Second Nephi — Chapter 8
Jacob continues talking to his people (see Isaiah 51).
1 Listen to me, you who are righteous, and who look for the Lord: Look back at the rock you were cut from, look at the place you were taken from.
2 Think about Abraham, your father, and about Sarah, your mother. I called only one man, and I blessed him by making him a nation of many people.
3 The Lord will comfort Zion. He will turn her deserts into the garden of the Lord. Joy and happiness will be found there — thanksgiving and singing.
4 Listen to me, my people, and hear what I say, O my nation: A law will come through me, and my judgment will be a light for the people.
5 My righteousness will be near. My salvation has come, and I will judge the people. The islands are waiting for me, and they will trust in my power.
6 Look up at the heavens and look at the earth below. The heavens will go away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a piece of clothing, and all those who live there will die like rats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never go away.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, O people in whose hearts I have written my law. Don’t be afraid of what people say. Don’t be upset when they make fun of you.
8 Moths will eat them up like clothing, and worms will eat them up like wool. But my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation will be from generation to generation.
9 Wake up, wake up! Be strong, O [servant] of the Lord. Wake up as in olden times. Aren’t you the one who cut up Rahab and killed the dragon?
10 Aren’t you the one who dried up the sea and made it a place for the saved ones to cross?
11 Let the saved ones of the Lord come back singing to Zion with eternal joy and holiness on their heads. They will have happiness and joy, and sadness will go away.
12 I am the one who will make you happy again. Why are you afraid of people, who will die like grass?
13 Have you forgotten the Lord your maker, who made the heavens and the earth? You have been afraid every day because your enemy is angry and is preparing to destroy you. Why be afraid of your enemy’s anger?
14 The slaves will be free soon. They will not die in prison nor die of hunger.
15 I am the Lord your God, who makes the waves of the sea roar. The Lord of Hosts is my name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth, and I have protected you in my hand while I fix the heavens and the earth, so I can say to Zion: “You are my people.”
17 Wake up, wake up! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have been punished by the Lord in his anger.
18 Not one of her children can take her home. Not one of her children can take her hand.
19 These [two] terrors have come to you. Who will be sorry for you because of your destruction, and famine, and war — and whom will I send to comfort you?
20 All your children have fallen, except for these two. They are lying all over the streets, trapped like bulls in a net. Your God’s anger has punished them.
21 So now hear this, O miserable one, you who are drunk (but not with wine).
22 This is what the Lord says who protects his people: “I have taken the cup of my anger out of your hand, and you will not drink from it again.
23 “But I will put it into the hands of those who hurt you, who have said to your soul: ‘Lie down in front of us, so we can walk all over you.’ You laid your body down as if you were a street, and they walked on you.
24 “Wake up, wake up! Be strong, O Zion. Put on your beautiful clothes, O Jerusalem, the holy city, because from now on no evil people will come into you.
25 “Shake the dust off yourself. Stand up out of the dust, sit down on your throne, O Jerusalem. Take the chains off of your neck, O slave daughter of Zion.”
easyreadbkmormon.com 