Christ shall minister to the Nephites—Nephi foresees the destruction of his people—They shall speak from the dust—The gentiles shall build up false churches and secret combinations—The Lord forbids men to practice priestcrafts. [Between 559 and 545 B.C.]

 AND after Christ shall have ^arisen^• from the dead he shall ^bshow^• himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren; and the words which he shall speak unto you shall be the ^claw^• which ye shall do.

 For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.

 And after the Messiah shall come there shall be ^asigns^• given unto my people of his ^bbirth, and also of his ^cdeath and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the ^dprophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the ^eblood^• of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

 Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall ^aburn^• them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble.

 And they that kill the ^aprophets^•, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall ^bswallow^• them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and ^cmountains^• shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder.

 And they shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions, for the ^afire^• of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them, and they shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall consume them, saith the Lord of Hosts.

 ^aO^• the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are ^bjust^•.

 But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with ^asteadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all ^bpersecution—behold, they are they which shall ^cnot^• perish.

 But the Son of righteousness shall ^aappear^• unto them; and he shall ^bheal^• them, and they shall have ^cpeace with him, until ^dthree^• generations shall have passed away, and many of the ^efourth^• generation shall have passed away in righteousness.

 And when these things have passed away a speedy ^adestruction^• cometh unto my people; for, notwithstanding the pains of my soul, I have seen it; wherefore, I know that it shall come to pass; and they sell themselves for naught; for, for the reward of their pride and their ^bfoolishness they shall reap destruction; for because they yield unto the devil and ^cchoose works of ^ddarkness^• rather than light, therefore they must go down to ^ehell^•.

 For the Spirit of the Lord will not always ^astrive^• with man. And when the Spirit ^bceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul.

 And as I spake concerning the ^aconvincing^• of the ^bJews^•, that Jesus is the ^cvery^• Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the ^dEternal^{• e}God^•;

 And that he ^amanifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the ^bHoly Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty ^cmiracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their ^dfaith.

 But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the ^alast days; concerning the days when the Lord God shall ^bbring these things forth unto the children of men.

 After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have ^adwindled^• in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have ^bcamped^• against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the ^cprayers^• of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have ^ddwindled^• in unbelief shall not be forgotten.

 For those who shall be destroyed shall ^aspeak^• unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.

 For thus saith the Lord God: They shall ^awrite^• the things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and ^bsealed up in a book, and those who have dwindled in ^cunbelief shall not have them, for they ^dseek^• to destroy the things of God.

 Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily; and the multitude of their ^aterrible^• ones shall be as ^bchaff^• that passeth away—yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly—

 And it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled in unbelief shall be ^asmitten^• by the hand of the Gentiles.

 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the ^apride^• of their eyes, and have ^bstumbled^•, because of the greatness of their ^cstumbling^• block, that they have built up many ^dchurches^•; nevertheless, they ^eput^• down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own ^flearning^•, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.

 And there are many churches built up which cause ^aenvyings, and ^bstrifes^•, and ^cmalice.

 And there are also secret ^acombinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the ^bdevil^•, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and ^cworks^• of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.

 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in ^adarkness^•.

 He doeth not ^aanything^• save it be for the benefit of the world; for he ^bloveth^• the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw ^call^• men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: ^aCome^• unto me all ye ^bends^• of the earth, ^cbuy^• milk and honey, without money and without price.

 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should ^adepart^• out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his ^asalvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath ^bgiven^• it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to ^crepentance.

 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but ^aall^• men are privileged the one ^blike^• unto the other, and none are forbidden.

 He commandeth that there shall be no ^apriestcrafts^•; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set ^bthemselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get ^cgain^• and ^dpraise^• of the world; but they seek not the ^ewelfare^• of Zion.

 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have ^acharity, which ^bcharity^• is ^clove. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.

 But the ^alaborer in ^bZion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for ^cmoney^• they shall perish.

 And again, the Lord God hath ^acommanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not ^bsteal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in ^cvain; that they should not ^denvy; that they should not have ^emalice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit ^fwhoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.

 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ^ainviteth^• them ^ball^• to ^ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ^ddenieth^• none that come unto him, black and white, ^ebond^• and free, male and female; and he remembereth the ^fheathen^•; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.