First Nephi — Chapter 19
1 Then the Lord commanded me to make metal plates so I could write my people’s history on them. I also wrote down my father’s history, and the history of our travels in the desert, and my father’s prophecies, and many of my prophecies on them, too.
2 I did not know when I made those plates that the Lord would tell me to make these plates. My father’s history, and his genealogy, and much more about what we did in the desert are written on the other plates I have talked about.
3 After I made these plates as I was commanded, I, Nephi, was commanded to write on these plates most of the history of the work of God, and the most plain and important prophecies. These things would be kept to teach my people who would live in this land, and also for other wise reasons the Lord knows about.
4 So I, Nephi, wrote a history on the other plates telling more about the wars and fights and destructions of my people. I did this, and commanded my people to do this after I was gone. These plates will be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until the Lord commands that something else be done with them.
5 I will talk about making these plates, and then I will write about the things I have said. I will do this so my people will be able to know about the most holy things.
6 Even so, I do not write anything on plates unless I think it is holy. If I am wrong, then others from long ago were wrong, too. (I am not making excuses because of other people, but I am human and weak, too.)
7 The things some people think are important for the body and soul are the same things other people think are worthless, and treat like dirt. Yes, some people even treat the God of Israel like dirt — I say, “treat like dirt,” but I should say instead — they do not think about him nor listen to what he says.
8 He is coming in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem, as the angel said.
9 The world, because of its wickedness, will think he is worthless. They will whip him and hit him, and he will let them do it. Yes, they will spit on him, and he will let them do it because of his love for people and his patience with people.
10 Then the God of our ancestors, who led them out of slavery in Egypt and protected them in the desert — yes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — will let himself, as a man (as the angel said), be lifted up by wicked men (as Zenock said), and be put on a cross (as Neum said), and be buried in a grave (as Zenos said when he spoke of the three days of darkness which would be a sign of his death, for those who live in far away lands — especially for those who belong to the House of Israel).
11 This is what Zenos said: “The Lord will visit all the House of Israel at that day. Some will hear his voice and be happy and be saved, because they are righteous. But he will show his power to others by thunder and lightning, and by storms, and fire, and smoke, and a dark cloud, and by earthquakes, and by mountains being made.
12 The prophet Zenos said: “All these things will surely happen. The rocks of the earth will break, and because of the groaning noise of the earth, many kings in far away lands will be given the Spirit of God, and will say: ‘The God of nature is suffering.’”
13 The prophet said: “All people will whip those at Jerusalem for killing the God of Israel on a cross. They hardened their hearts and would not see the signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.”
14 The prophet said: “Since they hardened their hearts and hated the Holy One of Israel, they will wander all over the earth, and die. Their name will become a bad word, and all nations will hate them.”
15 The prophet said: “But when the day comes that they do not harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel anymore, then he will remember the promises he made to their ancestors.”
16 The prophet Zenos said: “Yes, then he will remember the far away lands. The Lord says: ‘I will gather in all the people from all over the world who belong to the House of Israel.’”
17 The prophet said: “All the earth will see the saving power of the Lord, and every nation and family and people will be blessed.”
18 I, Nephi, have written these things down for my people so I might be able to help them remember the Lord their Savior.
19 So I say this to all the House of Israel, if they are given these things.
20 My spirit is so worked up that it makes me tired, and my joints are weak because of those at Jerusalem. If the Lord had not had mercy on me, and had not shown me these things just as he showed the prophets of old, I would have been destroyed, too.
21 He truly showed the prophets of old everything that would happen to them. He showed many prophets about us. We know about these things because they are written on the brass plates.
22 I, Nephi, taught my brothers these things. I read many things to them which were written on the brass plates so they would know what the Lord had done for people in other lands long ago.
23 I read many things to them from the books of Moses, but I read to them what Isaiah wrote so I might help them believe in the Lord their Savior. I read the scriptures as if they were written to us, so we would learn [wisdom] from them.
24 This is what I said to them: “Listen to the words of the prophet, you who belong to the House of Israel, who have been scattered. Listen to the words of the prophet which were written to all the House of Israel, and know that they were written to you so you can have hope (just as your those where you came from have hope). This is what the prophet has written.”
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