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First Nephi — Chapter 17

¹ Then we traveled in the desert again, going east from that time on. We traveled far and had many troubles, and our wives had babies in the desert.

² The Lord blessed us very much while we were in the desert. Even though we ate raw meat, our wives had plenty of milk for their babies. They were as strong as men and traveled without complaining.

³ So we see that God’s commandments must be kept. If people keep God’s commandments, he will feed them and give them strength and make a way for them to do what he commands them to do. He made a way for us while we lived in the desert.

⁴ We lived in the desert for eight years.

⁵ Then we came to the land we called Bountiful, because of all its fruit and wild honey. The Lord had prepared these things for us so we would not die. We saw the sea, and called it Irreantum, or “many waters.”

⁶ We set up our tents by the sea. Even though we had had many troubles — so many we cannot write them all  down — we were very happy when we came to the sea.

⁷ After I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for many days, the Lord’s voice came to me and said: “Get up and go into the mountain.” So I got up and went into the mountain, and prayed to the Lord.

⁸ Then the Lord said to me: “I will show you how to build a ship so I can take your people across the waters.”

⁹ And I said: “Lord, where should I go to find metal to make the tools to build the ship you will show me how to build?”

¹⁰ Then the Lord told me where I could find metal to make tools.

¹¹ Then I, Nephi, made a bellows out of animal skins to blow air on the fire. Then I made a fire by hitting two stones together.

¹² The Lord had not let us make many fires as we traveled in the desert. He said: “I will make your food taste good, so you will not have to cook it.

¹³ “I will be your light in the desert, and I will prepare the way for you if you keep my commandments. If you keep my commandments, you will be led towards the promised land, and you will know that I am leading you.”

¹⁴ Yes, and the Lord also said: “After you get to the promised land, you will know that I, the Lord, am God, and that I, the Lord, saved you from being destroyed by leading you out of Jerusalem.”

¹⁵ So I, Nephi, tried hard to keep the Lord’s commandments, and told my brothers to be faithful and to keep his commandments, too.

¹⁶ I made tools from the metal I melted out of the rocks.

¹⁷ When my brothers saw that I was going to build a ship, they  complained against me, saying: “Our brother is crazy — he thinks he can build a ship. Yes, he thinks he can cross these great waters.”

¹⁸ This was how my brothers complained against me. They did not want to work because they did not believe I could build a ship, and they would not believe that the Lord was teaching me how to do it.

¹⁹ Then I, Nephi, was very sad because of their hard hearts. When they saw I was getting sad, they were happy in their hearts and said: “We knew you could not build a ship, because we knew that you don’t know how.

²⁰ “You are just like our father, who follows the foolish dreams of his heart. Yes, he led us out of Jerusalem, and we have traveled in the desert for many years. Our wives have traveled even when they were going to have babies. They have had babies in the desert, and all kinds of bad things have happened to them, except for death. But it would have been better for them to have died before leaving Jerusalem than to have had all these bad things happen to them.

²¹ “We have had hard times all these years in the desert, instead of having good times with our riches in Jerusalem, where we would have been happy.

²² “We know the people in the land of Jerusalem were righteous, because they obeyed all of God’s commandments in the Law of Moses. But our father judged the people and led us away from them because we listened to what he said, and our brother is just like him.” This was how my brothers complained against us.

²³ Then I, Nephi, said to them: “Do you believe that our ancestors, the children of Israel, would have escaped from the Egyptians if they had not listened to the Lord?

²⁴ “Yes, do you think they would have been led out of slavery if the Lord hadn’t commanded Moses to lead them out of slavery?

²⁵ “You know the children of Israel were in slavery, and that they were made to do many hard things. You know it was a good thing for them to have been led out of slavery.

²⁶ “You know the Lord commanded Moses to do that great work. You know that Moses told the Red Sea to divide in two so they could cross it on dry ground.

²⁷ “You know that the armies of the king of Egypt were drowned in the Red Sea.

²⁸ “You also know that the children of Israel were given manna to eat in the desert.

²⁹ “You also know that Moses, with the power of God, hit the rock, and water came out of it, so the children of Israel would not be thirsty.

³⁰ “But even though they were led, and even though the Lord their God, their Savior, went in front of them, and gave light to them at night, and did everything for them that they needed, they hardened their hearts and said bad things about Moses and the true and living God.

³¹ “He destroyed them, just as he said. He led them, just as he said. He did everything for them that he said he would do.

³² “After they crossed the Jordan River, he made them strong enough to chase out and scatter and destroy the people who lived in that land.

³³ “Do you think the people living in that promised land (whom our ancestors chased out) were righteous? I tell you, No.

³⁴ “Do you think our ancestors would have been more special than those people if those people had been righteous? I tell you, No.

³⁵ “The Lord treats everyone fairly, and God blesses whoever is righteous. But those people would not listen to what God said, so God’s anger was on them. The Lord cursed the land against those people, but blessed it for our ancestors. He cursed it for those people so they would be destroyed, and he blessed it for our ancestors so they could take over it.

³⁶ “The Lord has made the earth for people to live on, and he made people to live on the earth.

³⁷ “He makes and protects righteous nations, and destroys wicked nations.

³⁸ “He leads the righteous to wonderful lands, and destroys the wicked, and curses the land to help them repent.

³⁹ “He rules high in the heavens. Heaven is his throne, and the earth is where he puts his feet.

⁴⁰ “He loves those who want him to be their God. He loved our ancestors and made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He remembered the promises he made to them, so he brought their descendants out of Egypt.

⁴¹ “He corrected them in the desert because they hardened their hearts, just as you have, and the Lord corrected them because of their wickedness. He sent flying snakes of fire to them, and after they had been bitten, he made a way for them to get better. All they had to do was look, but this seemed too easy, so many died.

⁴² “They hardened their hearts from time to time, and said bad things about Moses, and about God, too. Even so, you know they were led by his power into the promised land.

⁴³ “And now, even after all these things, the time has come when almost all of them are wicked, and they are just about to be destroyed. I know the day will come when they will all be destroyed, except for a few who will be taken away as slaves.

⁴⁴ “This is why the Lord commanded my father to go into the desert. The Jews tried to kill him, and you have tried to kill him. You are killers in your hearts and you are just like them.

⁴⁵ “You are quick to do evil things, but slow to remember the Lord your God. You have seen an angel, and he has talked to you. Yes, you have heard God’s voice from time to time. He talked to you in a quiet, small voice, but you could not feel his words anymore, so he talked to you with a voice like thunder, and it made the earth shake as if it would split in two.

⁴⁶ “You also know that the power of his word can make the earth change. Yes, you know that just by speaking he can make rough places smooth, and smooth places rough. O then, how can you be so hard in your hearts?

⁴⁷ “My soul is torn with sadness because of you, and my heart is full of pain, and I am afraid you will be kept out of God’s kingdom forever. Look and see, I am so full of the Spirit of God that my body has no strength.”

⁴⁸ After I said this, they were angry with me and wanted to throw me into the sea. But as they were about to touch me, I said to them: “In the name of Almighty God, I command you not to touch me, because I am filled with so much of God’s power that my body is nearly burned up. Whoever touches me will burn up like dry grass. They will be like nothing to the power of God, and God will destroy them.”

⁴⁹ Then I, Nephi, told them not to complain anymore against their father, and to stop trying not to work with me, because God had commanded me to build a ship.

⁵⁰ I said to them: “If God had commanded me to do all things, I could do them. If he commanded me to tell this water to become dry ground, it would become dry ground, and if I said it, it would happen.

⁵¹ “Now, if the Lord has so much power, and has done so many miracles for people, why can’t he teach me how to build a ship?”

⁵² I, Nephi, said many things to my brothers, and they could not argue with me. They were afraid to do anything to me or to touch me for many days. They were afraid they would burn up like dry grass if they did, because the Spirit of God was so strong. It made them very afraid.

⁵³ Then the Lord told me: “Touch you brothers with your hand. They will not burn up, but I will shock them. I will do this so they will know I am the Lord their God.”

⁵⁴ So I touched my brothers with my hand. They did not burn up, but the Lord shocked them just as he said.

⁵⁵ Then they said: “Now we know for sure that the Lord is with you, because we know it is God’s power that shocked us.” They fell down before me and were going to worship me, but I would not let them. I said: “I am your younger brother. Worship the Lord your God, and be good to your father and your mother, so you will live long in the land the Lord your God will give you.”