in writing, like unto speaking: for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men. 2. But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; Wherefore, they cast many things away which are written, and esteem them as things of naught. 3. But I, Nephi, have written what I have written; and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry; 4. And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers, for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness, will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal. 5. And it speaketh harsh against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written, save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. 6. I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell. 7. I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ, that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment seat. 8. I have charity for the Jew: I say Jew, because I mean them from whence I came. 9. I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope, except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the straight path, which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation. 10. And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words, and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words, believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ, ye will believe in these words: for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. 11. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye; for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness: Nep. 30. c, I. Nep. 16: 1-3. b, see g, II. Nep. 3. Also see e, II. 17: 48. II. Nep. 1: 25-27. Enos 1: 23. 17. Moro. 9: 4. d, see b, II. Nep. 25. 2a, II. Nep. 9. g, Ether 4: 8-10. 5:4-6. 12. And I pray the Father in the name of Christ, that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom, at that great and last day. 13. And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you, as the voice of one crying from the dust farewell until that great day shall come; 14. And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day; 15. For what I 'seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen. THE BOOK OF JACOB, THE BROTHER OF NEPHI. He con The words of his preaching unto his brethren. foundeth a man who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. A few words concerning the history of the people of Nephi. CHAPTER 1. 1. FOR behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away, from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the "small plates, upon which these things are engraven. 2. And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates, a few of the things which I considered to be most precious: that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi. 3. For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his 'other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation. 4. And if there were preaching which was sacred, or h, see l, II. Nep. 26. II. Nep. 27. i, see q, II. Nep. 27. i, Hela. 10:5-11. See q, a, see b, 1. Nep. 6. b, see f. 1. Nep. 1. revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ's sake, and for the sake of our people; 5. For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, "what things should happen unto them. 6. And we also had many revelations, and the Spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom, which should come. 7. Wherefore we laboured diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the lays of temptation, while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. 8. Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi. 9. Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings. 10. The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the sword of Laban in their defence, and having laboured in all his days for their welfare; 11. Wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead, were called by the people, second Nephi, third Nephi, &c., according to the reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatever name they would. 12. And it came to pass that Nephi died. 13. Now the people which were not Lamanites, were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. 14. But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi, I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings. 15. And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, c, small plates. See b, I. Nep. 6. 1-18. 19: 10-17. 22: 7, 8. II. Nep. ch. 25 ch. 26 ch. 27 ch. 29: 11-14. 9, 14, 15. II. Nep. 5:18. d, 1. Nep. 12 ch. 13 ch. 14 ch. 15: 1: 5-12. 2: 3. 3 ch. 4: 1-11. 10 30: 1-6. e, vers. 1-4. f, vers. under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old, desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son: 16. Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride; 17. Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the "temple, having firstly obtained mine errand from the Lord. 18. For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph, had been consecrated priests, and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi. 19. And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads, if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by labouring with our mights, their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise, their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day. CHAPTER 2. 1. THE words which Jacob, the brother of Nephi, spake unto the people of Nephi, after the death of Nephi: 2. Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness, and that I might arid my garments of your sins. I come up into the temple this day, that I might declare unto you the word of God; 3. And ye yourselves know, that I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of your souls than I have hitherto been. 4. For behold, as yet, ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you. 5. But behold, hearken ye unto me, and know that by the help of the all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth, I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labour in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me; yea, and abominable unto God. 6. Yea, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I might testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts; 7. And also it grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceeding tender h, see h, II. Nep. 5. i, II. Nep. 5: 26. 9, ver. 11. 44. Jacob 2: 2. j, I. Nep. 9: a, see j, Jacob 1. b, vers. 9, 28, 33, 35. Jacob 3: 7. Moro. 9: 9, 10. and chaste, and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God; 8. And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul. 9. Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul, that I should be constrained because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God, have daggers placed to pierce their souls, and wound their delicate minds. 10. But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God. 11. Wherefore, I must tell you the truth according to the plainness of the word of God. For behold, as I enquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying, Jacob, get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people. 12. And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you, and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully. 13. And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren, ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and "wear stiff necks and high heads, because of the costliness of your apparel and persecute your brethren, because ye suppose that ye are better than they. 14. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things, his judgments must speedily come unto you. 15. O that he would shew you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye, he can smite you to the dust. 16. O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls. 17. Think of your brethren, like unto yourselves, and be c, II. Nep. 9: 44. Jacob 2: 15. Mos. 27: 31. e, see h, II. Nep. 5. f, 1. Nep. 2:20. 4:14. 5:22. 17: 13, 14. 18: 8, 23, 25. g, see g, II. Nep. 5. 8:36-40. i, see c. d, see c, II. Nep. 33. 12:1, 4. 13:12, 14, 30. h, II. Nep. 28: 14. Mor. |