Second Nephi — Chapter 9
Jacob continues talking to his people.
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, I have read these things to you so you would know about the promises the Lord has made to all the House of Israel.
2 He has had his prophets tell the Jews about these things from the very beginning, from generation to generation, and will until the time they are brought back to God’s true church, and gathered home to their ancestors’ lands and built up in the land of promise.
3 My dear brothers and sisters, I tell you these things so you can be happy forever because of the blessings the Lord God will give your descendants.
4 I know many of you have studied hard to know about things to come, so I know you know that even though we must get old and die, we will see God in our bodies.
5 Yes, I know you know that he will show himself in his body to those at Jerusalem, where we came from, because he must live among them. The great Maker must be ruled by people in the flesh, and die for all people, so he can rule over them.
6 Just as death will come to all people as part of our Maker’s merciful plan, there has to be a resurrection. The resurrection must come because of the Fall. The Fall came because of sin, and because people fell, they were cut off from the Lord.
7 So there had to be an eternal atonement. If it were not an eternal atonement, our imperfect bodies could not become perfect bodies. So the first punishment to come on people — death — would have lasted forever. This body would die and rot and become part of the earth again, never to rise again.
8 O the wisdom and mercy and grace of God! If our bodies did not rise again, our spirits would become slaves to that angel who fell from the place God lives, becoming the devil (who will not rise again).
9 Our spirits would become like his, and we would become devils — angels of the devil, never to live with our God, but having to stay with the father of lies and be in misery, as he is. Yes, [we would have to live] with that being who tricked our first parents, who can pretend to be an angel, and who tries to get people to join secret combinations that murder and do all kinds of wicked things.
10 O, God’s goodness is great, because he planned a way for us to get away from this terrible monster, death and hell — which I call the death of the body, and the death of the spirit.
11 The grave, or death of the body, will give up its dead because of the salvation of our God, the Holy One of Israel.
12 And spiritual death, or the hell I talked about, will give up its dead. So death and hell must give up their dead. Hell must give up the spirits trapped there, and the grave must give up the bodies trapped there. Every person’s body and spirit will come together again by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13 O, our God’s plan is great! Because on the other hand, God’s paradise will set free the spirits of the righteous, and the grave will set free the bodies of the righteous. When spirits and bodies come together again, all people will be immortal souls. They will be just as we are now, except our knowledge will be perfect then.
14 We will have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt and sins. Righteous people will have a perfect knowledge of their happiness and righteousness, because they will be wearing the robe of righteousness.
15 After all people rise from this first death, never to die again, they must come before the Holy One of Israel. Then they are judged by God’s holy judgment.
16 And just as the Lord lives (because the Lord God has said it, and it will happen as he said), the righteous will still be righteous, and the filthy will still be filthy. The devil and his angels are filthy, and they will go away forever to the hell of guilt and pain like a lake of fire prepared for them.
17 O, the greatness and justice of our God! He will do everything he said he will do, and his law must be kept.
18 The righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel–those who have believed in him and endured the persecution of the world and hated its shame — will live in God’s kingdom, which was prepared for them before the world began. They will have joy forever.
19 O the greatness and mercy of our God! He will save his saints from that awful monster, the devil, and from death, and from that hell of never-ending pain and guilt.
20 O, the great holiness of our God! He knows everything. There is nothing he does not know.
21 He will come into the world to save all people if they will listen to his voice. He will suffer the pain of all people — yes, the pain of every living man, woman and child who belong to the family of Adam and Eve.
22 He will suffer all these things so that all people will be resurrected to stand before him at the great judgment day.
23 He commands all people to repent and be baptized in his name, and to have perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in God’s kingdom.
24 If they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they will be damned. This is what the Lord God has said.
25 He has given a law. Where he has not given a law, there is no punishment. Where there is no punishment, there is no guilt. Where there is no guilt, the mercy of the Holy One of Israel can save them through the atonement. They are saved by his power.
26 The atonement pays justice for all who have not been given the law, so they are saved from that awful monster death, and from that hell of pain and guilt, and from the devil. They are given back to that God who gave them life, the Holy One of Israel.
27 But woe to those who have been given the law — who have all of God’s commandments, as we do, and who break them, and who waste the days of this test of life, for it will be awful for them!
28 O, the tricky plan of the evil one! O, the weakness and foolishness of people! When they are educated, they think they are wise, and they do not listen to what God says, because they think they know more than he does. What they know is foolishness, and it will not help them. And they will die.
29 (But it is good for people to be educated if they listen to what God says.)
30 But woe to those who are rich in the things of the world! They hate poor people and persecute meek people. Their hearts are on their riches, and their riches are their God. But their riches will be destroyed with them, too.
31 Woe to the deaf who will not hear God, because they will die.
32 Woe to the blind who will not see God, because they will die, too.
33 Woe to those who are not pure in heart, because the knowledge of their sins will destroy them at the last day.
34 Woe to the liars, because they will be sent down to hell.
35 Woe to the murderers, because they will die.rows is bad olives.
36 Woe to those who commit sexual sins, because they will be sent down to hell.
37 Yes, woe to those who pray to false gods, because that makes the king of devils very happy.
38 Yes, in other words, woe to those who die in their sins, because they will go back to God, look at his face, and stay in their sins.
39 O my dear brothers and sisters, remember how awful it is to sin against God, and to do what the evil one says. Remember, it is death to think only of worldly things, but it is life to think of spiritual things.
40 O my dear brothers and sisters, listen to what I say. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say I have said hard things against you. If you do, you will be saying hard things against the truth, because I have said what your Maker wants me to. I know the truth is hard against all unclean things, but the righteous are not afraid of truth, because they love it.
41 O then, my dear brothers and sisters, come to the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his ways are righteous. The right way for people is narrow, but it is straight in front of them. The Holy One of Israel guards the gate. He does not have a servant there. No one can come in except at the gate, and he cannot be tricked, because the Lord God is his name.
42 He will open the door to whoever knocks, but he hates those who are proud because of their wisdom and education and riches. If they do not throw away all those things, and think of themselves as fools before God, and become humble, he will not open the door to them.
43 But the things which are for those who are truly wise — that is, the happiness prepared for the saints — will not be given to them.
44 O dear brothers and sisters, remember what I have said. Look, I am taking off my coat, and I will shake it for you to see. I pray that the God of my salvation will look at me with his all-seeing eye, so you will know at the last day, when people are judged by their works, that the God of Israel saw me shake your sins and blood from my soul, and that I stand shining before him.
45 O dear brothers and sisters, stop sinning. Shake off the chains of the devil, who wants to tie you up. Come to God, the rock of your salvation.
46 Prepare your souls for that day of glory when justice is given to the righteous, so you won’t be terribly afraid — so you won’t have to remember your terrible guilt perfectly, and say: “Your judgments are holy, O Lord God Almighty! But I know my guilt. I broke the law, and my sins are my own. Now the devil has caught me, and I am miserable like him.”
47 But, brothers and sisters, do I really need to wake you up and tell you these things? Would I make your souls feel bad if your minds were pure? Would I tell you these things plainly if you were free from sin?
48 If you were holy, I would talk to you about holiness. But since you are not holy, and since I am your teacher, I need to teach you about what happens if you sin.
49 My soul hates sin, and my heart loves righteousness, and I will praise my God’s holy name.
50 Come, my brothers and sisters — all you who are thirsty, come to the waters [of life]. And you who have no money, come buy and eat — yes, buy wine and milk without money or price.
51 Do not spend your money on worthless things, and do not work for things which will not make you happy. Listen carefully to me and remember what I have said. Come to the Holy One of Israel, and eat what cannot be destroyed or changed, and let your souls be happy.
52 My dear brothers and sisters, remember your God’s words. Pray to him all day and thank his holy name at night. Let your hearts be happy.
53 The Lord’s promises are great, and his mercy on people is very great. He has promised us that our descendants will not be completely destroyed in this life, but he will save them because of his greatness and grace and mercy. They will be a righteous part of the House of Israel at a time to come.
54 Now, brothers and sisters, I will tell you the rest of what I want to say tomorrow. Amen.
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