Third Nephi — Chapter 1
The Book of Nephi, the son of Nephi, who was the son of Helaman
1 It was the ninety-first year of the judges, and six hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem, and Lachoneus was chief judge over the land.
2 Helaman’s son Nephi had left Zarahemla after giving his oldest son, also called Nephi, the brass plates and all the holy records and things which had been kept since Lehi left Jerusalem.
3 After that, he left the land, and no one knows where he went. His son Nephi kept the records of the people.
4 In the beginning of the ninety-second year of the judges, more of the things the prophets had said began to come true. There were greater signs and miracles among the people than ever before.
5 But there were some who began to say that it was past the time for the things to come true which Samuel the Lamanite had spoken about.
6 They began to make fun of their brothers and sisters, saying: “Look here, the time is past, and what Samuel said has not come true. You have been happy for nothing, because you had faith in something not true.”
7 These people made lots of trouble all through the land, and the people who believed what Samuel said began to be very sad.
8 But they watched for that day and night and day which would seem to be one day, so they would know that what they had believed was true.
9 Now those who did not believe chose a day on which they would kill all the people who believed, if what Samuel had said did not happen by then.
10 When Nephi, Nephi’s son, saw how wicked these people were, his heart was very sad.
11 So he bowed down and prayed hard to God for his people — for those who would be killed for believing what their ancestors had taught.
12 He prayed hard to the Lord all day long, and then the Lord said to him:
13 “Look up and be happy, for now is the time — the sign will be given tonight. I am going to be born on earth tomorrow, to show everyone that I will do everything I have told my prophets to say about me.
14 “I will go to my own people to do everything I have said about my work since the world began. I will do everything the Father and I want to do. The time has come, and the sign will be given tonight.”
15 That day the words Nephi heard came true — when the sun went down, it did not get dark. People began to be very surprised because there was no darkness when it was supposed to be night.
16 Many who had not believed what the prophets said fell down on the ground as if dead, because they had been planning to kill everyone who had believed the prophets; but instead, the sign had come.
17 They began to know that the Son of God would be coming soon. Yes, all the people all over the land, from east to west and north to south, were so very surprised that they fell on the ground,
18 Because they knew the prophets had told them about these things for many years. They began to be afraid because they had been wicked and had not believed.
19 There was no darkness at all that night. It was just like the middle of the day, but the sun came up in the morning as it always did. So because of this sign, the people knew it was the day the Lord would be born.
20 Everything happened just as the prophets had said.
21 Then a new star was seen in the sky.
22 From that time on, Satan lied to the people so they would not believe the signs they had seen. But even though Satan lied to the people, most of the people believed in the Lord.
23 Nephi and many others went among the people and baptized those who repented of their sins. Then the people began to have peace in the land.
24 There were no quarrels, but a few people began to teach that the scriptures said they did not have to keep the Law of Moses anymore. But they were wrong — they did not understand the scriptures.
25 They were shown that they were wrong, and that they needed to keep the Law of Moses. During this year they learned they were wrong, and they told the people that they had been wrong.
26 This was how the ninety-second year went by, bringing good news to the people because of the signs they had seen, just as the holy prophets had said.
27 The ninety-third year went by in peace, except for the trouble the Gadianton robbers made in all the land. They lived in the mountains. Their secret hiding places were so strong that the people could not destroy them, and they murdered many people.
28 In the ninety-fourth year the Gadianton robbers got even stronger, because wicked Nephites joined them. This made the rest of the Nephites very sad.
29 This also made the Lamanites very sad, because they had many children who grew up and believed the lies the Zoramites told them, so they joined the Gadianton robbers, too.
30 So even the righteous Lamanites had troubles because of their children’s wickedness.
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