pgs. 122 and 123...O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God.

CHAPTER 3

The pure in heart receive the pleasing word of God—Lamanite righteousness exceeds that of Nephites—Jacob warns against fornication, lasciviousness, and every sin. Between 544 and 421 B.C.

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and ^apray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will ^bconsole you in your ^cafflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down ^djustice upon those who seek your destruction.

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his ^alove; for ye may, if your ^bminds are ^cfirm, forever.

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is ^acursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not ^bfilthy like unto you, nevertheless they are ^ccursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.

4 And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will ^alead away the righteous out from among you.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not ^aforgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were ^bone wife, and ^cconcubines they should have none, and there should not be ^dwhoredoms committed among them.

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be ^amerciful unto them; and one day they shall ^bbecome a blessed people.

7 Behold, their ^ahusbands ^blove their ^cwives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their ^dunbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

8 O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be ^awhiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God.

9 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye ^arevile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers.

10 Wherefore, ye shall remember your ^achildren, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the ^bexample that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.

11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; ^aarouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may ^bawake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of ^chell that ye may not become ^dangels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second ^edeath.

12 And now I, Jacob, spake many more things unto the people of Nephi, ^awarning them against ^bfornication and ^clasciviousness, and every kind of sin, telling them the awful consequences of them.

13 And a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, which now began to be numerous, cannot be written upon ^athese plates; but many of their proceedings are written upon the ^blarger plates, and their wars, and their contentions, and the reigns of their kings.

14 ^aThese plates are called the plates of Jacob, and they were ^bmade by the hand of Nephi. And I make an end of speaking these words.

This chapter continues Jacob's warning to his people. One can sense his concern for the well being of the Nephites all throughout this chapter. He addresses the righteous among them in the the first two verses and refers to them as the "pure in heart." That expression is so meaningful. I like this quote that elaborates a little on what the expression means:

“Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart” (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, p. 122; or Ensign, May 1978, p. 81).

P.S. I am posting this late on March 5th even though it is the reading for March 6th. I will be out of town starting early March 6th until late March 7th. I'm not sure if I will be able to post on the 7th but don't worry, I will post both readings on the 8th if I need to. I hope this doesn't inconvenience you. I considered getting a guest blogger to take over for the day but then I realized I better save that for a time I will be gone a little longer. Have a great weekend!!!!

pgs. 120 and 121... I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women.

8 And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing ^aword of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.

9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to ^aadmonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.

10 But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict ^acommands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the ^bpiercing eye of the Almighty God.

11 Wherefore, I must tell you the truth according to the ^aplainness of the ^bword of God. For behold, as I inquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying: Jacob, get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people.

12 And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ^aores, in the which this land, which is a ^bland of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.

13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are ^alifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.

14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you.

15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his ^aeye he can smite you to the dust!

16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this ^apride of your hearts destroy your souls!

17 Think of your ^abrethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your ^bsubstance, that ^cthey may be rich like unto you.

18 But ^abefore ye seek for ^briches, seek ye for the ^ckingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to ^ado good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?

21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his ^acommandments and glorify him forever.

22 And now I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you.

23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing ^awhoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.

24 Behold, David and ^aSolomon truly had many ^bwives and concubines, which thing was ^cabominable before me, saith the Lord.

25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a ^arighteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.

26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.

27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any ^aman among you have save it be ^bone ^cwife; and concubines he shall have none;

28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the ^achastity of women. And ^bwhoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.

29 Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or ^acursed be the land for their sakes.

30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up ^aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

31 For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and ^aabominations of their ^bhusbands.

32 And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts.

33 For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; for they shall not commit ^awhoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts.

34 And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our ^afather, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before; and ye have come unto great condemnation; for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done.

35 Behold, ye have done ^agreater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the ^bstrictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.


I've heard a lot of debate about whether or not it is a sin to be wealthy. (Does the "eye of the needle" quote from the Bible ring a bell?) I think verses 17 and 18 teach us volumes about the subject. The way I interpret this message is that wealth itself is not evil but the way individuals handle wealth and the way they value it in their hearts and minds is what matters. The key for all of us, whether we are wealthy or not (and that is relative...aren't all of us who have computers wealthy when compared to residents of 3rd world countries?) is to refrain from PRIDE!


If there is one topic that I've heard debated more than wealth, it's polygamy. (I guess we should give Jacob a pat on the back for having the courage to teach the Lord's will on both hard subjects!) To me the crux of the matter lies in verses 27, 30, 33 and 34. In verse 27 Jacob explains the Lords law is one wife for one husband. In verse 30 he explains that if the Lord has the need to raise up a seed he will command his people "otherwise" for a time. That's it. Not too bad, right? Especially for us because we are not living in a time when the Lord needs to raise up a seed. But that is where the fear/controversy comes in. What if we are asked to live the "otherwise" law at some point in our eternal existence? My answer to that is in verses 32 and 33 where the Lord says,

"I will not suffer that the cries of the fair daughters of this people...shall come up unto me against the men...they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit then with a sore curse, even unto destruction."

Sounds like the Lord will listen to His daughters' prayers, don't you think? I'm pretty sure if any woman is being held "captive" and she tells the Lord in prayer that she feels that way, the Lord will hold her captor accountable. I hope that brings you the peace of mind it brings me. If you have any other insights, please add them in the comments!

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