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CHAPTER 15The Lord chastened the Nephites because he loved them—Converted Lamanites are firm and steadfast in the faith—The Lord will be merciful unto the Lamanites in the latter days. [About 6 B.C.] |
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1 AND now, my beloved brethren, behold, I
declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto
you adesolate.
2 Yea, except ye repent, your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck; for ye shall attempt to flee and there shall be no place for arefuge; yea, and wo unto them which are bwith child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee; therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish. 3 Yea, wo unto this apeople who are called the bpeople of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he cchastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.
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1a
Isa. 5:9;
Matt. 23:38 2a TG Refuge b Matt. 24:19 3a W of M 1:11 b Jacob 5:25 c Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6 (5-11); D&C 95:1
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4 But behold my brethren, the aLamanites hath he
hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the
iniquity of the btradition of their fathers. But behold,
salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for
this intent hath the Lord cprolonged their days.
5 And I would that ye should behold that the amore part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses. 6 Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.
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4a
Jacob 5:40 b Ezek. 20:18; Hel. 5:19; TG Traditions of Men c Alma 9:16 5a Hel. 13:1; Hel. 16:6 6a TG Dedication
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7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it,
that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to
know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to
believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which
are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance,
which faith and repentance bringeth a achange of heart unto
them—
8 Therefore, as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are afirm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free. 9 And ye know also that they have aburied their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their bfaith in Christ.
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7a
TG
Conversion 8a Alma 23:6; Alma 27:27; 3 Ne. 6:14 9a Alma 24:17-26 b Mark 5:34-36
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10 And now, because of their asteadfastness when
they do believe in that thing which they do believe, for because of their
firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them
and prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity—
11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall aprolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet bZenos, and many other prophets, concerning the crestoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—
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10a
TG
Steadfastness 11a Deut. 11:9 (8-9); Alma 9:16 b Hel. 8:19; 3 Ne. 10:16 c Morm. 5:12 (9, 12); Morm. 7:1
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12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the
apromises of the Lord have been extended to our
brethren, the Lamanitesa; and
notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall
have, and notwithstanding they shall be bdriven to and fro
upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered
abroad, having no place for crefuge, the Lord shall be
dmerciful unto them.
13 And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be abrought to the true knowledge, which is knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true bshepherd, and be numbered among his csheep.
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12a to our brethren, the Lamanites Now one has to stop and remember who it is that is speaking. It is Samuel the Lamanite. But he speaks from the perspective of being a fellow brother to the Nephites which is fine in that the Lamanites and Nephites are brothers. But Samuel seems to have a great relationship with the 'religeous culture' or tradition of the Nephites in that the Nephites are those who do believe in Christ. Samuel addresses the Nephites to whom he is speaking as 'my beloved brethren'. And he frequently speaks of the Lamanites in the third-person, at times seeming to separate even himself from them. and in verse 11 he states, 'our brethren , the Lamanites' and again here in verse 12 he also states 'our brethren, the Lamanites'. Now this may be because they are all in truth brethren, but perhaps this Samuel the Lamanite has a closer tie to the Nephites, perhaps he has come from the people of Ammon who have lived with the Nephites for a number of generations and have also considered themselves to those so counted among the Nephites even to having fought with the Nephites against the Lamanites. Truly the Samuel the Lamanite seems to be a Lamanite which is woven in and is even of the fabric of the righteous Nephites. And truly he is, for he is a prophet of God like unto the Nephite prophets of God. |
12a
Enos 1:13 (12-13) b Morm. 5:15 c TG Refuge d 1 Ne. 13:31; 2 Ne. 4:7; 2 Ne. 10:18-19; Jacob 3:6 (5-9); Morm. 5:20-21 13a 3 Ne. 16:12 b TG Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd c TG Sheep
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14 Therefore I say unto you, it shall be abetter
for them than for you except ye repent.
15 For behold, ahad the mighty works been shown unto them which have been shown unto you, yea, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves that they never would again have dwindled in unbelief.
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14a
Hel. 7:23 15a Matt. 11:21 (20-24)
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16 Therefore, saith the Lord: I will not utterly destroy them, but I
will cause that in the day of my wisdom they shall areturn
again unto me, saith the Lord.
17 And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly adestroy thema, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord.
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17a If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them This is the fate which waits all who do not repent learn to obey the will of the Lord. The Nephites in particular were given the gospel plainly to be understood. When a people have been given every opportunity to repent and come unto the Lord, and they still remain in their sins—refusing to turn unto the Lord all of their days—it becomes more merciful to destory them and end their life and duration of wickedness, which is not happiness, and move them on to the next phase of this second estate. |
16a
Enos 1:13 17a Hel. 13:6 (5-10); Morm. 3:2
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