2 Nephi

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2 Nephi

2 Nephi 1

2 Nephi 1:1 – “Lehi, also spake many things unto them, and rehearsed unto them, how great things the Lord had done for them in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem.” Nephi had given his best sermon yet, and Lehi could point out that they were living better than in Jerusalem even if it weren’t destroyed.

2 Nephi 1:2 – “And he spake unto them concerning their rebellions upon the waters, and the mercies of God in sparing their lives, that they were not swallowed up in the sea.” Why rebellions on the water and not trying to kill Lehi or Nephi?  Perhaps because it almost brought them down to death with sorrow.  (1 Nephi 18:18).  That’s love.   My parents had a hard time when I wasn’t a member.  The Lord was merciful from the beginning that the waves could be so strong to bring repentance and yet not strong enough to destroy them.  (1 Nephi 5:10).

2 Nephi 1:3 – “And he also spake unto them concerning the land of promise, which they had obtained—how merciful the Lord had been in warning us that we should flee out of the land of Jerusalem.” The Lord had been merciful to get them to leave Jerusalem and led them to another place…

2 Nephi 1:4 – “For, behold, said he, I have seen a vision, in which I know that Jerusalem is destroyed; and had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have perished.” Lehi saw a vision that Jerusalem had been destroyed and said they would have perished there.  We know of the power of God through visions of Lehi and so we know he was commanded to leave.  If they had remained, they would have been rebellious of God which is why they would have likely perished.  We can check the Bible and the history books that Jerusalem was actually destroyed.

2 Nephi 1:5 – They had had great affliction, but they made it.  It was a land better than any other land, and they all had to earn it. The Lord had covenanted the land to them on obedience.  (1 Nephi 13:30).

2 Nephi 1:6 – Just as Lehi’s family, the same pattern is for all who want to come to America.  They must be obedient to the commandments of the Lord.

2 Nephi 1:7 – “Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” The Land is built to bless the righteous and curse the wicked!  It would do that through the passing of righteous laws, but with God at the helm.

2 Nephi 1:8 – “for behold, many nations would overrun the land,” It can only be populated so fast or else there would be overpopulation.  Israel was the first Nation to face overpopulation… in the Torah there are 3 commandments to protect air, water and trees.  Also, if it were overpopulated it could become like Jerusalem.

2 Nephi 1:9 – “Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.” So, if the inhabitants came and obeyed, no one would bother them, nor kick them out, and they would be safe and prosperous.  The protection of life, living in the land and comfort because the land had great resources.  Last I heard America had more oil than any other country.  And while we may not want to use all of that oil, it has innovation too from good laws.

2 Nephi 1:10 – “But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.” But what happens after all these blessings if they dwindle in unbelief and reject Jesus Christ?  It would happen because of things that we will find in the Book of Mormon.  They would be judged in this life and the next.

2 Nephi 1:11 – Then they would have to leave the land because it wouldn’t support them or just be killed.  The laws wouldn’t support them because they would not support wickedness as an impediment to any society.  And they would be drunk on their own blood.  (1 Nephi 21:26).

2 Nephi 1:12 – “Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be bloodsheds,” There would be bloodshed; it was a land of the free and a home of the brave.  We will see the nature of their survival also later in the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 1:13 – “O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.” There is so much righteousness to be had.  Awaking out of a deep sleep is a great analogy.  We need only look at the commandments and increasingly understand them as we obey them.  Otherwise, they will be miserable with great sorrow or distress.  That is from not living a fulfilling lifestyle.

2 Nephi 1:14 – “and hear the words of a trembling parent,” “a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.” Lehi declares unto them to awake for he will die in a few days.  He is their parent.

2 Nephi 1:15 – Despite sin, Lehi succeeded in this mission so all of us who make it to Heaven are examples, not ashamed. (2 Nephi 1:13 misery and woe)

2 Nephi 1:16 – He wants them to observe how the Lord helps them when they are righteous and hurts them when they are unrighteousness.  Clearly that has been Laman and Lemuel’s only problem!

2 Nephi 1:17 – “My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever;” Periodically, for Laman and Lemuel were righteous some time, Lehi would age from thinking about them.  Hardness of heart leads you not to take note of reality because you deny it!  He did not want them to be cut off and destroyed forever, while the large and spacious building would be dust.  (1 Nephi 22:14).

2 Nephi 1:18 – “Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil.” If they didn’t love the Lord like in the second commandment, for 3 or 4 generations they could be punished.  And if those punished didn’t keep it, 3 or 4 more generations.  They would be killed as mentioned.  The land would curse them (famine for instance).  They would be hated because the large and spacious building doesn’t love itself.  They would be led in captivity by the devil for they would not have God as their God and the devil is the opposite.

2 Nephi 1:19 – “but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever.” Lehi wishes that they would just be choice and favored like they were so far; but Lehi didn’t know what their choice would be (just probability).

2 Nephi 1:20 – This is a reminder of 2 Nephi 1:7 to emphasize the simplicity of it.

2 Nephi 1:21 – “And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;” First Lehi talks about living right.  Lehi has the right to ask things of his sons, especially righteous requests, since he is their parent.  He wants to have joy in them which he has had.  He wants to die happy and I suppose that’s natural.  He does not want to die sad.  Therefore, he says for them to arise from the dust.  (1 Nephi 22:14).  The dust usually symbolizes the state wherein the Book of Mormon comes about showing things that Joseph Smith didn’t know, but in this case, it means overcoming from dust.  Laman and Lemuel could have been prophets as well.  If they were righteous, Nephi would not be a teacher and ruler over them.  Uniting in heart and mind is easier when it’s centered around Jesus Christ.  It would keep them from being molested or killed or cast off of the land.  (2 Nephi 1:9).

2 Nephi 1:22 – “That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.” Then he summarizes living wrong.  He does not start out with the stick.  He has as many carrots as sticks.  The soul and body are both important.

2 Nephi 1:23 – “Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.” Lehi wants them to make strategy (1 Nephi 8:11 – the fruit had no limit).  He wants them to shake off the pain of their unrighteous acts.  He wants them to come forth out of darkness or obscurity.  (1 Nephi 22:12).  He emphasizes the dust to humble them so they wouldn’t be like nothing.

2 Nephi 1:24 – If they did not rebel against Nephi they would be fine.  He has had a glorious testimony to share.  He has kept the commandments, the linchpin.  He relied on God to get them to the promised land.  This happened many times.  They would have perished with hunger had not Nephi made a bow which was his own doing.  They still tried to kill him although he saved their lives; and he suffered a great deal because he wanted them to be righteous.

2 Nephi 1:25 – Lehi does not want Nephi to suffer again.  If Nephi is brought down then we get a mess for hundreds of years.  He wasn’t trying to lead them; he wanted God to lead them, who would have led them right.

2 Nephi 1:26 – “his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities.” He did not confuse them which could have been an accusation.  He only used the power of God to convince them when they needed it; and he was not angry but had to tell them they were wrong.

2 Nephi 1:27 – The Lord had promised him.  He had no choice but to be a teacher when they had rebelled, and he gave meaningful sermons when Laman and Lemuel did not observe the judgements and statutes of God.

2 Nephi 1:28 – “if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing.” Then Lehi gets to his blessing.  If they hearkened to Nephi they would not perish.  Their lives would be full for them to have choice of what to do.  They would get his first blessing.

2 Nephi 1:29 – Otherwise it would rest upon him.  The first blessing usually goes to the older.  So, what is the blessing?

2 Nephi 1:30 – “and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever.” Zoram would be a true friend to Nephi forever so he got blessed too.

2 Nephi 1:31 – “Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land forever.” The first part of the blessing was that they should prosper upon the land.  That was a sign of righteousness and uprightness with God.  If they were grossly sinful though, they would be harmed or disturbed in their prosperity.  But nothing else would harm their prosperity.  This is in accordance with previous prophecy about the land.

2 Nephi 1:32 – “Wherefore, if ye shall keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this land for the security of thy seed with the seed of my son.” Security is the second part of the blessing.  Living safely and prospering are all we need indeed!

Later in the Book of Mormon, we will see how the land, America, under God and the law blesses the righteous and obedient with life, living in the land and comfort and curses the wicked with getting killed and kicked out of the land.  Also, what happens concerning dwindling in unbelief and about belief in Christ?

2 Nephi 2

2 Nephi 2:1 – “thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren.” Hardening your heart and not observing the judgements of God has consequences to other people. Jacob was hurt.
2 Nephi 2:2 – “wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.” Jacob knew of the greatness of God so who knew how good he could aspire too. Then his afflictions would help him do things like have faith.
2 Nephi 2:3 – “Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother, Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God. Wherefore,” His soul would be blessed with safety. Prosperity too? He would be able to serve God which leads to that. (1 Nephi 13:15). Since Jacob knew that Jesus would come, He believed it, and I’m sure he was baptized. (John 3:16) and if you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15).
2 Nephi 2:4 – Since he knew him from his youth, he was blessed like those who were ministered to in 3 Nephi when Christ visited the American continent(s?) or those who were direct descendants. That’s because the feeling would be very solid in both people’s mind. That’s something primary is for.
2 Nephi 2:5 – “And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.” Men are taught what they need to choose enough good. This is referring to this life. That’s why they have religions and belief systems. They also know the law. But this is a spiritual law. Everyone has the golden rule. But nobody is perfect. Spiritually everyone gets whooped because there is so high to go. They become miserable because they don’t like themselves.
2 Nephi 2:6 – The Holy Messiah is graceful so that they can manage to overcome their weakness and truthful so it can be recognized.
2 Nephi 2:7 – “Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.” We get to the sacrifice part finally! (1 Nephi 11:21). It answers the full extent of people’s wickedness if they have any righteousness left in them. The only way to do the sacrifice is to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Contrite means to feel lowly about oneself, in this case in front of the Lord.
2 Nephi 2:8 – “there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the ressurection of the dead, being the first that should rise.” This is important to tell everyone in the world! They must know that they need to apply the merits, mercy and grace of the Holy Messiah to be motivated. He also overcame death. Perhaps one day we can live forever.
2 Nephi 2:9 – He is the start of God producing good results, even if previous people were good by depending on Him. This is kind of confusing, but if Jesus hadn’t done this there would have been no earlier prophecy and hence no fruit. He will pray for them and those that believe in Him will follow his lead.
2 Nephi 2:10 – “Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement” He will in fact pray for all men. Now it says all men come to God! This is confusing. They stand to be judged. But they must rise up to see how they compare to the good and opposites go to opposite states (happiness vs punishment), by this atonement. (2 Nephi 2:7).
2 Nephi 2:11 – “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” If there are opposites together then there is a ranking. If all is one there is no ranking.
2 Nephi 2:12 – “Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.” If no ranking, it is non-existent. It is purposeless. God would not have been wise to not have such. We see that Lucifer’s plan to save everyone would try to destroy the wisdom of God. Perhaps that’s why He wanted glory for Himself instead.
2 Nephi 2:13 – “And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.” If there is no law of good or evil there is no committing them. Happiness and righteousness could not go against punishment and misery. There could be no God because He would not have any purpose for existing because the Universe would be bland. There would be nothing, and nothing could act on another thing. Note that we are allowed to inflict good or harm on others to some extent but it comes back to us in the way described in (1 Nephi 1:1). Somehow there could be no existence! All things must have vanished away is confusing to me.
2 Nephi 2:14 – “And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.” Lehi wants them to understand this to benefit and understand to make good choices. God did these things.
2 Nephi 2:15 – For the eternal purposes of distinguishing man, the ultimate opposition was the forbidden fruit vs the tree of life. The forbidden fruit was sweet and the tree of life was bitter. It must be the other way. The tree of life was sweet.
2 Nephi 2:16 – How can man act for himself? He either wants to live in an austere fashion or break the rules. They both appeal to him as they both seem to cause benefits when he is blinded.
2 Nephi 2:17 – Lehi read (Isaiah 14:12-17).
2 Nephi 2:18 – “And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.” Misery loves company like with the large and spacious building. We know that Eve died physically, but she was able to be resurrected. Also, I think they were like God knowing good and evil.
2 Nephi 2:19 – “And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth.” They had to work hard and not complain because the fruit had been forbidden.
2 Nephi 2:20 – “And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth.” But they were able to have Earth’s family.
2 Nephi 2:21 – (1 Nephi 17:15). “And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.” They were given a longer judgement period to correct themselves with God while they were yet alive. The Lord helps people obey His commandments. He also showed that all man were lost from the ultimate goodness. (For the fruit was exceedingly bright (1 Nephi 8:11)). Their parents would teach them wrong. When they weren’t upright, they wouldn’t teach their children uprightly. There are many traditions around the world.
2 Nephi 2:22 – “And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.” There could not have been evil if Adam hadn’t sinned; but without choice there could be no progression.
2 Nephi 2:23 – “And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.” There would be no children because that takes progression and so the wonderful world we see around us wouldn’t exist. There would have been no opposition.
2 Nephi 2:24 – “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.” God knows all things. Even between this simple state and a very complicated state where they partake of the fruit.
2 Nephi 2:25 – “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Adam fell for us to have this wonderful world and we can seek joy despite the transgression.
2 Nephi 2:26 – “And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” Perhaps “the fullness of time” means that we need not suppose we are too sophisticated to use Jesus’ gospel. After all the problems have been had, then He can redeem them all. Then they are free forever knowing good and evil. (2 Nephi 2:16). But they would be the actors and not the acted on except judgement. Thus, when it’s not God’s laws, it’s their laws.
2 Nephi 2:27 – “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” The flesh picks what it wants and they have the things they need. (2 Nephi 2:5). Liberty is living so that people can make their own decisions. They need that so they can be good. Captivity does not allow us to make choices. The devil wants all men to be without a body to choose like him.
2 Nephi 2:28 – His commandments are great. (2 Nephi 1:13). If they listen to His commandments in faith, they can choose eternal life. In other words, they can test them themselves; but they should understand them so that they could understand them more.
2 Nephi 2:29 – “And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.” The will of the flesh is death. Breaking the rules leads to not following your parents that your days may be long in the land and being punished by the law. This gives the spirit of the devil the power to captivate you of course because it is also wrong.
2 Nephi 2:30 – “I have spoken these few words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of my probation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet. And I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls. Amen.” Lehi is ending his probation; so He wants to be judged by helping his sons. He claims the scriptures he quoted were the best, and they were Isaiah. He just wants every kind of welfare to their souls, regardless of circumstances.

2 Nephi 3

2 Nephi 3:1 – “And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last-born. Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee.“ Joseph gets the last blessing, being the youngest.  Lehi was very afflicted and Sariah very sorrowful when he was born.  That must have made him hard to raise.

2 Nephi 3:2 – As mentioned, he would be secure forever also if he kept the commandments.  This was part of Lehi’s individual blessing and not the Lord’s, so it fits to mention it to Joseph as well.  (2 Nephi 1:32).

2 Nephi 3:3 – You can give blessings that people will obey commandments!  His seed would remain, which means his seed wouldn’t rebel.  (2 Nephi 1:9).  Joseph’s parents must have cared about him even in their troubles.

2 Nephi 3:4 – “For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.“ He could go through what Joseph of Egypt went through, and have great covenants like Joseph of Egypt did.

2 Nephi 3:5 – “Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.“ If Joseph saw our day, what’s next in the verse was Joseph of Egypt prophesying about Lehi’s family and seed.  There would be a righteous branch broken off, like Nephi’s ship was wood and it got separated from the Old World.  But they would be remembered later, just like the House of Israel would be gathered.  (1 Nephi 21:22).

2 Nephi 3:6 – This verse is not in our Bible, so you will have to see if it makes enough sense to believe in it; but please remember to weigh the chances that it would be removed.

2 Nephi 3:7 – The Book of Mormon would be a gathering keystone to Israel.  (1 Nephi 14:1-2)

2 Nephi 3:8 – “And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.“ He would have to obey the commandments and do nothing else.  Therefore, Joseph Smith would be like Jesus, consecrating all his time and effort.  If he is great in the Lord’s eyes, he will be great in the righteous’ eyes.

2 Nephi 3:9 – “And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.“ Like Moses saved Israel who would save the world (all the world would be blessed through them, it says so in the Bible); Joseph Smith would save the world.

2 Nephi 3:10 – “And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.“ Moses out of Egypt was prophesied by Joseph of Egypt.  The symbolism helps to believe this.

2 Nephi 3:11 – “and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.“ Not only would the word that took away their stumbling blocks be sent to them, it would convince them of the truth.  Is the Book of Mormon convincing to you so far?

2 Nephi 3:12 – “Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write;“ The Book of Mormon and Bible would grow together.  I like that because there would be continuing revelation and more understanding for the Jews and they would satisfy later times like my commentary has promised several times.  (1 Nephi 8:11).

2 Nephi 3:13 – Joseph Smith was just a boy!  He had very little education at the time!  He was a laborer!  He didn’t understand the Churches!  So that also makes the Book of Mormon miraculous.

2 Nephi 3:14 – The Lord would bless him if he would be great in His eyes.  Those that sought to destroy him would simply be confounded so that they couldn’t do anything – they would not do bad because of him but just be stunned.  Joseph was sure of this.  It makes sense because it matches the symbolism – Joseph saved his family and hence Israel with Egypt and Joseph Smith would save the world out of the world.

2 Nephi 3:15 – “And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.“ Joseph Smith’s father was named Joseph Smith.  Joseph Smith Jr. would work salvation through the refining fires he went through to be able to help others through them.

2 Nephi 3:16 – “Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.“ Joseph of Egypt was promised his seed would be preserved forever.  (1 Nephi 14:22).

2 Nephi 3:17 – “I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing.“ This is describing Moses in the Old Testament.  The Torah would be full of judgement.

2 Nephi 3:18 – The Bible or Old Testament would go to the descendants of who it was about.  That seems proper.

2 Nephi 3:19 – The words are expedient.  They might not be enough but perhaps it is rude to say but perhaps it was what they could handle.  You don’t want to give the cake out before they come to the party.

2 Nephi 3:20 – “And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.“ It would be from the dust also, meaning that the Torah would contain things Jews would figure out that weren’t known in between.  It would be simple so they would not err and cry to them to correct their errors.  Those ancient people wanted really bad to be righteous and that their seed would be righteous and the record was a way to communicate between past and future.

2 Nephi 3:21 – “Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.“ Faith is what it takes to see new things so it would be used to prophecy to future people.  Perhaps this means that prophesying to future people is a matter of practicality and doesn’t require a miracle.  The Lord’s mouth would bring it to them, but they could use abductive reasoning to know it was ancient.  Their faith would make their words be strong because they would see further than normal.  The covenant would be passed.

2 Nephi 3:22 – Joseph of Egypt said these things; Lehi is wrapping up to Joseph.

2 Nephi 3:23 – “Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book.“ Therefore the covenant that Joseph’s seed would be preserved blesses him.  They will follow the Bible which is expedient.  (2 Nephi 3:19)

2 Nephi 3:24 – “who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.“ Joseph Smith did an extreme amount of good by helping everyone so that they could remove their stumbling blocks.  Jesus was necessary for it to work though.

2 Nephi 3:25 – “And now, blessed art thou, Joseph. Behold, thou art little; wherefore hearken unto the words of thy brother, Nephi, and it shall be done unto thee even according to the words which I have spoken. Remember the words of thy dying father. Amen.“ Joseph, Lehi’s son, got blessed because he learned from a long age.  He was told to remember his dying father.

Why was Joseph named Joseph?  Why was he born in so much affliction?  How does this help to understand the blessing that his seed would survive?  Lehi and Sariah had great love for him and used it from a young age, suffering much in his conception.  He would be blessed like Joseph of Egypt to help the whole world and to survive.  You have to have affliction to do that usually because great men aren’t born, they are made.

2 Nephi 4

2 Nephi 4:1 – Nephi would like to add to this globally useful equation.

2 Nephi 4:2 – The prophesy made sense symbolically.  It was very useful prophesy.  It was about the whole future.  It was in the Bible that Lehi’s family had.

2 Nephi 4:3 – “Wherefore, after my father had made an end of speaking concerning the prophecies of Joseph, he called the children of Laman, his sons, and his daughters, and said unto them: Behold, my sons, and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my firstborn, I would that ye should give ear unto my words.” After Lehi had this prophesy, he went back to the oldest, Laman, requesting that he simply listen.

2 Nephi 4:4 – “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.” A reminder that commandments are essential.  (Observing judgements helps to do this).  (2 Nephi 1:16).

2 Nephi 4:5 – “But behold, my sons and my daughters, I cannot go down to my grave save I should leave a blessing upon you; for behold, I know that if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it.” Lehi could bless them because every time they were taught right, they went right.

2 Nephi 4:6 – Therefore he said that they would not be judged badly if they were taught wrong, for if they were taught right, they would not be bad.

2 Nephi 4:7 – “Wherefore, because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever.” Because of this, they deserve to live forever (their seed).

2 Nephi 4:8 – “he caused the sons and daughters of Lemuel to be brought before him.” Next, he did Lemuel.

2 Nephi 4:9 – “I leave unto you the same blessing” The blessing was the same.

2 Nephi 4:10 – “he spake unto the sons of Ishmael, yea, and even all his household.” Why could Lehi bless Ishmael’s sons?  Perhaps he was a patriarch.  He was to bless all of Ishmael’s household.

2 Nephi 4:11 – “Blessed art thou, and thy seed; for thou shalt inherit the land like unto thy brother Nephi.” They would be the same as Nephi.  Security and prosperity if they obeyed the commandments.  (2 Nephi 1:31-32).

2 Nephi 4:12 – “according to the feelings of his heart and the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, he waxed old. And it came to pass that he died, and was buried.” That was through love and his brain which had the faith to prophecy.  He died and was buried.

2 Nephi 4:13 – “Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael were angry with me because of the admonitions of the Lord.” Again though, they didn’t look at how the Lord would help them when they were righteous and help them to repent when they were unrighteous.  Not observing the warnings meant that they wouldn’t listen again.  Perhaps they wanted to break the rules instead of obey.  (2 Nephi 2:16).

2 Nephi 4:14 – “for I had spoken many things unto them, and also my father, before his death; many of which sayings are written upon mine other plates; for a more history part are written upon mine other plates.” There were even a lot more things written that were said to them.  They were very obedient most of the time and quite bad some other times.

2 Nephi 4:15 – “And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.” The things of his soul are his ministry.  Faith expands its reach.  He would copy from the plates of brass more to give us a better sense of how the books were tampered with.  He loves scripture and thinks about them.  Those are two ingredients to gain from them.

2 Nephi 4:16 – “and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” The things of the Lord are not restricted to what is written.

2 Nephi 4:17 – “Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.” The Lord helped him a great deal.  Yet he was very unhappy!  That could be understandable dealing with Laman and Lemuel.    But no, his flesh and his iniquities were there.  Who knew?  We can assume that his sin had something to do with controlling his body.

2 Nephi 4:18 – He feels an evil presence surrounding him because he yields to sin so easily.  Is this the start of why his seed would be destroyed?  Yet the Lord should be merciful because he went so high up spiritually (from which it’s harder to not go down).

2 Nephi 4:19 – “And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.” He can’t rejoice, but he still trusts the Lord.

2 Nephi 4:20 – God has helped him in the course to the promised land.

2 Nephi 4:21 – “He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.” God has given him the Holy Ghost even to the part where he felt his frame would collapse.  (1 Nephi 17:48).

2 Nephi 4:22 – “He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.” Even still his enemies couldn’t touch him.  Laman and Lemuel are his enemies.  (1 Nephi 17:54).

2 Nephi 4:23 – “Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.” Like the Israelites being led to their promised land, with a cloud of fire by night and a cloud by day, Nephi was heard in the day and given knowledge in visions at night.

2 Nephi 4:24 – “And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.” He made himself solid in prayer.  He prayed very highly.  Angels even visited him.

2 Nephi 4:25 – “And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.” He has seen incredibly much so that he cannot even write it.

2 Nephi 4:26 – “O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?” The Lord went down to show him these things.  Why then is he crying at a low point and in sorrow.  Why does he damage his own flesh?  Why does he not have strength because of his afflictions?  Were Laman and Lemuel part of his affliction?  (2 Nephi 4:22).

2 Nephi 4:27 – “Why am I angry because of mine enemy?” He yielded to the devil and was angry because of Laman and Lemuel, but whoever doesn’t forgive has the greater sin.  Perhaps this leads to his seed’s destruction.  As soon as his father died, he was the head and then this happened.

2 Nephi 4:28 – “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.” He wants his soul to awaken.  There is so much good to be had that we have to wake up to it.  (2 Nephi 1:13).  He wants his heart to rejoice instead of harden.  Repentance is indeed a joy.

2 Nephi 4:29 – “Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.” Anger and slack are sins, and his afflictions make things hard; but it has to be hard as we’ve said many times.

2 Nephi 4:30 – “Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.” With his heart rejoicing, he would cry to the Lord, promising to praise Him forever.  He knew not to have beef with God.  He kept the first commandment and God was his unbending salvation because he was repenting.

2 Nephi 4:31- “O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?” First, he wants salvation.  Then he wants to be delivered from being afflicted by his brothers, the thing that was making it hard.  Then he wants to shake at the appearance of sin, the thing that would show the other two accomplished.

2 Nephi 4:32 – “May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!” He has a broken heart and a contrite spirit!  That means he’s actually doing the right thing through all of this.  We have to have problems to have this.  The gates of hell ought to be shut from him.  He wants salvation to be possible to motivate him to walk in lowliness and the plain road.  In other words, it is obvious to him what he should do.

2 Nephi 4:33 – “O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteosness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.” He wants to be encircled about by righteous apparel instead of encompassed about with temptations.  He wants to escape having his enemies cause a problem.  He wants to have help.  He wants to have a way, but his enemies not to.  He’s just sick of Laman and Lemuel.  He must realize that if this is granted he would have even a harder time.  (2 Nephi 4:18)

2 Nephi 4:34 – “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.” He has and will always trust in the Lord.  And he understands the Lord well.  (2 Nephi 4:15-16).  He will not trust another person.  The arm of flesh must be one’s own carnal nature.  You’re supposed to trust in the iron rod.  If you trust in yourself you are proud and don’t listen to the Lord.  (1 Nephi 12:18).

2 Nephi 4:35 – “Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.” God is eager to help those who seek help.  Therefore, Nephi wanted to ask the Lord properly.  He would cry to God as the rock of his salvation, trusting that things would work out because of God and not him.  He wants to raise himself up towards God forever.

2 Nephi 5

2 Nephi 5:1 – “Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren.“ Chapter 4 was all about how Nephi was suffering because of Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi turned it over to the Lord.

2 Nephi 5:2 – “But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.“ But they had their freedom and sought to kill him just as they didn’t want to be led by Lehi either.

2 Nephi 5:3 – They had suffered much because of him as well which is fair enough, but they should have observed the judgments of God that showed Nephi should be their leader to keep them righteous.  (2 Nephi 1:27).  The Lord would prosper them when they were obedient and punish disobedience over and over so that they could get it.

2 Nephi 5:4 – Nephi even keeps it off of his record he loves them so much.

2 Nephi 5:5 – Like Lehi, Nephi had to gather people to flee and he would also have to get the plates of brass.

2 Nephi 5:6 – Those that were right were those who believed in warnings and revelations of God.  (Warnings 5:3).  Revelation gave them their strength.

2 Nephi 5:7 – So they took what they needed and departed for a few days.  The promised land was bounteous.

2 Nephi 5:8 – “And my people would that we should call the name of the place Nephi; wherefore, we did call it Nephi.“ They called it Nephi because they looked up to him.

2 Nephi 5:9 – “And all those who were with me did take upon them to call themselves the people of Nephi.“ They called themselves Nephites as well.  Just like my Church is called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 Nephi 5:10 – “And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses.“ Without being afflicted by his brothers Laman and Lemuel, Nephi began to obey the commandments again.  They kept them too.  How wonderful that he could repent.  Sometimes it helps to put ourselves in clean situations.

2 Nephi 5:11 – “And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.“ Since they obeyed the Lord’s commandments, they were promised security and prosperity.  (2 Nephi 1:31-32).

2 Nephi 5:12 – “And I, Nephi, had also brought the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass; and also the ball, or compass, which was prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord, according to that which is written.“ How wonderful to also have word and miracle to guide them as well.

2 Nephi 5:13 – “And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.“ They prospered exceedingly, which is the only thing that could ultimately make them fail.  But let’s see if they failed this time.

2 Nephi 5:14 – “And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people.“ He wanted his people to prosper so he copied the sword of Laban to make swords for his people to defend themselves against the Lamanites.  That answers one question of how the righteous would be able to prosper and the wicked not.  Defensive battle.

2 Nephi 5:15 – “And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.“ Nephi was mechanically inclined.  They built great buildings and that was their first example of prosperity.  They probably couldn’t do things that we can do now though.  We have life, liberty and the pursuit of property so our Declaration of Independence starts with property also.  Notice the list of precious things used.

2 Nephi 5:16 – “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.“ Nephi built a very fine temple.  Solomon’s temple must have had even more precious things.  Nephi’s temple was exceedingly fine.  It must have been after the temple in Jerusalem.  The first Jerusalem temple was from 1200-586 B.C..

2 Nephi 5:17 – “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and tolabor with their hands.” They worked hard and with their hands.  We don’t know the level of machinery but I’m sure there was much they could do and it helps you feel good.

2 Nephi 5:18 – “And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king. But I, Nephi, was desirous that they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them according to that which was in my power.” Nephi was smarter than the Israelites in wanting no king, but couldn’t avoid being appointed one.  But he was righteous; he had repented.  (2 Nephi 5:10).

2 Nephi 5:19 – “And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher. Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life.” The prophesy at the end of 2 Nephi came true.  Nephi had been a ruler and teacher until they sought his life (rebellion).

2 Nephi 5:20 – “Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.” They were cut off from his presence as well according to revelation.

2 Nephi 5:21 – “And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.“ Because they hardened their hearts, they became like a flint.  Flint is very hard like they were hard.  It strikes a fire with steel as they would harden their hearts into striking a fire like it was hard to strike the fire.  They became black so that the Nephites would not find them attractive, thus a curse cut them off more literally.

2 Nephi 5:22 – “I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.” The Nephites would be disgusted by them unless they repented.  Thus, the hearts of the Nephites would be against them as well.

2 Nephi 5:23 – “And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.“ Then, the Lord even goes further and states a curse for mixing seed.

2 Nephi 5:24 – “And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.“ They were lazy while the Nephites labored with their hands.  They would be mischievous and subtle, probably hurting each other.  Instead of growing seed they found it easier to hunt.

2 Nephi 5:25 – “They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.“ But the flipside was that if the Nephites didn’t remember the Lord the Lamanites would have all of that as a power to start destroying the Nephites until they repented.  Why “remember” the Lord and not “obey?”  The Lord said the Nephites would be scourged by them if they rebelled.  Repentance was possible, but it would take deliberate forgetfulness to rebel against the Lord.  The word of God was the rod of iron.  Forgetting was letting go.

2 Nephi 5:26 – “I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests and teachers over the land of my people.“ Jacob and Joseph became priests, perhaps convenient since Nephi would die as well.

2 Nephi 5:27 – “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.“ They were happy.  They partook of the fruit of the tree of life.

2 Nephi 5:28 – It was 570 B.C.  Sad that the Lamanites would be this way so long.  Happy for the Nephites.  Hope for this book in the future.  Questions still to answer.

2 Nephi 5:29 – “And I, Nephi, had kept the records upon my plates, which I had made, of my people thus far.“ He kept the record so far.  I have not missed anything in this examination book so far.

2 Nephi 5:30 – This is when the Lord told him to make the plates we have here.  Nephi had a great memory of his sermons.  They must be very logical to remember them.

2 Nephi 5:31 – “Wherefore, I, Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, went and made these plates upon which I have engraven these things.“ To be obedient Nephi made these plates.  He still didn’t understand everything.  He had faith.

2 Nephi 5:32 – “And I engraved that which is pleasing unto God. And if my people are pleased with the things of God they will be pleased with mine engravings which are upon these plates.“ He wrote what was pleasing to God and that became the mantra for the whole Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 5:33 – They can’t have the history to check, but ministry can be more powerful than proof.

2 Nephi 5:34 – “And it sufficeth me to say that forty years had passed away, and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren.“ In 40 years, they had had many wars.  If they had a child every nine months, there would be like a few hundred vs. a few hundred.  That is enough to have a war.

2 Nephi 6

2 Nephi 6:1 – “The words of Jacob,” Jacob was going to speak now.  What new things could he know?

2 Nephi 6:2 – “Behold, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, having been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy order, and having been consecrated by my brother Nephi, unto whom ye look as a king or a protector, and on whom ye depend for safety, behold ye know that I have spoken unto you exceedingly many things.” He was a prophet.  He was an ordained prophet.  He was consecrated by Nephi.  Nephi was a king, protector and safety giver.  Therefore, he had told them many things.  Because, those things are for talking.  The mouth is how you are supposed to pass law according to the Noachide religion (Noach).

2 Nephi 6:3 – “Nevertheless, I speak unto you again; for I am desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea, mine anxiety is great for you; and ye yourselves know that it ever has been. For I have exhorted you with all diligence; and I have taught you the words of my father; and I have spoken unto you concerning all things which are written, from the creation of the world.” Now he wants them to be safe spiritually to keep them safe physically.  He is anxious for these good people to be helped because there is a long way to go until Jesus Christ and after.  He has diligently and strongly encouraged them to know everything from the plates of Brass.  That is a way to add new things… cover everything.

2 Nephi 6:4 – “And now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things which are, and which are to come; wherefore, I will read you the words of Isaiah. And they are the words which my brother has desired that I should speak unto you. And I speak unto you for your sakes, that ye may learn and glorify the name of your God.” Then the only thing to add is what will happen.  Nephi wanted him to read about those things from Isaiah.  He could study the words of God and increase understanding through revelation.  He does it for them that they may learn and glorify the name of their God, being like Him through learning and making Him seem great.

2 Nephi 6:5 – “they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel.”  Since they are about the House of Israel, Jacob’s people could find help for them.  Jesus Christ was for everyone, so we could learn from Him.

2 Nephi 6:6 – “Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.” This appears to be new scripture.  Actually, after looking at it after, it appears to be part Isaiah 49 and part Jacob.  But we know that the gentiles will carry the Jews in their arms.  (1 Nephi 22:6).

2 Nephi 6:7 – Making it dramatic so the whole world would notice, as has happened.

2 Nephi 6:8 – “For behold, the Lord has shown me that those who were at Jerusalem, from whence we came, have been slain and carried away captive.” Jacob further testified of the destruction at Jerusalem.  Jeremiah had testified it as well.

2 Nephi 6:9 – “and after he should manifest himself they should scourge him and crucify him, according to the words of the angel who spake it unto me.” They would return soon; but when they scourged and crucified Jesus Christ, they would have a long scatter.

2 Nephi 6:10 – “And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them.” Hardening of hearts is something we’ve covered many times.  Neck stiffening, I decided, was to make changing hard.  They didn’t want to choose big things that would replace the law of Moses.  (1 Nephi 2:11).  They didn’t want to make their kingdom above; they wanted it over other nations, and they would get that eventually.

2 Nephi 6:11 – “Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.” Then they would be a by-product of other people’s actions.  They would have great bodily afflictions (certainly in WWII).  But many survived.  God answers prayers to help people.  He can help individuals with individual miracles.  He can help big groups by showing His hand among many.  But he wants individual and group abusers to be beckoned to repent as well.  The Jews would be scattered, smitten, and hated.  Would their lack of belief in Jesus Christ cause them to be scattered, smitten and hated or carried upon shoulders?  It depends on their preparation to improve.

2 Nephi 6:12 – “And blessed are the Gentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.” The gentiles who carry the Jews are doing a great work, deserving blessings.  If they repent and don’t fight on the side against Zion, they will help the good cause at the end where there is the big fight.  He promises to help those who work with him.

2 Nephi 6:13 – “Wherefore, they that fight against Zion and the covenant people of the Lord shall lick up the dust of their feet;” The large and spacious building shall be as dust.  (1 Nephi 22:14).  They would even lick dust, the dust of the gentiles, who would not be ashamed of them anymore.  For they would wait for the Messiah (I think this is the second coming!).

2 Nephi 6:14 – “he will manifest himself unto them in power and great glory, unto the destruction of their enemies, when that day cometh when they shall believe in him; and none will he destroy that believe in him.” Yes!  My intuition is good.  Those who believe in Him will not be destroyed because there is hope left in them.  As long as you believe in Him, you know He wants you to change.

2 Nephi 6:15 – “And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel.” Those that do not believe in Him when they knew it before will need to be visited maximally like Nephi’s crossing the Ocean to get them out of their situation.  (1 Nephi 18:14-15).  Fire, tempest, earthquakes, bloodsheds, pestilence and famine can differentiate well, along with more predictable things.  Then they would know the Lord their God, the Holy one of Israel.  But because of who He was, they would have to be destroyed if they couldn’t believe in Him.  The Lord could micromanage how every individual does and the blessings or cursing for it; but like natural disasters we wouldn’t know when they were coming because then we would exploit them.

2 Nephi 6:16 – “For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” The mighty catch their prey but the Lord is the mightiest.

2 Nephi 6:17 – “For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee” Covenants would be kept by the mightiest and He would be in charge of the safe and the hunted.

2 Nephi 6:18 – The degeneracy of the large and spacious building fighting itself would be so bad it would be like they were literally each fighting their own bodies.  But they would all know the truth good or bad.  They would know the Lord was the Savior and Redeemer to the righteous and that they were wasting their time.  The Mighty One of Jacob – upholding Jacob and his descendants.

2 Nephi 7 (Isaiah 50 KJV)

2 Nephi 7:1 – “Yea, for thus saith the Lord: Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever?” “Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.” The Lord doesn’t distance Himself from us no matter how great He is, because it is great to help people.  When we sin we harm each other and ourselves.  Differences:  Was anyone put away or cast off forever?

2 Nephi 7:2 – Because of that, people wouldn’t associate with the Lord like human beings do each other.  The Lord can help.  He can perform miracles.  Differences:  Because of that there wouldn’t be anyone who answered Him.

2 Nephi 7:3 – He is exceedingly powerful.

2 Nephi 7:4 – Isaiah can speak an appropriate word to the House of Israel.  The Lord gradually wakes people up or stirs them in remembrance.  Isaiah can realize things as a learned man.  Differences: I think they are alright.

2 Nephi 7:5 – “The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” When the Lord called Isaiah was not rebellious and did not turn back.  That seems to be the key in the Book of Mormon, so Isaiah would be a great writer.

2 Nephi 7:6 – “I gave my back to the smiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” Is he talking about Jesus now?  Jesus got whipped, had a crown of thorns, and was spit upon to mock his atonement.

2 Nephi 7:7 – “For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” By not rebelling or turning back, he or He realizes he will get help.  His face would be stern and not ashamed like those who partook of the fruit and were ashamed.  (1 Nephi 8:24).

2 Nephi 7:8 – “And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth.” Isaiah knew that for these conditions he or He will be justified or become righteous.  He and the Lord are unequaled by anyone.  He uses his mouth to lead.  (2 Nephi 6:2).  Differences: Much more content.

2 Nephi 7:9 – “For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up.” He repeats that the Lord will help him or Him.  Those who condemn him would fade away from not being optimal.

2 Nephi 7:10 – Who does the Lord not help?  Especially Jesus.  Differences: Notice that the Book of Mormon removed, “let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”  Why should he who walks in darkness trust in the Lord.  He would need to walk in the light.

2 Nephi 7:11 – “Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Those who light their own path shall lie down (die?) in sorrow because they rebel and turn away.

What miracles will we see later in the Book of Mormon?  There have been many already.  (2 Nephi 7:2).

2 Nephi 8 (Isaiah 51-52:2 KJV)

2 Nephi 8:1 – “Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness. Look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are digged.” Listen, obedient.  You came out of that rock to move freely.  A pit is what you are now not.  “Ye that seek the Lord” removed… that righteousness is following the Lord has probably been covered.

2 Nephi 8:2 – “Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah, she that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him.” You are covenant with Abraham and Sarah.  He was called alone to bless the whole human race (with Jesus Christ part of his race).

2 Nephi 8:3 – “For the Lord shall comfort, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.” Zion is the Heavenly city or Kingdom of Heaven.  It is set up in some unknown way and on Earth with small dominion.  Yet it shall be comforted, including all the ghettos that are part of it.  It would become as at the very beginning, Full of Joy and gladness, gratitude and melodious thinking.  It is nice that even though many generations pass before it’s there, people are happy to think about it.  Or maybe it’s here.

2 Nephi 8:4 – “Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light for the people.” Think about people and acknowledge it nationally.  His judging shall lead the way.  (Something Nephi and Lehi wanted for Laman and Lemuel).  (2 Nephi 1:27, 5:3).

2 Nephi 8:5 – “My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arm shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.” Being like God is close!  His salvation is readily available.  People will see his judgments in action (which helps them because then they know to follow it).  Dispersed people are waiting for this and will trust in that arm.

2 Nephi 8:6 – “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” Look at the ascendency of righteousness and the Earth who hasn’t made it there.  Even though the sky vanishes away like smoke (the sky is black but the black would ascend), and the Earth doesn’t fit its people anymore, and the people die likewise, he would still save people in His kingdom; and there would still be obedience to be had to better yourself.

2 Nephi 8:7 – “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” He wants attention from those who know righteousness and have His law in their hearts.  They should not fear man’s reproach (disapproval) or even abusive disapproval.

2 Nephi 8:8 – “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.” Yet they will perish likewise (2 Nephi 8:6).  But the righteous are saved likewise.  His salvation is even in every generation.  (That’s something new).

2 Nephi 8:9 – “Awake, awake! Put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days. Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?” Wake up and realize you are the Lord’s arm and His strength is in your actions, even as in ancient times.  Rahab was the woman who was saved by hiding soldiers of the Israelites.  I don’t know what the dragon is.  Rahab seems to be an illusion that the Lord can save one individual in the midst of turmoil.

2 Nephi 8:10 – “Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” The Israelites were ransomed… they still had to make sacrifices to their God.

2 Nephi 8:11 – “Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” The redeemed return and come singing to Zion.  Singing implies that they are creative.  Everlasting joy and holiness are on their heads.  Salvation is the best.  It is also not something bad.

2 Nephi 8:12 – “I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you. Behold, who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man, who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto grass?” He comforts the reader.  Why be afraid of people who die and who’s descendants end up as if only grass is left (A reference to the end of the earth)?  The Lord is permanent.  Perhaps it means we would be grass without the Lord.  Change: “Behold,” to emphasize the total emptiness of man without the Lord.

2 Nephi 8:13 – “And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?” Why be afraid of someone who can’t remember the Lord who created them?  That made the Heavens so vast and the Earth sustaining.  That fears all the time every day because of being oppressed (by Satan?) thinking he will get destroyed because he doesn’t see any protection of himself.  But He asks, where is the fury?  If there’s no fury, hopefully they could remember the Lord.

2 Nephi 8:14 – “he captive exile hasteneth, that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.” Those in such a state are like prisoners; but if they remember the Lord, they can be freed and lifted out of a symbolic pit and have food.

2 Nephi 8:15 – “But I am the Lord thy God, whose waves roared; the Lord of Hosts is my name.” The Lord refers to Himself as who parted the Red Sea.

2 Nephi 8:16 – “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: Behold, thou art my people.” The ones who look for the Lord have words to say and places to come out, to plant the heavens (a reference to space travel in some way?) and keep Earth going (instead of grass).  And have Zion as their people.  Is this another Jesus Christ reference?

2 Nephi 8:17 – “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury—thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling wrung out” Even though Jerusalem drunk from the fury of Jesus’ crucifixion, His atonement was positive anyway.

2 Nephi 8:18 – “And none to guide her among all the sons she hath brought forth; neither that taketh her by the hand, of all the sons she hath brought up.” She (Israel as Jesus’s wife) had no sons to lead her.

2 Nephi 8:19 – “These two sons are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for thee—thy desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword—and by whom shall I comfort thee?” Yet 2 sons come to Israel.  They shall take pity.  Israel will be empty and its people destroyed… they will have starvation and war destruction.  Who would the Lord use to comfort them?

2 Nephi 8:20 – “Thy sons have fainted, save these two; they lie at the head of all the streets; as a wild bull in a net, they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.” These 2 sons are all that’s left to save Israel?  They are full of the Lord’s fury; God’s rebuke.  So, what’s going on?  (Save 2 sons is added.  I don’t know what it means).

2 Nephi 8:21 – “Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, and not with wine:” Now we see what will happen and hopefully it will make sense.

2 Nephi 8:22 – “Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.” Jesus Christ and God plead for them.  Because of the cup Jesus drank, they shall not drink of it anymore.  That is clear.

2 Nephi 8:23 – “But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee;” Those that fight against Israel will have this terrible cost of drinking of that cup!  That’s serious motivation to repent and it was in Isaiah before Jesus came!  (Simple grammatical correction).

2 Nephi 8:24 – “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O ZIon; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Because of that, the Lord wants them to be strong and beautiful (their technology is beautiful).  Those that come to them will be circumcised and clean, or else they would drink that cup!

2 Nephi 8:25 – “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” They should come up through great captivity and free themselves from their chains.  They are the daughter of Zion.  That means they are taken care of like a woman should be, being reared in righteousness.

This wonderful chapter is virtually unchanged and has incredible prophecy of Jesus Christ that makes it extremely important to do what’s right.

2 Nephi 9

2 Nephi 9:1 – “And now, my beloved brethren, I have read these things that ye might know concerning the covenants of the Lord that he has covenanted with all the house of Israel” In addition to covenants with America, these Americans were part of the covenant with Israel.

2 Nephi 9:2 – “That he has spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation,” Through prophets, He has spoken through every generation.  That means some of the genealogies in the Bible are of prophets.

2 Nephi 9:3 – “I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up your heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children.” Happiness is part of the plan.  Lifting up heads is not pride but feeling free.

2 Nephi 9:4 – “For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.” The audience knows a lot.  The flesh must die.  (2 Nephi 2:29).  Somehow in their bodies they would see God.

2 Nephi 9:5 – “Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.” The Lord should show Himself to all men, so those at Jerusalem who took responsibility for the crucifixion could still become subject to Him.

2 Nephi 9:6 – “For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of ressurection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.” Two verses ago it said that all flesh must die.  Now it says all flesh will be resurrected.  Resurrection because of the fall because of transgression which cuts people off from the Lord’s presence.

2 Nephi 9:7 – “Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.” Therefore, an infinite atonement could make up for an absolute law.  Otherwise it would be endless torment.  The flesh would crumble but can animate forever.

2 Nephi 9:8 – “8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.” God is merciful and graceful because this leading to becoming subject to the devil forever doesn’t have to happen.

2 Nephi 9:9 – In short, they would be the devil’s property.

2 Nephi 9:10 – But the Lord will provide for resurrection of the body and soul.

2 Nephi 9:11 – People will actually be brought back to life.  It is easier to say this than that they will be forgiven.

2 Nephi 9:12 – “And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.” Spiritual death is hell and it will do likewise.  The Holy One of Israel would bring them both back together.

2 Nephi 9:13 – If they can be made righteous, then this is what they deserve.

2 Nephi 9:14 – “Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.” Guilt, uncleanness and nakedness will cause physical and spiritual death whereas enjoyment, righteousness and being clothed with purity, even a robe of righteousness, will allow for physical and spiritual life.

2 Nephi 9:15 – Men must be judged to see which of these conditions they get.

2 Nephi 9:16 – “Everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and has no end.”  I assume it wasn’t prepared for specific ones of them.  This emphasizes the importance of obedience that we have seen elsewhere in the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 9:17 – There’s no hiding from it if you know that God is doing it.

2 Nephi 9:18 – Prepared from the world’s foundation, with joy forever, that is where those who believed in Jesus Christ and endured the world’s crosses and despise the shame of it go.  That is believing and having a broken heart and contrite spirit.  The reward is equal to the punishment.

2 Nephi 9:19 – The Lord’s saints are delivered from the punishment.

2 Nephi 9:20 – “O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.” The Lord knows everything which also shows He is just.  We know He knows everything because of His perfect knowledge of good and evil.

2 Nephi 9:21 – “And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature,” Men just have to consider His words.  Then He doesn’t give up on them.  He suffers their pain to motivate them.

2 Nephi 9:22 – He does it to be fair and reward good for good and evil for evil.

2 Nephi 9:23 – Men must repent and be baptized.  This is the first mention of baptism.

2 Nephi 9:24 – “And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it.” If they won’t repent, believe in Him, be baptized in his name, and endure to the end they must be damned.  Repentance lets you get on the right track, and baptism is adoption onto that track.  Then you just keep your covenant forever.

2 Nephi 9:25 – “Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him.” This is a law therefore that we have understood from early on in the book.  If there is no law no punishment is allowed, making no condemnation, making the Holy One of Israel have no claim upon them.  For it is His power whereby they are delivered.

2 Nephi 9:26 – “For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them,” But even those who don’t have the law given to them get justice.  This is very important because some people don’t know as much about Jesus Christ as others.

2 Nephi 9:27 – However, whoever has the law and wastes his days is in an awful state.  Righteousness means there is stuff to do!  You have to make an honest living for instance if you are required to (but don’t commit suicide if you can’t do it!).

2 Nephi 9:28 – The devil is very cunning and men are vain, frail and foolish.  We see many people today who think because they are smart, they know what’s going on their own and don’t have to obey.  That is what prophets are for.  The Lord is a much better advice giver than any man; and men are weak by comparison of power.

2 Nephi 9:29 – “But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.” However, education is good, I would say great, if they pay attention to God’s counsel.

2 Nephi 9:30 – “But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world. For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god. And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.” Another warning, this time to the rich.  (Those who have a lot of worldly possession).  They despise the poor and persecute the meek.  They love their treasures.  Because they don’t care about being an instrument to help the poor and meek, they don’t worship God instead and perish with their treasure.

2 Nephi 9:31 – Those who refuse to listen – another warning, because they lose any direction towards the Lord.

2 Nephi 9:32 – The same with those who don’t see the judgements and statutes of the Lord.

2 Nephi 9:33 – Those who don’t love righteously will not follow uprightly.

2 Nephi 9:34 – The liar indulges in disobedience.

2 Nephi 9:35 – The deliberate murderer must face death just like the death he caused.

2 Nephi 9:36 – Those who do whoredoms cannot be pure like their Heavenly Father.

2 Nephi 9:37 – Those who worship idols do not believe in Jesus Christ.  We have talked about why He is the only one.

2 Nephi 9:38 – Anyone who dies in their sins will see God in their sins.

2 Nephi 9:39 – “Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.” Thinking carnally leads to getting distracted, but focusing on spiritual well-being is a great benefit.  There is not just a great punishment but a great benefit as well.

2 Nephi 9:40 – “I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.” This has been shown to be true.  The maker is in charge.  Those who are unclean have difficulty but the righteous just want to be motivated.

2 Nephi 9:41 – “O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” Therefore Jacob invites them to come.  The way is narrow but straightforward. There is no way to trick the Lord.

2 Nephi 9:42 – He helps all those who seek Him which we’ve mentioned.  Yet the wise, learned, rich, and puffed up because of personal learning, wisdom and riches must have the Lord’s version first.

2 Nephi 9:43 – “But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.” Those wise and prudent who look for things on their own do not find the things of Jesus Christ because they are not looking for them.

2 Nephi 9:44 – “O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am rid of your blood.” Since it is righteous to spread the truth to others, so must a righteous person do.  We do not want other’s blood on our hands for not trying to help them.  That doesn’t mean it’s our fault if they fail though.

2 Nephi 9:45 – “O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation.” He urges his fellow human beings to turn away from their sins (commit against them).  Beware the cunning of the devil and stick with the solid rock of God for salvation.

2 Nephi 9:46 – “Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful guilt in perfectness, and be constrained to exclaim: Holy, holy are thy judgments, O Lord God Almighty—but I know my guilt; I transgressed thy law, and my transgressions are mine; and the devil hath obtained me, that I am a prey to his awful misery.” We must prepare to feel good when judged or shrink with awful fear.  Guilt and transgressions would be theirs to make them feel miserable.  What’s wrong with helping someone not be miserable in this life and believing in it in the next life?

2 Nephi 9:47 – “Would I harrow up your souls if your minds were pure? Would I be plain unto you according to the plainness of the truth if ye were freed from sin?” Jacob is only talking to the unholy.

2 Nephi 9:48 – “Behold, if ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness;” If his audience were holy, he’d speak of holy things.

2 Nephi 9:49 – “Behold, my soul abhorreth sin, and my heart delighteth in righteousness; and I will praise the holy name of my God.” He hates sin and loves righteousness and never fails to be pleased by God.

2 Nephi 9:50 – It is there for them to trust in the Lord and succeed.

2 Nephi 9:51 – Spending their time with God is what satisfies.  Their soul would delight in being fat.  (Fatness implies a certain ease).

2 Nephi 9:52 – “Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.” Remember and pray to God for your own help.

2 Nephi 9:53 – “And behold how great the covenants of the Lord,” It is great that such a great God would help those who remembered Him.

2 Nephi 9:54 – A little narrative that this is a long speech.

We have noted in verse 42 that wisdom, learning and riches must be tempered with worship to succeed.

2 Nephi 10

2 Nephi 10:1 – “And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.” Joseph continues about the righteous branch they are.

2 Nephi 10:2 – “For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.” Prosperity and security are bodily.  While many will be unbelievers, many will have mercy shown on them.  Thus, we don’t understand fully what distinguishes the ones who make it and the ones who don’t.  Those that do believe however will come to the true knowledge of their redeemer.

2 Nephi 10:3 – “Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews,” Jacob had an angel reveal the name of Christ.  This is nowhere in the Old Testament.  The Book of Mormon, inasmuch as it could be demonstrated, could therefore bolster the Bible.  It says those who crucified Him were the most wicked ever.  That would make sense if they would receive the gospel last.  Also, we need to understand what makes people wicked and righteous better (last verse).

2 Nephi 10:4 – “For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.” Miracles that Jesus did may or may not have been total, but the Jews are the only ones who would reject what they were.

2 Nephi 10:5 – “But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.” Our working definition of stiffneckedness is that it makes it hard to change.  We know now that priestcrafts and iniquities caused this crucifixion.  So, belief is what keeps your hopes up, but priestcraft and iniquities are the worst things you can do to be helped… they would be helped last.  Iniquity makes sense.  Priestcraft is when you counterfeit the work of God.  There is even priestcraft against the Book of Mormon.  Since it runs as high up as God’s most powerful tools, it is the worst thing you can do and still be saved.

2 Nephi 10:6 – However, they get punished for commandment breaking, so iniquity causes the list of problems.  What happens to them is what their priestcraft makes them wish on others.

2 Nephi 10:7 – “When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance.” When they continue to believe though, then things get restored to them.

2 Nephi 10:8 – “and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.” The Gentiles will do a great work in gathering them, hoping for them.

2 Nephi 10:9 – “Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?” Can anyone dispute this now?  Could anyone dispute this at any time?  The seed of Abraham was blessed to bless the whole world; it could be seen at any time.  And now we see the great things Israel is doing, technologically for instance.

2 Nephi 10:10 – “But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.” America would be a blessed land for gentiles and for those who keep the commandments to inherit.

2 Nephi 10:11 – “And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.” Liberty and no king are the basic laws that construct this existence.  Liberty is being able to be in control of most of your life’s decisions. Thus, people would be primarily responsible for themselves.

2 Nephi 10:12 – The Lord will defend it with its success.

2 Nephi 10:13 – “And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.” This land is called Zion!  Whoever fights against it receives an untimely demise.

2 Nephi 10:14 – “For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.” The same happens to someone a group tries to raise up as a king, for Christ would be their king.

2 Nephi 10:15 – “Wherefore, for this cause, that my covenants may be fulfilled which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh, I must needs destroy the secret works of darkness, and of murders, and of abominations.” The Lord must fight wickedness to keep the righteous having their rights.  Secret works of darkness, murder and abomination would have to be fought.

2 Nephi 10:16 – “Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall perish;” Those fighting against America therefore suffer the same fate as the large and spacious building.

2 Nephi 10:17 – He does this in their lifetimes – every generation.  (2 Nephi 8:8).

2 Nephi 10:18 – “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, thus saith our God: I will afflict thy seed by the hand of the Gentiles; nevertheless, I will soften the hearts of the Gentiles, that they shall be like unto a father to them; wherefore, the Gentiles shall be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel.” The gentiles would afflict them, but with soft hearts parent them.  The affliction is necessary so they can take what they’ve done.  For helping the Jews, the gentiles would be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel.  Since there are more Jewish prodigies than gentiles, (1 Nephi 22:9), perhaps this applies to the Gentiles who help them.

2 Nephi 10:19 – “Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God.” Those who are Jews and those who want to help them and everyone else to serve Jesus Christ get the American covenant (prosperity and security).  It is a choice land (it even has the most oil as of today and lots of financial assets).  They would have to worship Jesus Christ.

2 Nephi 10:20 – “And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.” Therefore, Jacob asks for gratitude.  They should let go of their sins gladly and look forward.  Although they were separated from the rest of the Jews in the Old World, they are looked after and don’t need to distance themselves from their God in any way.  They are in a better land; they went through the sea which was difficult (maybe a regular ship couldn’t have even done it); and compared to the Old World’s land mass they were on an Island.  I am not sure whether being on a larger or smaller land mass gives an advantage.

2 Nephi 10:21 – “But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.” Because the scriptures say “Isles” there is at least one more Island.  There are essentially many more that will be inhabited by scattered Israel.  They were scattered in Lehi’s day because knowledge of Jesus Christ was already upon them; and they had this knowledge earlier through earlier prophets.  (1 Nephi 1:19 and the next chapter).

2 Nephi 10:22 – This has happened several times (See Ether also).

2 Nephi 10:23 – “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.” So, cheer yourself up and relax.  In America you are free to be self-responsible.  Everlasting death or eternal life lie before the American.

2 Nephi 10:24 – “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.” God and devil are the separate kingdoms.  God needs His own kingdom for the righteous and those who are not righteous must go somewhere else.  The flesh? (1 Nephi 22:1 and 22:3 show that 1 Nephi 20 and 1 Nephi 21 are partly about it.)  When someone makes all their decisions to be like God, then God has to do the lifting from there.

2 Nephi 10:25 – “Wherefore, may God raise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the atonement, that ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen.” Therefore, physical death goes away by resurrection.  Spiritual death goes away because of the atonement.  Once in Heaven you can praise God through His grace which is divine.  This is the first time we’ve used the word divine.  It means like God, excellent and delightful.  We would be like God in His kingdom.

2 Nephi 11

2 Nephi 11:1 – “And now, Jacob spake many more things to my people at that time; nevertheless only these things have I caused to be written, for the things which I have written sufficeth me.” Nephi may have not remembered everything Jacob spoke, but he was sure to cover it sufficiently.

2 Nephi 11:2 – “And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.” Nephi wants to quote Isaiah more because it is delightful like the fruit of the tree of life; it is in fact the word of God which leads to it.  He could relate and wants to relate to the first chapters directly.  Perhaps he heard the word “Christ” too but somehow, he knew Jacob had seen the Messiah he had.

2 Nephi 11:3 – “Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words.” Nephi uses Jacob’s words to prove both of their words’ truths.  Lehi, Nephi and Jacob testified.  3 witnesses must be enough in Jewish law.  But even if that is not true, Nephi says that God sends many witnesses to establish all His words.  That’s good because it would be a mock if they couldn’t be established or anyone couldn’t gain salvation.  (2 Nephi 8:11).

2 Nephi 11:4 – “Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.” Nephi loves to prove Jesus Christ would come.  He says the law of Moses and the creation and everything typifies Him.  Looking ahead, it seems this will be in the Isaiah chapters.

2 Nephi 11:5 – “And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.” Nephi loves the covenant upon America and the covenant on the House of Israel.  Grace is His making up the difference.  Justice is to be fair.  Power is to make it infinitely strong.  Mercy is to help those who struggle but try.  This great eternal plan delivers from all death.  There’s nothing we cannot do with it.  Science will come.  God already knows all science if you can believe it.  Perhaps studying the creation leads to it.  All or almost all science is something creating something later in time.  Do you think Genesis 1 describes all science?

2 Nephi 11:6 – “And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish.” All people would perish without Jesus Christ.  (2 Nephi 8:12).  He wants it proved in the future Isaiah chapters.

2 Nephi 11:7 – “7 For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.” To be just, God could not help anyone without someone suffering for those who make mistakes.  If there were no God people couldn’t exist and then they couldn’t have been created.  Yet, these things are so.

2 Nephi 11:8 – “And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men.” You don’t have to harden your heart to lift it.  You feel good about wanting to be righteous.  He says these words apply to anyone.  We will look for how the law of Moses and creation typify Christ and why people would perish without Him.

2 Nephi 12 (Isaiah 2 KJV)

2 Nephi 12:1 – “The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:” Isaiah wasn’t of the tribe of Judah, but Jesus was.  This is concerning the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, but Nephi said it was for everyone also.  (2 Nephi 11:8). 

2 Nephi 12:2 – “And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.” When the Lord’s house will be established, it will be the greatest place and in mountains.

2 Nephi 12:3 – “3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” People would want to come to it and it would be the house of Jacob’s God.  They will want to conform.  Zion will provide the law and the Lord’s word out of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem isn’t in a mountainous place however.  This is America (2 Nephi 10:13), so it stands to reason that it is talking about Utah.

2 Nephi 12:4 – “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks—nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Out of Utah (for I believe many Latter-day Saints have been essential to American government including not just Republicans but also Democrats like Harry Reid who was in the highest position ever held by a Latter-day Saint), other nations and people would rise and fall and be told what to do.  Eventually it would cause world peace, so America would have to have peaceful intent ultimately.

2 Nephi 12:5 – “O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.” Jacob is invited therefore to follow the Lord’s light (from believing) and set aside wicked ways from rejecting Jesus Christ.  The wickedness part was not in Isaiah.  The Bible teaches later that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

2 Nephi 12:6 – “Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.” Or maybe it wasn’t because of rejecting Christ.  It says they are replenished from the east, hearken to soothsayers and please themselves in the children of strangers.  This probably has to do with rejecting Christ anyway.

2 Nephi 12:7 – “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.” Their land has all manner of specific riches.  Gold and silver are very important in technology today; and horses and chariots were in the past (or it could be vehicles now).

2 Nephi 12:8 – But they are idolatrous which is forgetting Jesus Christ.

2 Nephi 12:9 – Mean probably means average.  They don’t abase themselves.  Pride prevents growth, so they can’t be forgiven yet.

2 Nephi 12:10 – “O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.” It would be better for them to enter a rock or hide in dust they are so bad and getting smitten is really bad… they still want their lives.  Note that they don’t literally get smitten but get smitten in terms of their self-worth for wickedness.  Another verse change emphasizes the wickedness which is appropriate later on in the chapter.

2 Nephi 12:11 – Again like in verse 9 but they will be humbled; but only the Lord will be exalted because it was His doing.  Again, saying, “And it shall come to pass,” means all of them.

2 Nephi 12:12 – Judgment comes on all nations, judging from America/Utah/Zion in general.  Everyone will have the same fate if they are like in verse 9.  Like in verse 5, the change is that nobody escapes this.

2 Nephi 12:13 – Plants are described as being lofty.  This does not mean the plants are unhealthy but they are strained by their own majesty.  Again, the change is that nobody escapes this.

2 Nephi 12:14 – Mountains let you see things, but with knowledge also comes greater responsibility.

2 Nephi 12:15 – “And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall;” Every tower and fenced wall is used to control things.  This may be a reference to riches.

2 Nephi 12:16 – “And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.” Tarshish was an export center of precious ore for Israel.  That would be getting rich off of others with things in your own land.  Pleasant pictures are also worth money, and are in your own hand.  Change: By adding ships of the sea in general, it is suggested that even those who are focused on riches without being rich can be susceptible.

2 Nephi 12:17 – A repeat of verse 11 to recap.  It makes sense to recap.

2 Nephi 12:18 – “And the idols he shall utterly abolish.” The idols will get destroyed, making them worthless.

2 Nephi 12:19 – Even though people can’t go into rocks and hide in dust like in verse 10, they will do similar things; and similar to smiting them His glory will smite them (it doesn’t kill them).  That happens when He shakes terribly the Earth, and this won’t be due to climate change.  Change: Yet again it emphasizes all of them.

2 Nephi 12:20 – When that happens, the man who worshipped idols would rather that moles and bats would have them.  Probably to get away from the feeling that they were possessing him like he was possessing them.

2 Nephi 12:21 – A repeat of 19, emphasizing idolatry.

2 Nephi 12:22 – “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Since the Lord breathed into man in creation (this may be science), man should trust in the Lord for understanding.

We have noted that health, responsibility, riches, trading, ability can lead to feeling smitten from God’s glory and that idolatry will do it.

2 Nephi 13 (Isaiah 3 KJV)

2 Nephi 13:1 – “For behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water” The Lord takes away their staple food and water?

2 Nephi 13:2 – “The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient;” This means spiritually.  Mighty men, men of war, judges, prophets, prudent and ancients are removed from them so that they have no spiritual hope.  Why?

2 Nephi 13:3 – “The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.” Also, the captain of fifty, the honorable man, the counselor, the cunning artificer (inventor or craftsman), and the eloquent orator (speaker).

2 Nephi 13:4 – “And I will give children unto them to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” Babies would rule over them they would be so weak.

2 Nephi 13:5 – “And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.” Without spiritual guidance they shall oppress each other (wickedness).  The children shall be proud against the ancient and the base against the honorable.  That means people would not seek wisdom from wise leaders anyway.

2 Nephi 13:6 – “say: Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let not this ruin come under thy hand” People would be desperate for rulers.

2 Nephi 13:7 – “In that day shall he swear, saying: I will not be a healer; for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; make me not a ruler of the people.” OK, so what is this about?  Jesus asked to remove His father’s cup.  Maybe He did not want to heal Jerusalem because they could not provide bread or clothing for themselves; why would He want to rule them?

2 Nephi 13:8 – “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongues and their doings have been against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.” Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen.  They have been against the Lord; but if they still believe in Him, we know there is a chance.

2 Nephi 13:9 – “The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom, and they cannot hide it. Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves!” They look depraved.  They are like Sodom.  They have rewarded evil unto themselves.  Change: “They cannot hide it.”  How could you hide this depravity from the Lord or others.

2 Nephi 13:10 – “Say unto the righteous that it is well with them; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” Yet the righteous shall be blessed with fruit of their doing to eat.  Minor grammar.

2 Nephi 13:11 – The wicked get punished for the problems with their hands.  Idol making, immorality, and laziness come to mind.  You have to work for good if you are going to help out.

2 Nephi 13:12 – “And my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths.” Children and women get in their way.  Minor grammar.

2 Nephi 13:13 – “The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.” Yet the Lord pleads for them, but must judge them.

2 Nephi 13:14 – “The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof; for ye have eaten up the vineyard and the spoil of the poor in your houses.” They have taken away the poor from life.  That is pride and that’s a reason to labor with your hands.

2 Nephi 13:15 – “What mean ye? Ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor, saith the Lord God of Hosts.” They make the poor in poverty in spirit.

2 Nephi 13:16 – Because the daughters of Zion are immoral,…

2 Nephi 13:17 – They will be harmed in their head and perhaps raped.

2 Nephi 13:18 – The Lord would take away their idolatrous clothing.

2 Nephi 13:19 – More idolatrous clothing.

2 Nephi 13:20 – More idolatrous clothing.

2 Nephi 13:21 – More idolatrous clothing.

2 Nephi 13:22 – More idolatrous clothing.

2 Nephi 13:23 – More idolatrous clothing and expensive clothing.

2 Nephi 13:24 – In other ways they would make themselves ugly as well as smell.

2 Nephi 13:25 – They would lose wars.

2 Nephi 13:26 – “And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate, and shall sit upon the ground.” Gates won’t even be up.  The gates themselves are described as lamenting and mourning and being desolate.

Fortunately, in the next chapter things turn around for Zion.

2 Nephi 14 (Isaiah 4 KJV)

2 Nephi 14:1 – “And in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.” Women will have behaved so badly they will want to be married to look better, I guess.

2 Nephi 14:2 – “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the earth excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel.” Those that escape from Israel will have a favorable world.  “to” instead of “for” implies that the Lord is helping them, not them earning it.

2 Nephi 14:3 –Those that still survive in the environment of the last chapter look great.

2 Nephi 14:4 –Filthiness can be washed clean for a better judgment.  Blood that is contaminated by hurting other blood can be cooked away.  Burning inside of a person is healing.

2 Nephi 14:5 –The Lord would defend Zion with smoke by day and flaming fire by night.  Sounds like modern weapons.  “dwelling-place” is one word for some reason.

2 Nephi 14:6 – A tabernacle choir?  Probably not.  A temple will protect people from the harsh conditions of life that are just part of life, even if they are about people choosing bad.

2 Nephi 15 (Isaiah 5 KJV)

2 Nephi 15:1 – “a song,” “My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.”  Melody means splendor or more.  The Lord was splendid and splendidly pleased by the song.  There was a very fruitful planet to raise humanity.  (1 John 1:1-5).

2 Nephi 15:2 – “And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” – Humanity was limited or protected (fenced), but he planted the best vine.  He got wild grapes.

2 Nephi 15:3 – “judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.”  He wants to create a case to the reader that he did what he could and the people of Jerusalem and Judah chose badly.

2 Nephi 15:4 – This is stating that case.

2 Nephi 15:5 – “take away the hedge, “Break down the wall thereof,” So after it was laid to waste, he let others in.  The boundary was allowed to be devoured and the wall overrun.  (2 Nephi 15:26-30).

2 Nephi 15:6 – “And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.”  He stopped nourishing it.  Why?

2 Nephi 15:7 – “vineyard” “is the house of Israel,” “men of Judah” “pleasant plant;”
oppression” for “Judgment,” “a cry” for “righteousness”.  He wanted them to be like him but they would not.

2 Nephi 15:8 – “Wo unto them that join house to house, till there can be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!” – he may be appealing to overpopulation.  Israel had 3 related commandments about trees, water and air.  Note that, “field to field,” doesn’t apply.

2 Nephi 15:9 – “In mine ears, said the Lord of Hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant.” – This can lead to destruction.  “cities” is emphasized to show the extent.

2 Nephi 15:10 – “ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath,” It would be hard to stay clean from infectious diseases.  The second part of the verse seems to relate to food.

2 Nephi 15:11 – Then a warning against alcoholism.  The Lord is talking about things that people were missing to explain how he tried to help them.  Perhaps this is a future warning.

2 Nephi 15:12 – They are greatly prospered but consider not the Lord.  That goes back to riches in (2 Nephi 9:42).

2 Nephi 15:13 – “Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” Even though they celebrate in their feasts, because they disregard celebrating the true source of prosperity they do not prosper.

2 Nephi 15:14 – “Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” – those with such conditions have a place fit for them.

2 Nephi 15:15 – “And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.” – The righteous still will be saved from this somehow.

2 Nephi 15:16 – Righteousness of the Lord shall save the righteous yet with a plan of the Lord, the vineyard keeper.

2 Nephi 15:17 – The innocent shall eat from them.

2 Nephi 15:18 – “Wo” to those who have heavy loads of sin, iniquity including with vanity.

2 Nephi 15:19 – They want the Savior to come but don’t prepare.

2 Nephi 15:20 – They should seek to discern between good and evil so they can be like God!

2 Nephi 15:21 – They should not be proud intellectually!

2 Nephi 15:22 – The best people have responsibility so they especially should beware of things like alcohol, tobacco and drugs for instance.

2 Nephi 15:23 – Some wine references and some misguidedness.  Could not the misguidedness be like the wild grapes in the press?  It grew too much on itself.

2 Nephi 15:24 – Because they “cast away” and “despise” the law and word of the Holy One of Israel they don’t grow up right.  They acknowledge but don’t allow nourishment.  “root shall be rottenness” instead of “as rottenness,” is perhaps more poetic, but their behavior is rotten.

2 Nephi 15:25 – Even people ate each other, yet the Lord seeks all who might have Him.

2 Nephi 15:26 – He will have an “Ensign,” which will gather others together.  The verse separator is changed.

2 Nephi 15:27 – They won’t miss anything either.

2 Nephi 15:28 – This could be present transportation technology.  Another verse separation moved.

2 Nephi 15:29 – They will catch food.

2 Nephi 15:30 – They will see the “darkness” of Israel’s territory when they come to it.

2 Nephi 16 (Isaiah 6 KJV)

2 Nephi 16:1 – “In the year that king Uzziah died” “train” is like a pack of animals following.  If it filled the temple, perhaps qualities of God were manifest.

2 Nephi 16:2 – “Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”  “twain” means two.  Seraphim are the angels that created earth.  They had two wings on their face and two on their feet and two for flying.

2 Nephi 16:3 – “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”  The angels stated that the earth was in a glorious state because of the Lord.

2 Nephi 16:4 – “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”  Eruptions and smoke are manifestations of glory.

2 Nephi 16:5 – “for I am undone; because I am a man with unclean lips” Since speaking was the most important and hardest commandment to purify everything (if you control your tongue you are perfect).   (See James 3), Isaiah felt inadequate in the Lord’s presence.  “Wo is unto” – Wo is me makes no sense.  Wo is a warning.

2 Nephi 16:6 – “having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.” The angel grabbed something from off the sacrificial altar.  The altar was used to represent forgiveness of sin.

2 Nephi 16:7 – “thine iniquity is taken away; and thy sin purged.” Just as fire purifies, this object purified Isaiah, giving him superhuman speech in his writings.

2 Nephi 16:8 – “Here am I; send me” Jesus and Isaiah wanted to be sent on the Lord’s mission.

2 Nephi 16:9 – “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.”  Tell the people that through the glorious earth the message is administered but they did not comprehend it.  The past tense is to show that this was not changing perhaps.

2 Nephi 16:10 – Make it hard on the people to pay attention.  “be converted” – again, this is more powerful than convert because it implies inward acceptance.

2 Nephi 16:11 – Until grass for Jerusalem. (2 Nephi 8:12). “said” instead of “answer” there may have been more of the answer.

2 Nephi 16:12 – “And the Lord have removed men far away,” But some men will be moved far away like they are far from the Lord but still worthwhile.  “for” – the land will kick people out as the reason for men being scattered.

2 Nephi 16:13 – “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”  Those that return will not have their own qualities but need to have the “holy seed” as their substance.  “they” instead of “it” – they are people.

2 Nephi 17 (Isaiah 7 KJV)

This chapter has a lot of historical information that I had to look up and in 14 there are various claims about how well it predicts Jesus Christ’s coming.  Instead of commenting on other commentaries, I decided just to quote the links.  None of them contain ads.

First and second, I thought Wikipedia would be good to look at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_7:14

Third, an LDS Church member put out a good commentary here:

https://www.gospeldoctrine.com/old-testament/isaiah/isaiah-7

Last, I found a good commentary here:

https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Isaiah/Isaiah%20Chapter%207.html

2 Nephi 18 (Isaiah 8 KJV)

I face the same problem and will do the same thing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_8

https://www.gospeldoctrine.com/old-testament/isaiah/isaiah-8

https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Isaiah/Isaiah%20Chapter%208.html

2 Nephi 19 (Isaiah 9 KJV)

We’re going to have to do the same thing on some of these verses, but before I look it up, I will do the verses that I can know without.

2 Nephi 19:1 – N/A

2 Nephi 19:2 – Jesus Christ was a great illumination where there hadn’t been one.  His life was in great detail as guiding.  The light of Christ lets everyone know the truth no matter how far they’ve gone.  Those who couldn’t see or were dead meat can have it as well.

2 Nephi 19:3 – Hope was a great feasting item.

2 Nephi 19:4 – “For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden,” It also made their burden light emotionally or spiritually speaking.  “as in the days of Midian” I don’t know.

2 Nephi 19:5 – Hellfire would discourage humanity from not helping each other.

2 Nephi 19:6 – Probably the biggest “Jesus Christ” verse in Isaiah.  These previous descriptions in the last few verses match the titles.

2 Nephi 19:7 – “Of the increase of government and peace there is no end,” With Jesus as king, people would have both maximal leadership and good leadership, sometimes both together in seemingly such short supply among us.

2 Nephi 19:8 – The Jews have been put on notice here.

2 Nephi 19:9 – N/A

2 Nephi 19:10 – N/A

2 Nephi 19:11 – N/A

2 Nephi 19:12 – N/A

2 Nephi 19:13 – Turning the other cheek is an insult.  They would tolerate their attackers and not seek the master of war who has helped them so much already.  He would help them in a new and holier way.

2 Nephi 19:14 – “Therefore will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,” So the Lord would help them politically by taking away the head and tail.

2 Nephi 19:15 – “The ancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.” The ancient is the head.  They needed to follow a current prophet Jesus.  The lying prophet is the tail.  They needed to disobey misleading prophets in the time of Jesus.  The Lord would cut these off to help them see.  Many of them did see at times of Jesus’ life.

2 Nephi 19:16 – Follow-up generalizing the last examination.

2 Nephi 19:17 – Even the poor did bad and didn’t deserve help to be fair.  Yet we always get this “stretched out hand” remark to show that the Lord has tricks up his sleeve to help everyone.

2 Nephi 19:18 – Wickedness accumulates difficulty in doing right and surviving.

2 Nephi 19:19 – Because of the Lord’s wrath, he will allow it to happen for a reason.

2 Nephi 19:20 – He will do it really hard.

2 Nephi 19:21 – N/A

Hopefully in the next chapter we will see how the Lord’s hand is still stretched out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_9

https://www.gospeldoctrine.com/old-testament/isaiah/isaiah-9

https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Isaiah/Isaiah%20Chapter%209.html

I may have been off on some things, but the purpose of this book is to see an example of examining the Book of Mormon verse by verse.

2 Nephi 20 (Isaiah 10 KJV)

Again, we will try to give links for historical perspective, but without peeking explain what we can examine otherwise.

2 Nephi 20:1 – “Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;” – laws should benefit society and definitely not put burdens on people for no reason (or for greed).

2 Nephi 20:2 – Preservation of life to the destitute needs to be a part of government.

2 Nephi 20:3 – Isaiah is saying if they don’t protect the destitute, why should the Lord protect them?

2 Nephi 20:4 – “Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” Prisoners ruling over them and dead people killing them is a metaphor for how they will be without the Lord’s help.  Note that when it says His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still, it seems I was right about the stretched out hand always being mercy (“but his hand)”.  In the Noachide religion (Noah), the right hand is justice and the left is mercy.

2 Nephi 20:5 – N/A

2 Nephi 20:6 – “him against a hypocritical nation,” Concluding with an easy to understand note against hypocrisy.

2 Nephi 20:7 – After all, the Lord picks national winners all the time.

2 Nephi 20:8 – “Are not my princes altogether kings?” In the right nation, prosperity passes from king to prince for a long time.

2 Nephi 20:9 – I think he’s saying for each nation it is up to them.

2 Nephi 20:10 – Worshipping idols causes forgetfulness of the Lord’s help which can lead to not helping others.  (2 Nephi 20:1-2).

2 Nephi 20:11 – If Samaria and Jerusalem did it, shouldn’t they have the same treatment?  It is important to recognize God as has been a theme throughout our investigation of the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 20:12 – “Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”  Since it mentions Zion and Jerusalem, this would have to be America and Israel at the second coming.  Just like He would punish worldly nations then, those seeking punishment at the time of Isaiah’s writing deserve it now.

2 Nephi 20:13 – “like a valiant man;” The Lord is not sorry for what He does.

2 Nephi 20:14 – The Lord is in charge of helping everybody!

2 Nephi 20:15 – People should not take credit for it, which is why they need help.

2 Nephi 20:16 – The Lord has to punish some.  They have to have a choice.

2 Nephi 20:17 – “in one day;” This is easy for the Lord.

2 Nephi 20:18 – “And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.”  The first comment is saying that He would even admit a problem with Himself if someone rebels.  They shall be like He couldn’t support them because they have the right to choose.

2 Nephi 20:19 – “And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few,” There will be few left, but they get and deserve proper treatment.

2 Nephi 20:20 – The leftovers will come back to the Lord.

2 Nephi 20:21 – “even the remnant of Jacob,” This will include the House of Israel (literally).

2 Nephi 20:22 – “the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.” Even though few are left, their righteousness makes for greater total goodness, making the Lord wise for having done so.

2 Nephi 20:23 – Repeating that to do this He has to or wants to get rid of people.

2 Nephi 20:24 – Zion is encouraged to not fear Assyria as though they were Jews in Egypt.

2 Nephi 20:25 – The destruction would be swift to prevent suffering as well.  The Lord keeps telling us how good He is.

2 Nephi 20:26 – These are examples of the Lord’s positive intervention with Israel.

2 Nephi 20:27 – “And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” Because Christ is the anointed one, people will have hope when they are righteous.

2 Nephi 20:28 – 34 – I would have to refer to the links for these, but none of them reference these verses either!

2 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 11 KJV)

2 Nephi 21:1 – Jesse’s son was David and in Mathew 1 the line to Jesus was from Jesse.  A “branch [coming] out of [its] roots” suggests a long time like Jesus also.  Since we have seen other branches where the wood actually did something like Nephi crossing the ocean in a boat, we might suspect the same here.  Actually though, I think it’s just a metaphor for a long time away.

2 Nephi 21:2 – The Spirit of the Lord includes wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord.  That seems right and He seems to have them.  He gave wise and understanding counsel all the time.

2 Nephi 21:3 – Fear would motivate Him to see higher.  The “thou shalt not” commandments in the Torah are based on fear.

2 Nephi 21:4 – He would help those who needed it and be against those who tried to do harm.

2 Nephi 21:5 – Righteousness or obedience corresponds to the “Thou shalt” commandments.  So, if not disobeying causes sharp understanding without relying on senses and obeying makes Him powerful what does that say?  It says that He understood what people went through to atone for them and He kept himself powerful to do it too.  Faithfulness also was an example, like he uses reins with us so that we should be faithful too.

2 Nephi 21:6 – If the animals are not afraid of each other, this is decidedly peaceful.  Humans are not afraid of animals either in this case.  This will be a great cause of peace, being what we have just discussed.  Also, we can see from this chapter how Jesus fulfills the law.  See vs. 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and this.  Isn’t nobody, even animals, killing each other a great peace? Maybe even living forever will occur.

2 Nephi 21:7 – Animals would even eat plants instead of meat.  That’s possible with today’s technology, and these two verses here seem futuristic.

2 Nephi 21:8 – Here is more of this. Other violations of each other would not occur.

2 Nephi 21:9 – The Earth brings about animals; and I feel in some way it will be programmed towards peace, due to Jesus’s first coming’s example and the righteous leading the future around the second coming.

2 Nephi 21:10 – “and his rest shall be glorious.”  “shall the Gentiles seek;” Like in the creation, God would do more with Christ’ second coming, so He could take another great rest.  If God were some huge thing in outer space, He could take long times of activity and long times of rest just because of His greater size and they would be like being a human to Him.  The gentiles prepare first.

2 Nephi 21:11 – “the second time” – indeed this is the second coming.

2 Nephi 21:12 – “his people” The gentiles prepare first and then the Lord’s people next.

2 Nephi 21:13 – “Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.” The tribes of Israel would get along too with each other.  Vex and envy may be because Judah is smarter than Ephraim.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Jews) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latter_Day_Saints) Still, I’d bet on a Latter-day Saint to do something great!

2 Nephi 21:14 – There would be an alliance between them just like with Israel and the United States; and they would conquer, though it doesn’t say fatally.

2 Nephi 21:15 – As an analogy for everyone being free from hard labor or even labor.

2 Nephi 21:16 – “And there shall be a highway” The waters parted into a highway when they crossed.  This is for everyone now.  Jews have been enjoying light labor while Gentiles have been enjoying knowledge.

2 Nephi 22 (Isaiah 12 KJV)

2 Nephi 22:1 – We will know in the second coming that the Lord really loves us.

2 Nephi 22:2 – “I will trust, and not be afraid;” – Jesus’ condescension and atonement was about the “fear” commandments, motivating people not to misbehave.  (2 Nephi 21:3).  At this stage the fear is gone away, but the “trust” to do what’s right remains.

2 Nephi 22:3 – “Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Salvation will be so intimate it will even be like what you drink.

2 Nephi 22:4 – Like the choir, you will be so grateful to Him!

2 Nephi 22:5 – “Sing unto the Lord;” Singing has to do with harmony.  There will be harmony in your life that you can thank Him with.  You will want to celebrate.

2 Nephi 22:6 – “in the midst of thee.” He is right there in your life.  Thus, you have everything you need as people often do, like the Israelites in the wilderness.

2 Nephi 23 (Isaiah 13 KJV)

2 Nephi 23:1 – “THE burden of Babylon,” Babylon represents the world (the large and spacious building).

2 Nephi 23:2 – “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.” Zion should welcome people who want to make agreements to do right.

2 Nephi 23:3 – “I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones, for mine anger is not upon them that rejoice in my highness.” If they are glad that the Lord is high, they won’t try to be high themselves and will use this highness to their benefit, garnering pleasure from the Lord.  Isaiah change: The Lord is in charge of dishing out His anger.

2 Nephi 23:4 – “people, a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together, the Lord of Hosts mustereth the hosts of the battle.” They will combine from many nations.  (Note that Provo, UT and Salt Lake City, UT have a great diversity of language).  They will fight from there.

2 Nephi 23:5 – “to destroy the whole land” I assume this means the wicked who are elsewhere.  The Lord of Hosts is doing this (2 Nephi 23:9)

2 Nephi 23:6 – “Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” – The bad should be afraid of physical destruction, but also of guilt since the destruction comes from the Almighty.  I believe this is the first time we’ve used the term “Almighty.”  It is used in modern times when people are more powerful.

2 Nephi 23:7 – Everyone will feel weak in the presence of the Almighty.

2 Nephi 23:8 – Everyone will be afraid of each other, being humbled and feeling that their neighbor could potentially be like the Almighty as well.  Humans will have great technology.  Isaiah change: not in pain.

2 Nephi 23:9 – Again, it is more optimal at times to have a few very righteous people instead of many wicked.  It is like a few wealthy in the whole world, but with righteousness instead of wealth.

2 Nephi 23:10 – Heaven will not be visible, causing people to lose hope.

2 Nephi 23:11 – “And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay down the haughtiness of the terrible.” Evil cannot go into God’s kingdom.  Wicked people hurt each other.  People should not be vain or they can’t progress especially the very vain, or haughty, who are terrible to think about.

2 Nephi 23:12 – Precious metals are very valuable today, but already we value human life a great deal.  America/Utah has a pretty low suicide rate in my opinion; and among those that commit suicide, not being able to survive is low on the list.

2 Nephi 23:13 – “Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” – Even the elements will testify to it!  I guess that’s what it’s saying.  If God created the Universe, this can be believed.  If God organized the Universe, this is somewhat believable as well.

2 Nephi 23:14 – “And it shall be as the chased roe,” “and they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land” chased means pushed off and roe means splendor.  There will be great advances and people will go back to their own countries to work on them.

2 Nephi 23:15 – Weapons shall be used to decide who survives.

2 Nephi 23:16 – “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished.” Those who are proud or joined to the wicked (2 things that will be common since they can accomplish a lot in the future and wickedness starts out as convenient), shall lose their children, their houses and their wives.

2 Nephi 23:17 – “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver and gold, nor shall they delight in it.” I do not know what the Medes is.  Maybe it’s a river or the country of Media.  These people do not delight or regard silver and gold (perhaps it means idols).

2 Nephi 23:18 – These people would be pretty violent like 2 verses ago.

2 Nephi 23:19 – Babylon would be utterly destroyed in wickedness.

2 Nephi 23:20 – People will disregard it.

 2 Nephi 23:21 – Animals associated with being brutal, sad, and scary shall be the only ones interested.  Satyrs don’t exist.

2 Nephi 23:22 – These animals shall cry about it, but the merciful shall remain although the wicked perish.  Perish means to die unexpectedly or early. Added: “For I will destroy her speedily; yea, for I will be merciful unto my people, but the wicked shall perish.”  The Lord takes personal responsibility.

2 Nephi 24 (Isaiah 14 KJV)

2 Nephi 24:1 – “and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” We already know about the gathering of Israel in the last days.  It is predicted in Isaiah that Jews will dominate there.

2 Nephi 24:2 – “and they shall take them captives unto whom they were captives;” We have already been told that nations would carry them there on their shoulders and now that they would change from captive to ruler.  Isaiah change: Possessing the land wasn’t for the servants and handmaids but the Lord would be for them.

2 Nephi 24:3 – “the Lord shall give thee rest, from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.” It will be peaceful like in 2 Nephi 21:6-8, this time in terms of labor.

2 Nephi 24:4 – “thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!” Why did the world fighting Zion cease?  It says it is puzzling.  Isaiah change: Once not in bondage then you will ask why the burdens ceased.

2 Nephi 24:5 – “The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepters of the rulers.” The Lord did it.  Isaiah change: scepters.  Fits in plurality.

2 Nephi 24:6 – “He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.” Perhaps this is saying that true and sustaining conquering comes from moral might more than physical might.

2 Nephi 24:7 – “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.”  The quietness could be from the wicked getting wiped out, and then the singing from those who are delivered.

2 Nephi 24:8 – “Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebanon, saying: Since thou art laid down no feller is come up against us.”  Even the trees match with 2 Nephi 21:6-8.  That is something that hasn’t happened yet.

2 Nephi 24:9 – “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” Hell seeks people and uses the dead to pursue them.  Even kings are used.

2 Nephi 24:10 – “All they shall speak and say unto thee: Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?” These dead are weak and remark that those falling into hell are as bad as them.

2 Nephi 24:11 – “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave;” Those who think they are great will think they are nothing.

2 Nephi 24:12 – “How art thou fallen from heaven, O lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!”  Lucifer is the ultimate example, leading and then succumbing more than anyone else.  It should be noticed that in the LDS plan of salvation, Lucifer was very pro-human but the leader of the anti-Christian movement.

2 Nephi 24:13 – “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;” He sought the greatest station.

2 Nephi 24:14 – The same.

2 Nephi 24:15 – And He ended up with the worst.

2 Nephi 24:16 – He who sought pride would be disdained.

2 Nephi 24:17 – All His dominion on Earth was nothing.  Isaiah change: “And” more appropriate.

2 Nephi 24:18 – “All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them, lie in glory,” The kings are fine.

2 Nephi 24:19 – But he literally gets more than just shame.

2 Nephi 24:20 – “Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people;” He couldn’t even be buried with them because He did nothing for them.

2 Nephi 24:21 – His followers will not expand.

2 Nephi 24:21 – The Lord would cut them off from expanding.

2 Nephi 24:23 – “I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.” Those who dwelt there would have a bitter experience.  Those who got wiped out would have it done easily and swiftly.

2 Nephi 24:24 – “The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” The Lord understands this will be true.

2 Nephi 24:25 – The Assyrians would not be a problem.

2 Nephi 24:26 – “This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.”  So, if this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole Earth we had better understand.  The more someone helps to be wicked, the more problems he shall have, even Lucifer.

2 Nephi 24:27 – Does anyone honestly think they can stop the Lord?

2 Nephi 24:28 – “In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.” Burden is defined as, “the main theme or gist of a speech, book, or argument.”  Thus, some of this message came early in history.

2 Nephi 24:29 – A country is being threatened.

2 Nephi 24:30 – The poor and needy get protected while the militaristic get famine.

2 Nephi 24:31 – “and none shall be alone in his appointed times.” There will be a time for everyone to have to face somebody else.

2 Nephi 24:32 – People will hear that in Zion the poor are not in trouble.

2 Nephi 25

2 Nephi 25:1 – “Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews.” – The prophesying among the Jews is multi-purpose and has levels.  PaRDeS stands for base reading, looking for repeated themes, tying them together, and then really deep analysis that cannot even be done with the Book of Mormon because it would take the original language to go in depth with letter-by-letter (we can do words though).

2 Nephi 25:2 – “for their works were works of darkness, and their doings were doings of abominations.” – Interestingly, Hebrew can be read in shadows and look different.  Nephi didn’t want to give them a bad example.

2 Nephi 25:3 – “that they may know the judgments of God, that they come upon all nations, according to the word which he hath spoken.” – Isaiah prophesied about America, Israel, and everywhere.

2 Nephi 25:4 – Nephi is going to make it plain.

2 Nephi 25:5 – “Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah,” “there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews.”  This makes me glad that I have studied Judaism on my own for many years.  I am able to understand.

2 Nephi 25:6 – “I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God,” Perhaps partially since Laman and Lemuel wouldn’t observe the judgements of God, Nephi realized it was important to see that God reacts to your actions, not always obviously at first.

2 Nephi 25:7 – “I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness;” “in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.” Nephi is a prophet.  He can create more prophecy of his own.  We can recognize the things that have already happened.  (An example of something that hasn’t happened yet is animals that prey on one another lying down together).

2 Nephi 25:8 – “Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them.” Nephi can explain and support them to those who do not understand them, making more useful work in the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 25:9 – “even so have they been destroyed from generation to generation according to their iniquities; and never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord.” – The Jews have rejected prophets and had gross wickedness.

2 Nephi 25:10 – “and according to my prophecy they have been destroyed, save it be those which are carried away captive into Babylon.” Nephi prophesied those who stayed at Jerusalem when his family and Ishmael’s family left were destroyed or taken captive.  We know historically that this happened in 597 BC, making the 600 years until the coming of Christ interesting if anybody can figure that one out.

2 Nephi 25:11 – Isaiah has made clear to us that they will return. (Isaiah 15, 21)

2 Nephi 25:12 – Yet before that they would reject Christ.

2 Nephi 25:13 – “13 Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.” And here we have it; new prophecy.  3 days is when the Jews consider you dead.

2 Nephi 25:14 – So, Christ would start up His Church and destroy the unbelievers around them so it could grow.

2 Nephi 25:15 – But instead of destroying the Jews, Christ would scatter them so that they could eventually return to God.

2 Nephi 25:16 – “when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.”  Pure hearts and clean hands are interesting.  Chastity was at the head of Jewish law well before Christ, and chastity would give integrity to recognize Christ.

2 Nephi 25:17 – We have been taught already that the Book of Mormon, America and many nations would help to gather Israel.  The Gentiles would convince the Jews of the gospel.

2 Nephi 25:18 – They would ultimately have the information to fairly decide.

2 Nephi 25:19 – More prophesying.  600 years after the Jews pre-rejected Christ in Lehi’s time, he would be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  This means that He would be God as well as the Father is.

2 Nephi 25:20 – Jesus means “help of God” and Christ means “anointed one.”  Deliverance from Egypt, healing from snake bites and bringing water from the rock all were help of God and signs of the one God.  Hence Jesus Christ fulfills the law of Moses not just in commandment, but also in story; the story of His life.

2 Nephi 25:21 – Nephi passes down this record to show these things to people so that Joseph’s seed (Joseph saved everybody) would be preserved by righteousness.  This included having a pure heart and clean hands which Joseph did; he was cast into prison for it but from there he was able to become Pharaoh.

2 Nephi 25:22 – “Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall stand;” “and the nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words which are written.” – The Book of Mormon shall be useful as long as the Earth shall stand.  It would also cause judgement to pass as people see what to do.  This is another prophecy of Nephi.

2 Nephi 25:23 – Nephi knows about grace.  This has been explained already.  The Lord helps you.

2 Nephi 25:24 – They understand that the law would be fulfilled.  Jesus suffered for broken commandments without breaking them Himself and He was completely righteous; that is the perfect motivation.

2 Nephi 25:25 – They focus on Jesus Christ as the law instead of the law but obey it because Jesus hasn’t come yet.  The law has to be done, so they do it until Jesus makes it done for everybody.

2 Nephi 25:26 – “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” Since they weren’t perfect, they could be grateful for Jesus Christ to help them.  They depended on Him to amend their breach of contract with God.

2 Nephi 25:27 – “Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.” Speaking to descendants born after Christ, but also beforehand, so that they could think about what the law meant.

2 Nephi 25:28 – “ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.” Anyone who reads this chapter will know enough to make the right or wrong decisions.  Everyone can understand.  A pure heart and clean hands gets you to understand properly. They would understand like the Jews.  The Bible happened and leads to Jesus Christ who shall judge righteously.  They could make mistakes and still come to Him.

2 Nephi 25:29 – “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.” Therefore, people who have read this chapter must pray to Jesus Christ for His help and worship Him, since He is their only way.

2 Nephi 25:30 – “And, inasmuch as it shall be expedient, ye must keep the performances and ordinances of God until the law shall be fulfilled which was given unto Moses.”  The law was given for preparation.

2 Nephi 26

2 Nephi 26:1 – ‘and the words which he shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.” Christ will make it across the ocean to Lehi and Ishmael’s families.  The law shall be His words.  Since He is God, the word of God is not just scripture but actually His own words.

2 Nephi 26:2 – “there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.” Although the righteous are promised security and prosperity, many people would be bad and not have that.

2 Nephi 26:3 – Priestcraft is the worst thing you can do and still believe in Christ.  However, getting rid of the prophets and saints is slaughtering your own kind (not just them but all of you).  (2 Nephi 10:5)

2 Nephi 26:4 – “the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble.” Again, proud people don’t look to get better and wicked people contribute to making things worse.  We have to be trying to get upright with God.  They will appear as to what they did.

2 Nephi 26:5 – “And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains 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.”  They will feel shame for what they did after they die by how they die.  They will also feel that the Lord was fair to not let them last.

2 Nephi 26:6 – This seems to recapitulate the last two verses.

2 Nephi 26:7 – “O 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 just.” Nephi sees that his people are that way and must confess that the Lord does the right thing.  I wonder how much detail he has about how his own efforts have been.

2 Nephi 26:8 – “But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all persecution—behold, they are they which shall not perish.” – Those that do the opposite, hearken to prophets and look for their prophecies will be saved.  Note that they suffer persecution because of wickedness, but what difference does it make to them?

2 Nephi 26:9 – They would be righteous for 3-4 generations. (1 Nephi 12:12)

2 Nephi 26:10 – “for the reward of their pride and their foolishness they shall reap destruction;”  It might be hard to not be proud when you have been so righteous or not foolish with so much wealth; but nevertheless those are what would generate a slide when they were very righteous.

2 Nephi 26:11 – Here we learn that men need the spirit to avoid “speedy destruction.”  The spirit can be gleaned from the tree of life vision.

2 Nephi 26:12 – Everyone must learn the truth, “that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;” and be judged accordingly.

2 Nephi 26:13 – God is able to show this Himself.

2 Nephi 26:14 – A new prophecy is coming about our time.

2 Nephi 26:15 – Nephi and his brother’s seed would be attacked before “the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten.”

2 Nephi 26:16 – This is how they won’t be forgotten: They will speak “out of the dust.” In other words, the Book of Mormon will come forth and establish their existence and their message and what they knew.

2 Nephi 26:17 – They can’t have the Book of Mormon themselves in the mean time, for they would “seek to destroy the things of God.”

2 Nephi 26:18 – Their destruction shall be like their hope which was not.

2 Nephi 26:19 – “And it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled in unbelief shall be smitten by the hand of the Gentiles.” The gentiles would do it to them, all because of 2 Nephi 26:5 and 2 Nephi 26:10.

2 Nephi 26:20 – “And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.” The gentiles were misled by priestcraft concerning the Bible.  Pride was in their eyes, meaning they were blinded towards the greater.  They would not worship God with the misleading Bible, but sought their own wisdom and their own learning and riches and to, “grind upon the face of the poor,” or to make them feel terrible to put it nicely.  (2 Nephi 9:42)

2 Nephi 26:21 – “And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice.”  Things that lead to harming each other; wickedness; disguised.

2 Nephi 26:22 – “And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.”  A flaxen cord is a very light, breakable rope or strand of rope, but gradually they become stuck forever.  That is what you get for trying to get gain without following the Lord.

2 Nephi 26:23 – “For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness.”  The Lord doesn’t secretly do anything; He is open about what He wants.  Everyone has the light of Christ.

2 Nephi 26:24 – “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.” He loves the world and condescends to bring men up to Him.  Because He condescends below all men, and loves all men, all may be saved.

2 Nephi 26:25 – The Lord’s gift is free to everyone.  (and it makes sense).

2 Nephi 26:26 – Everyone may worship Him as well.

2 Nephi 26:27 – Salvation is a gift to all men; and all men may repent, although we understand from previous verses that some men reach the point in this life where they won’t.

2 Nephi 26:28 – “partake of his goodness?” All men can feel their way to the Tree of Life, but it must be difficult.  The iron rod is the word of God, scripture and then what Jesus Christ would say (revelation from the Holy Ghost included).

2 Nephi 26:29 – Priestcraft is the worst thing you can do and still qualify for Christ’s gifts, because you deliberately set yourself up in this case as an alternative to Jesus Christ; but nonetheless you believe in Him.  You are trying to get others not to however, so it is still wicked.  Yet you know what you are to do.

2 Nephi 26:30 – Charity is the only way to be worth something.  Charity is love.  Love is to help.  That’s what we’ve been going on about.  Zion should last and the laborer survive; and if Zion is full of charity all including the poor will be loved.

2 Nephi 26:31 – “But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” Here’s a new curve ball to the Book of Mormon.  Why not money?  Because then they are not relying on the Lord.  Because wealth inequality would lead the laborer in Zion to perish.

2 Nephi 26:32 – In Zion people must also keep the ten commandments and not have envy, strife or malice (tempt fate to cause wickedness).

2 Nephi 26:33 – Jesus does none of these bad things and encourages everyone.  He wants everyone to be good like Himself.

2 Nephi 27 (Isaiah 29 KJV)

2 Nephi 27:3-4 goes with Isaiah 29:8-9. 2 Nephi 27:15-18 goes with Isaiah 29:11. 2 Nephi 27:19 goes with Isaiah 29:12.  2 Nephi 27:25 – 35 goes with Isaiah 29:13-24.  The rest are different and even the verses that match differ a lot.  Verses 6 through 24 are powerful in their own right to be believed as scripture because of how well it explains why and how the Book of Mormon will come forth.

2 Nephi 27:1 – ‘all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations”  Drunkenness is blindness and causes lack in capacity.  The ones leading the people would be making it hard on them.

2 Nephi 27:2 – The devastating events in 3^rd Nephi would happen again before the second coming!  They already are, some of them.

2 Nephi 27:3 – Fighting Zion gives no material substance.  They will find themselves lacking.  Isaiah 29:8 is similar.

2 Nephi 27:4 – This is a poetic way of describing people who won’t seek help.  People will feel weak and they are acting weak.  The Isaiah verse is similar.

2 Nephi 27:5 – “and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquity.” They won’t see great teachers because they aren’t ready for them.

2 Nephi 27:6 – “And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.” The Book of Mormon is ready to help them out of these modern stumbling blocks.  The words are like “them which have slumbered” because it is like ancient people time-travelling to the future to warn us.

2 Nephi 27:7 – “And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.” Although the book would be sealed, it would contain the World’s history.

2 Nephi 27:8 – “Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them.” Powerful help is for those who are doing good.  Light help is for those who are really down the wrong road so that they can handle it.

2 Nephi 27:9 – Perhaps Moroni “slumbered in the dust” and Joseph Smith was the recipient.

2 Nephi 27:10 – The world’s history is not to be had.  Let us think about why that is?  The world’s history would be failure if it were presented.  The world’s history would be success if it was hidden. It has to do with how well we know what’s going on and we don’t know everything.

2 Nephi 27:11 – However, eventually the word would be presented and we’d succeed.  For a while, technological information was read “upon the housetops” and light waves still are.  That is motivation to get there if we are not already there; and if we are there, we can look forward to succeeding through difficult times, which should bring us great joy.

2 Nephi 27:12 – The Book of Mormon had 3 witnesses before it came out.

2 Nephi 27:13 – When it came forth in English the words would be “as if it were from the dead.”  In other words, it would say things that could not have been known when it came out.

2 Nephi 27:14 – The word of God would be self-evident to all those who would try.

2 Nephi 27:15 – So the word would be tested scientifically.

2 Nephi 27:16 – Yet the scientist would be a Satanist.

2 Nephi 27:17 – So it would be withheld.

2 Nephi 27:18 – And then it would fail the science test.  Verses 15-18 go with Isaiah 29:11

2 Nephi 27:19 –The unlearned wouldn’t be able to prove anything.

2 Nephi 27:20 – “read the words” Joseph Smith would then dictate the book for the world to judge.

2 Nephi 27:21 – “Touch not the things which are sealed,” Yet not the sealed portion, containing the World’s full history.  However, we are gathering lots of it.

2 Nephi 27:22 – So the Book of Mormon would come forth and the sealed part would be protected.

2 Nephi 27:23 – The Book of Mormon, like other things of God, would be a miracle forever from the past to the future.

2 Nephi 27:24 – “And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him:” The Lord would say to Joseph Smith:

2 Nephi 27:25 – “Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men” In the words of, “La la Land,” in Hollywood people worship everything and value nothing.  They talk of good but don’t care about it.  They fear what other men have taught them.  13 agrees.

2 Nephi 27:26 – “for the wisdom of their wise and learned shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.”  Smart people will be humbled by the simplicity of the Book of Mormon and what it reveals about God and the Universe.  14 agrees.

2 Nephi 27:27 – People will doubt whether the Lord observes them.  15 and 16 agree.

2 Nephi 27:28 – The future at this point grows exponentially.  Isaiah asks, Nephi declares.

2 Nephi 27:29 – We will cure things and the book will help as well.  Also, blind and deaf could be spiritual as well.  Isaiah agrees.

2 Nephi 27:30 – “And the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” The meek shall be the ones helped.  The Lord can make someone wiser than the world can.  The poor also get help that the world cannot give through money.

2 Nephi 27:31 – Those looking for others to sin will be cut off because that is not how the Lord sees people.  Isaiah agrees.

2 Nephi 27:32 – Also, these people could set traps for them like Satan does.  Isaiah agrees.

2 Nephi 27:33 – Since the Lord is always the same, He can handle helping people in modernity.  Isaiah agrees.

2 Nephi 27:34 – Jacob would see his posterity acting righteously.  Isaiah agrees.

2 Nephi 27:35 – Those that had emotional problems with the Lord would be chastened by His good word.

 What can be established from Isaiah?

The World would be staggering.  There would be a book.  They couldn’t establish it scientifically.  Because the people drew near with their mouths and not their hearts, and feared each other’s words instead of the Lord’s, the Lord would do a great and marvelous work.  It would humble the learned.  It would expose the secretive conspirator. It would accelerate the world.  The meek shall be the ones helped.  The Lord can make someone wiser than the world can.  The poor also get help that the world cannot give through money.  Those that look to judge people as bad or even hurt them for it would be against the Lord’s purposes.  The Lord would always be able to help.  Jacob would see his seed acting righteously and the emotionally downtrodden would be rescued.

All this should be found in scripture and observation of the world!

2 Nephi 28

2 Nephi 28:1 – The Spirit is what confirms truth to begin with.

2 Nephi 28:2 – “And the things which shall be written out of the book shall be of great worth unto the children of men, and especially unto our seed, which is a remnant of the house of Israel.” The Book of Mormon will be of great worth.  Many Lamanites on the American continent have benefited.

2 Nephi 28:3 – Many churches will claim truth when it is mutually exclusive.  That means they are not set up to the Lord, and we have discussed the pitfalls of priestcraft and having people not believe.

2 Nephi 28:4 – “and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.” It even says priests here.  They will even not seek understanding, denying the Holy Ghost.

2 Nephi 28:5 – By denying God exists today, they really deny that He ever existed.

2 Nephi 28:6 – The same.

2 Nephi 28:7 – Many shall want to party.

2 Nephi 28:8 – They will say Hell is worth that and taking advantage of others a little, ignoring that they don’t need to.

2 Nephi 28:9 – “Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.” – these people would be harmful.  We have discussed all of these concepts.  See the large and spacious building, and 2 Nephi 27:26-27.

2 Nephi 28:10 – Saints will even die because of them!

2 Nephi 28:11 – “Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.” They have become corrupted.  That means, “cause to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.”  Dishonesty is a form of wickedness and money is a way to differentiate between people.

2 Nephi 28:12 – “and false doctrine,” They would lie to the point of constructing false belief systems.

2 Nephi 28:13 – “They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.”  I have heard that LDS temples are nothing compared to Catholic cathedrals. Also, the LDS Church has given $2 billion to charity.

2 Nephi 28:14 – “They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.” These are precepts of men: You don’t need to change.  You can hold your head above the clouds.  You don’t have to improve.  If you hurt someone else you are not hurting yourself.  You can be detestable.  You can prostitute yourself.  You can listen to a man-made gospel.

2 Nephi 28:15 – “for they shall be thrust down to hell!” Those people could go to hell if they are not careful.

2 Nephi 28:16 – Those who don’t care about what’s right can die too soon.  You have to care about what’s right to be able to make progress.

2 Nephi 28:17 – “But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations they shall not be destroyed, saith the Lord of Hosts.” If they repent, it shows that they care, unlike the last verse.

2 Nephi 28:18 – We have covered why the great and abominable church must fall; it feeds off of destruction.

2 Nephi 28:19 – “For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance,” The Lord has control over hell remotely; He can make it scary so people will repent.

2 Nephi 28:20 – The devil stirs people up to anger against good.  Violent protesters in streets sometimes are selfish.  People don’t want to bridle their passions.  People think that although they’ve sinned it doesn’t lead to lack of integrity.

2 Nephi 28:21 – “all is well” By telling them nothing’s wrong and all is well, they don’t need to improve.

2 Nephi 28:22 – He denies Himself to others. Then they think sin is not sin.

2 Nephi 28:23 – “endless torment” By these tricks, people go into “endless torment.”

2 Nephi 28:24 – “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!” These three things are about being at ease.  Therefore, it is important to be careful.

2 Nephi 28:25 – 2 Nephi 28:21 is like the pride in the large and spacious building.

2 Nephi 28:26 – Men’s philosophies are subject to the sinful problems of men; and the Holy Ghost is what gives any real understanding.

2 Nephi 28:27 – “Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!” Again, pride.  Pride blocks men from seeking more.

2 Nephi 28:28 – Those that are afraid of God are not going to be upright with Him.

2 Nephi 28:29 – “Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!”  Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”  God is unchanging, so why would prophets go away?  Why cannot the word of God come from other places?

2 Nephi 28:30 – The Lord teaches everyone gradually.

2 Nephi 28:31 – However, those that rely on man for teaching when that man wasn’t taught by the Spirit face the doctrine being tampered with.

2 Nephi 28:32 – “I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.” Despite mercy, gentiles will disobey, but they can repent.

2 Nephi 29

2 Nephi 29:1 – “at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;” The Book of Mormon message would spread and that would be a spiritual part of recovering Israel.

2 Nephi 29:2 – It would bless people through Nephi’s seed.

2 Nephi 29:3 – People would note that the Bible says not to add or subtract.

2 Nephi 29:4 – Yet they rejected the Jews when the Jews brought them the Bible.

2 Nephi 29:5 – “O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.” For not seeking to recover the Jews, the Gentiles would get justice.

2 Nephi 29:6 – “Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?” If the Jews produced the Bible, why shouldn’t other groups be able to help the Gentiles?

2 Nephi 29:7 – The Lord contacts everybody.  Salvation is from generation to generation and among all people.

2 Nephi 29:8 – “Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?”  They may not like more word, perhaps because the Bible allows them to be complacent; but it clearly says in the Bible that by the mouth of two or more witnesses shall the Lord’s word be established.

2 Nephi 29:9 – Everyone has the word of God to prove God’s existence.

2 Nephi 29:10 – We can always have more written.

2 Nephi 29:11 – All the books, whether scriptural or everything, will help to judge the world.

2 Nephi 29:12 – There are at least 12 books; one for each tribe of Israel, spread across the world in learning at least.

2 Nephi 29:13 – “For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.” Eventually, they’d all get each other’s words.

2 Nephi 29:14 – The words would all be used together to fight on the Lords side.

2 Nephi 30

Some of this is in 2 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 11 KJV), but it is out of order and different enough that we should just do another chapter.

2 Nephi 30:1 – “except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish;” – God’s goal is to get people to obey the commandments so that they can be Heavenly.  The first role of Heaven is obedience.

2 Nephi 30:2 – “and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off;” – The Jews must approach the same goalpost.

2 Nephi 30:3 – “For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed.” – The American Indians would have the word to be judged by because they were obedient when taught correct principles.

2 Nephi 30:4 –Thus they should seek out the covenants and blessings.

2 Nephi 30:5 – “And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.” – This will enable them to have the Old Testament and New Testament in a pure form.

2 Nephi 30:6 – “and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.”  They would be morally clean and pleasing to the Lord.  We know from 2 Nephi 25:28 that purity allows them to actually prosper; and they would be very desirable in the eyes of everyone.

2 Nephi 30:7 – “And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.” Belief in Christ would also make you desirable in the eyes of everyone because of your love for your fellow man.

2 Nephi 30:8 – “the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth.” Everywhere will be provided a chance to join the cause.

2 Nephi 30:9 – “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” The poor and the submissive need not fear because they can trust in the Lord.  The Lord could punish the powerful and have things said that would remove wickedness.

2 Nephi 30:10 – The rapture is an example of this.  The Lord can discriminate.  2 Nephi 6:15.

2 Nephi 30:11 – “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” Righteousness is his only defense and faithfulness to what sounds true his only reason for behavior.

2 Nephi 30:12 – A great peace (2 Nephi 21:6).

2 Nephi 30:13 – Plant based meat.

2 Nephi 30:14 – The great peace includes safety from violations.

2 Nephi 30:15 – Intelligence will be abundant in nature.

2 Nephi 30:16 – Thus everyone will have everything known to make their decisions.  Is that going to be good?

2 Nephi 30:17 – Well, nothing will be in darkness.  What does that cause?

2 Nephi 30:18 – “Wherefore, all things which have been revealed unto the children of men shall that day be revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men no more, for a long time. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings.” It causes peace, prosperity and non-destruction.  Everyone will want to do the right thing when Jesus Christ comes the second time.  But like in 3 Nephi of the Book of Mormon, the verse says “for a time.”

2 Nephi 31

2 Nephi 31:1 – There is plenty of knowledge to be found elsewhere.

2 Nephi 31:2 – “Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me, save it be a few words which I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ; wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying.”  Jesus Christ’s atonement is the center of the Book of Mormon and the LDS religion.  See the tree of life vision and many more sections throughout this commentary/examination.

2 Nephi 31:3 – When you know you understand something, you don’t have to worry about being responsible for it when you don’t know if you understand it or not.

2 Nephi 31:4 – “Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.” This will be the subject or segue.

2 Nephi 31:5 – “And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!” We had better follow His example as well as His word, for He is the life and the light.  Why His example?  Because He would be perfect.  If we weren’t supposed to follow His example He could have said so.

2 Nephi 31:6 – This baptism fulfilled all righteousness including the law of Moses.  Why?

2 Nephi 31:7 – “Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.” It was a witness that He would keep the commandments.  We’ve talked about how obedience is the important thing.

2 Nephi 31:8 – “Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove.”  Water baptism is important to all who know they need it (which will eventually be everyone) (2 Nephi 25:22) (2 Nephi 29:7).  In the mean time however, baptism by fire is available to all with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  This is in 3 Nephi 9:20.

2 Nephi 31:9 – “And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.” It has to be deserved but how precious is it to have an example!

2 Nephi 31:10 – “And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?”  If we follow His example, and He kept the commandments, we must also although we would be vulnerable to needing to repent.

2 Nephi 31:11 – “And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.”  That is what I just said about repentance.

2 Nephi 31:12 – “And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.” Why does baptism give you a broken heart and a contrite spirit?  Perhaps because you can’t do it yourself.

2 Nephi 31:13 – “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.”  We need to follow the Son because the love of God is the fruit of the tree of life.  We need full purpose of heart without hypocrisy or deception because we can’t make it on our own.  That is why we need to repent which leads to baptism.  Once baptism by water and fire and the Holy Ghost occurs, the Holy Ghost gives understanding so we can speak like an angel which is what we would want: to help others.

2 Nephi 31:14 – Yet when we excel, we have greater punishment for rebelling because our righteous actions were synergistically keeping us in the right way together.

2 Nephi 31:15 – “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Because of the last verse, we must always continue to try to be better to get salvation.

2 Nephi 31:16 – Nephi understood what God said as I believe I have explained that I understand it.

2 Nephi 31:17 – Then we should do it; it being what is mentioned in this chapter.

2 Nephi 31:18 – Then we will be doing right.

2 Nephi 31:19 – You will still depend on the Savior no matter how high you can get on your own.

2 Nephi 31:20 – “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” Then you must always try to do better.  Pressing forward implies that you have hope.  Hope is necessary to not get discouraged.  You must also feast upon the words of Christ since that is the iron rod.  Then you get eternal life!

2 Nephi 31:21 – This is the only complete motivational doctrine, even if the Book of Mormon has more to cover about it.  Some of that coverage will be explaining these things in more detail.

2 Nephi 32

2 Nephi 32:1 – “And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way.” The straight and narrow path is the way to go.  What do you do and what can you do then?

2 Nephi 32:2 – “Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?”  It was mentioned in 2 Nephi 31:13 that one thing you could do would be to preach like an angel.

2 Nephi 32:3 – “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.”  Feasting upon the words of Christ is a good choice of words; it means loving Him, obeying His commandments, following His example, taking upon us His name, remembering Him, emulating Him, listening to all He said, and trying to get what He was about among other things.

2 Nephi 32:4 – “Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.” You must seek light before these things and you know it is there.

2 Nephi 32:5 – By seeking it, you will find all things to do.  The simplest verse in the Book of Mormon so far.

2 Nephi 32:6 – When Christ appears and speaks more, that would be what’s more to do.  Words are roughly the same in writing and vocally; there is an oral Torah and a written Torah.

2 Nephi 32:7 – Nephi can’t say more and laments men’s bad decision when it is so clear.

2 Nephi 32:8 – “And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.” Since it is an individual affair, people can pray about this on their own.

2 Nephi 32:9 – “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” Commit to following the Lord in your endeavors for them to go better.

2 Nephi 33

2 Nephi 33:1 – Perhaps this means that when you speak people can tell what you’re thinking.

2 Nephi 33:2 – “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.” Many people do not recognize the Holy Ghost’s power anyway.

2 Nephi 33:3 – “I esteem it as of great worth,” “and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them;” He loves his family and wants to help them.

2 Nephi 33:4 – Nephi knows that his sincere feelings will translate into the Lord helping him.

2 Nephi 33:5 – “And it speaketh harshly 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.” Those who want to do right should not get offended.

2 Nephi 33:6 – “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.” Simplicity helps; truth helps; Jesus helps.

2 Nephi 33:7 – “I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat.” If you are righteous you must have charity, the pure love of Christ, for other people.  (2 Nephi 26:30)

2 Nephi 33:8 – “I have charity for the Jew—I say Jew, because I mean them from whence I came.” He has charity for his own people; that’s pretty natural.

2 Nephi 33:9 – “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 strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.” People must still do the right thing.

2 Nephi 33:10 – “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.” Jesus Christ, like these words about him, like these words in the Bible, makes sense.

2 Nephi 33:11 – “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.” If you try to deny it you will have to confess.

2 Nephi 33:12 – Therefore people have reason to choose correctly although of course it is difficult. (2 Nephi 33:9)

2 Nephi 33:13 – “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.” His voice would be recognized as authoritative because there would be things that we didn’t know in Joseph Smith’s time. He is happy with the situation and wants to spread that.

2 Nephi 33:14 – “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.” All these words contribute, but if you do not feast upon them (2 Nephi 32:3) you are not trying to have God help you.

2 Nephi 33:15 – “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.” Nephi seals all his words after he has made them.

Links: 2 Nephi 1:2 to 1 Nephi 18:18 and 1 Nephi 5:10

2 Nephi 1:11 to 1 Nephi 21:26

2 Nephi 1:15 to 2 Nephi 1:13

2 Nephi 1:17 to 1 Nephi 22:14

2 Nephi 1:21 to 1 Nephi 22:14 and 2 Nephi 1:9

2 Nephi 1:23 to 1 Nephi 22:12

2 Nephi 2:3 to 1 Nephi 13:15 and John 3:16 and John 14:15

2 Nephi 2:7 to 1 Nephi 11:21

2 Nephi 2:10 to 2 Nephi 2:7

2 Nephi 2:13 to 1 Nephi 1:1

2 Nephi 2:17 to Isaiah 14:12-17

2 Nephi 2:21 to 1 Nephi 17:15

2 Nephi 2:26 to 2 Nephi 2:16 

2 Nephi 2:27 to 2 Nephi 2:5

2 Nephi 2:28 to 2 Nephi 1:13

2 Nephi 3:2 – to 2 Nephi 1:32

2 Nephi 3:3 to 2 Nephi 1:9

2 Nephi 3:5 to 1 Nephi 21:22

2 Nephi 3:7 to 1 Nephi 14:1-2

2 Nephi 3:12 to 1 Nephi 8:11

2 Nephi 3:16 to 1 Nephi 14:22

2 Nephi 3:23 to 2 Nephi 3:19

2 Nephi 3:23 to 2 Nephi 3:19

2 Nephi 4:21 to 1 Nephi 17:48

2 Nephi 4:22 to 1 Nephi 17:54

2 Nephi 4:26 to 2 Nephi 4:22

2 Nephi 4:28 to 2 Nephi 1:13

2 Nephi 5:11 to 2 Nephi 1:31-32

2 Nephi 5:18 to 2 Nephi 5:10

2 Nephi 6:6 to 1 Nephi 22:6

2 Nephi 6:10 to 1 Nephi 2:11

2 Nephi 6:13 to 1 Nephi 22:14

2 Nephi 7:7 to 1 Nephi 8:24

2 Nephi 7:8 to 2 Nephi 6:2

2 Nephi 7:11 to 2 Nephi 7:2

2 Nephi 8:4 to 2 Nephi 1:27, 5:3

2 Nephi 8:8 to 2 Nephi 8:6

2 Nephi 9:4 to 2 Nephi 2:29

2 Nephi 10:17 to 2 Nephi 8:8

2 Nephi 10:18 to 1 Nephi 22:9

2 Nephi 10:21 to 1 Nephi 1:19 and the next chapter

2 Nephi 10:22 see also Ether

2 Nephi 10:24 to 1 Nephi 22:1 and 22:3

2 Nephi 11:3 to 2 Nephi 8:11

2 Nephi 11:6 to 2 Nephi 8:12

2 Nephi 12:1 to 2 Nephi 11:8

2 Nephi 12:3 to 2 Nephi 10:13

2 Nephi 15 to 1 John 1:1-5

2 Nephi 15:5 to 2 Nephi 15:26-30

2 Nephi 15:12 to 2 Nephi 9:42

2 Nephi 26:9 to 1 Nephi 12:12

2 Nephi 30:12 to 2 Nephi 21:6

2 Nephi 31:8 to 2 Nephi 25:22 and 2 Nephi 29:7 and 3 Nephi 9:20.

2 Nephi 32:2 to 2 Nephi 31:13

2 Nephi 33:7 to 2 Nephi 26:30

2 Nephi 33:14 to 2 Nephi 32:3

What should I do?

Earn it.

Be Obedient.

Be righteous.

You must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Observe why the Lord seems to be judging you.

Unite, particularly around Christ or good.

Use strategy.

Rely on God.

Repent of sin.

Live in an austere fashion.

Work hard and do not complain.

Choose liberty.

Be solid in prayer.

Want salvation.

Shake at the appearance of sin.

Walk in lowliness and the plain road.

Trust in the arm of the Lord and the word of God.

Cry unto God.

Build a temple.

Work hard and with your hands.

Keep covenants.

Be not afraid.

Be happy.

Have enjoyment, righteousness and be clothed with purity, even a robe of righteousness.

Be wise, learned, or rich in God’s learning.

Have hope against priestcraft.

Believe.

Have liberty.

Have no king.

Have gratitude. 

Let go of sins gladly.

Look forward.

Come to Zion when it exists.

Have spiritual guidance.

Sing songs.

Consider the Lord in prosperity.

Keep your worship centered around the Messiah.

Prepare for the second coming.

Seek to discern between good and evil.

Have hope.

Have Jesus to be your king.

Disobey misleading prophets.

Laws should benefit society.

Preservation of life to the destitute needs to be a part of government.

Seek the Lord’s help.

The Spirit of the Lord includes wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord.

Zion should welcome people who want to make agreements to do right.

If you are glad that the Lord is high, you won’t try to be high yourself and will use this highness to your benefit, garnering pleasure from the Lord. 

True and sustaining conquering comes from moral might more than physical might.

Have pure hearts and clean hands.

Be grateful for Jesus to help you.

Pray to Jesus Christ for help and worship Him.

In Zion, people must keep the ten commandments.

Seek help.

Powerful help is for those who are doing good. 

Don’t worship everything and value nothing.  Don’t talk of good but not care about it. 

The meek shall be the ones helped. 

The Lord can make someone wiser than the world can. 

The poor also get help that the world cannot give through money.

Care.

The poor and the submissive need not fear because they can trust in the Lord.

There is knowledge to be found elsewhere.

Repent.

Have baptism by water.

Have baptism by fire.

Feasting upon the words of Christ is a good choice of words; it means loving Him, obeying His commandments, following His example, taking upon us His name, remembering Him, emulating Him, listening to all He said, and trying to get what He was about among other things.

Seek light to know what to do.

Have charity.

What shouldn’t I do?

Be wicked.

Sin.

Harden your heart.

Break the rules.

Choose captivity.

Trust in the arm of flesh.

Be lazy.

Be mischievous and subtle.

Be stiffnecked.

Light your own path.

Have guilt, uncleanness or nakedness.

Lie.

Murder.

Commit whoredoms.

Worship idols.

Die in your sins.

Be wise, learned, rich and puffed up because of personal learning without God.

Have priestcraft.

Hearken to soothsayers.

Please oneself in the children of strangers.

Health, responsibility, riches, trading, ability can lead to bad things, for instance how you trade.

Don’t have children be proud against the ancient.

Don’t have the base be proud against the honorobale.

Don’t not seek wisdom from the wise.

Avoid alcoholism.

Be vain.

Laws should definitely not put burdens on people for no reason.

Law should definitely not put burdens on people for greed.

In the end those who are proud or joined to the wicked shall lose their children, their houses and their wives.

Those who think they are great will think they are nothing.

Grind upon the face of the poor.

In Zion, people must not have envy, strife or malice (tempt fate to cause wickedness).

Look for others to sin.

Set traps.

Don’t say hell is worth partying or taking advantage of others.

These are precepts of men to not do: You don’t need to change.  You can hold your head above the clouds.  You don’t have to improve.  If you hurt someone else you are not hurting yourself.  You can be detestable.  You can prostitute yourself.  You can listen to a man-made gospel.

Don’t care.

The Lord could punish the powerful and have things said that would remove wickedness.

Those who want to do right should not get offended.

THE END