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THE BOOK OF NEPHI THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN |
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CHAPTER 1Nephi, son of Helaman, departs out of the land, and his son Nephi keeps the records—Though signs and wonders abound, the wicked plan to slay the righteous—The night of Christ's birth arrives—The sign is given and a star arises—Lyings and deceivings increase, and the Gadianton robbers slaughter many. [Between A.D. 1 and 4] |
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~ 1 B.C. ~ |
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1 NOW it came to pass that the
*ninety and first year had passed away and it was
asix hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem;
and it was in the year that bLachoneus was the chief judge
and the governor over the land.
2 And aNephi, the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, giving charge unto his son bNephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the cplates of brass, and dall the records which had been kept, and all those things which had been kept sacred from the departure of Lehi out of Jerusalem. 3 Then he adeparted out of the land, and bwhither he went, no man knoweth; and his son Nephi did keep the records in his stead, yea, the record of this people.
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1*
[A.D. 1] a 2 Ne. 25:19; Alma 13:25 b 3 Ne. 3:1; 3 Ne. 6:19 2a Hel. 3:21 (20-21) b 3 Ne. 7:15 (15, 20, 23) c Alma 37:3 (3-12); Alma 63:12 (1, 11-14) d Alma 50:38 3a Alma 45:18 (18-19) b 3 Ne. 2:9
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~ 1 A.D. ~ |
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4 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the ninety and
second year, behold, the prophecies of the prophets began to be fulfilled
more fully; for there began to be agreater signs and
greater miracles wrought among the people.
5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were aspoken by Samuel, the Lamanite. 6 And they began to arejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain.
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4a
Hel. 16:13 (13, 23) 5a Hel. 14:2 6a TG Mocking
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7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar
throughout the land; and the people who believed began to be very
sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken
might not come to pass.
8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for athat day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.
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8a
Hel. 14:4 (3-4)
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9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the
aunbelievers, that all those who believed in those
traditions should be bput to death except the
csign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel
the prophet.
10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.
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9a
TG
Unbelief, Unbelievers b 3 Ne. 1:16; TG Martyrdom c Hel. 14:3 (2-7)
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11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down
upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his
people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of
their faith in the tradition of their fathers.
12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord, aall that day; and behold, the bvoice of the Lord came unto him, saying: 13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the asign be given, and on the bmorrow come I into the worlda, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be cspoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. 14 Behold, I acome unto my own, to bfulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the cfoundation of the world, and to do the dwill, eboth fof the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.
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13a on the morrow come I into the world Now the Lord is speaking to Nephi in America when his infant body is living in the womb to be born the next day in Jerusalem. Some make a big thing out of this. Some say it was not the Lord who spoken unto Nephi but his messenger, as they suppose the spirit of the Lord must needs be confined to the infant body, never to be separated from it. Yet often in revealations unto man, men are carried away in the spirit and do not know whether they are in the body or out. Some think to prove that the spirit does not enter into the infant body of the womb until the actual time of birth. Again there is evidence which precludes this presumption, as the intelligence of the child is often effected even as it develops in the womb and does demostate the fact after birth what was so learned and so effected upon it. And the intelligence and the spirit are joined together. The only real conclusion, which might be considered, is that the spirit is not perminantly confined to the infant body while it is in the womb, but like the case of 'out of body' experiences so testified in scriptures, the spirit may at times come and go as authorized. The question seems to be one of final confinement. While the spirit is in the infant body in the womb, if the infant is aborted, does that spirit retain the right to inhabit another until which time he is born and does breath within the second estate? Such practices and teachings of the church seems to support such a conclusion. Yet it ought not diminish the sanctity of life and certainly it does not mean that abortion is not a great sin when undertaken upon a whim of choice rather than for a real medical or righteously confirmed reason in which a Bishop does confirm the 'necessity' of it, such as in cases of rape or incest. |
12a
Enos 1:4;
Alma 5:46 b Alma 20:2; Hel. 13:3 13a Matt. 2:2 b Luke 2:11 (10-11) c TG Jesus Christ, Prophecies about 14a John 1:11 b Matt. 5:17-18; Luke 24:44 c Alma 42:26; Alma 26:5 d TG God, Will of e D&C 93:4, 14 f Mosiah 15:3
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15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were
fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down
of the asun there was bno darkness; and
the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the
night came.
16 And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who afell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great bplan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand. 17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the awest to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth. 18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
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15a
Josh. 10:13 b Hel. 14:3 16a Hel. 14:7 b 3 Ne. 1:9, 11 17a Hel. 11:20
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19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night,
but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the
sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they
knew that it was the day that the Lord should be aborn,
because of the bsign which had been given.
20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets. 21 And it came to pass also that a new astar did appear, according to the word.
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19a
TG
Jesus Christ, Birth of b Hel. 14:3 21a Matt. 2:2 (1-2); Hel. 14:5
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22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be
alyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden
their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those
bsigns and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding
these lyings and deceivings the cmore part of the people
did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.
23 And it came to pass that Nephi went forth among the people, and also many others, baptizing unto repentance, in the which there was a great aremission of sins. And thus the people began again to have peace in the land. 24 And there were no contentions, save it were a few that began to preach, endeavoring to prove by the ascriptures that it was no more expedient to observe the law of Moses. Now in this thing they did err, having not understood the scriptures.
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22a
Moses 5:13 b TG Signs c Hel. 16:6 23a TG Remission of Sins 24a Alma 34:13
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25 But it came to pass that they soon became converted, and were
convinced of the error which they were in, for it was made known unto them
that the law was not yet afulfilled, and that it must be
fulfilled in every whit; yea, the word came unto them that it must be
fulfilled; yea, that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should
all be fulfilled; therefore in this same year were they brought to a
knowledge of their error and did bconfess their faults.
26 And thus the ninety and second year did pass away, bringing aglad tidings unto the people because of the signs which did come to pass, according to the words of the prophecy of all the holy prophets.
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25a
Matt. 5:18;
2 Ne. 25:24 b Num. 5:7 (6-10); Mosiah 26:29, 35; Alma 17:4 25a Luke 2:10
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~ 2-3 A.D. ~ |
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27 And it came to pass that the ninety and third year did also pass
away in peace, save it were for the Gadianton robbers, who dwelt upon the
amountains, who did infest the land; for so strong were
their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them;
therefore they did commit many murders, and did do much slaughter among the
people.
28 And it came to pass that in the ninety and fourth year they began to increase in great degree, because there were many dissenters of the Nephites who did flee unto them, which did cause much sorrow unto those Nephites who did remain in the land.
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27a
Hel. 11:31 (25-31);
3 Ne. 2:11
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29 And there was also a cause of much sorrow among the Lamanites; for
behold, they had many children who did grow up and began to wax strong in
years, that they became for themselves, and were aled away
by some who were bZoramites, by their lyings and their
flattering words, to join those Gadianton robbers.
30 And thus were the Lamanites afflicted also, and began to decrease as to their faith and righteousness, because of the wickedness of the arising generation.
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29a
TG
Peer Influence b Alma 30:59; Alma 43:4 30a Judg. 2:10
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| * Verse 1 [A.D. 1]. | ||
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