraham that I would remember his ^hseed ⁱforever.

CHAPTER 30

Converted gentiles shall be numbered with the covenant people—Many Lamanites and Jews shall believe the word and become a delightsome people—Israel shall be restored and the wicked destroyed. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise ^aperish; and because of the words which have been spoken ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed.

2 For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the ^acovenant people of the Lord; and as many of the ^bJews as will not repent shall be ^ccast off; for the Lord ^dcovenanteth with none save it be with them that ^erepent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel.

3 And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall ^abelieve the words which are written; and ^bthey shall carry them forth unto the ^cremnant of our seed.

4 And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews.

5 And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among ^athem; wherefore, ^bthey shall be restored unto the ^cknowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.

These verses are such a powerful witness of the power of the Book of Mormon and it's far reaching effects. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to discover the Book of Mormon as an adult. I also wonder what it would feel like to be the "remnant of seed" who read the Book of Mormon and realize that they are descendants of Lehi that Nephi mentions in verse 4. I think it must be amazing for them.
I come from Scandinavian ancestors who discovered the Book of Mormon in Europe and came to America in search of Zion. I am thankful that they were willing to accept that the Bible is not the only record of Jesus Christ on the earth. I am thankful they believed the Book of Mormon and taught it to their children so that I could live my whole life with these truths.