~559–545 BC

2 Nephi 28

1

And now, behold, my brethren, I have spoken unto you, according as the spirit hath constrained me; wherefore, I know that they must surely come to pass.

2

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 are a remnant of the House of Israel.

3

For it shall come to pass in that day, that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other, Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the other shall say, I, I am the Lord’s. And thus shall every one say, that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord;

4

and they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another; and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.

5

And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people, Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept: for behold, there is no God to-day, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men.

6

Behold, hearken ye unto my precept: if they shall say there is a miracle wrought, by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles: he hath done his work.

7

Yea, and there shall be many which shall say, eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

8

And there shall also be many which shall say, eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God, he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this. And do all these things, for to-mrrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the Kingdom of God.

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;

10

and the blood of the Saints shall cry from the ground against them.

11

Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.

12

Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted; and their churches are lifted up; because of pride, they are puffed up.

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.

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, which 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.

15

O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all they that preach false doctrines, and all they that commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord; wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell.

16

Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of nought and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth: for the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity, they shall perish.

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.

18

But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth; and great must be the fall thereof:

19

for the kingdom of the Devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the Devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger and perish:

20

for behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good;

21

and others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say, All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well; and thus the Devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

22

And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them, I am no Devil, for there is none: and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

23

Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the Devil, and all that have been seized therewith, must stand before the Throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

24

Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion.

25

Wo be unto him that crieth, All is well;

26

yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

27

Yea, wo be unto him that saith, We have received, and we need no more.

28

And in fine, wo unto all they that tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God. For behold, he that is built upon the rock, receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation, trembleth, lest he shall fall.

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.

30

For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are they that hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom: for unto him that receiveth, I will give more; and them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.—

31

Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

32

Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts: fo notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, 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.

Influences

  • 28:6 — Luke 20:38 (KJV)
    For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
  • 28:7 — 1 Corinthians 15:32 (KJV)
    If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
  • 28:7 — Luke 12:19 (KJV)
    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
  • 28:8 — Romans 3:8 (KJV)
    And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
  • 28:8 — 1 Corinthians 15:32 (KJV)
    If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
  • 28:8 — Luke 12:48 (KJV)
    But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
  • 28:8 — Mark 14:25 (KJV)
    Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
  • 28:11 — Romans 3:12 (KJV)
    They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
  • 28:15 — Luke 10:15 (KJV)
    And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
  • 28:16 — Daniel 4:35 (KJV)
    And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
  • 28:16 — Revelation 14:18 (KJV)
    And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
  • 28:18 — Matthew 7:27 (KJV)
    And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
  • 28:19 — Jude 1:6 (KJV)
    And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
  • 28:21 — Westminster Confession chapter 33:3
    so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.
  • 28:22 — Proverbs 5:22 (KJV)
    His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
  • 28:23 — Revelation 20:13 (KJV)
    And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
  • 28:23 — Revelation 7:15 (KJV)
    Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
  • 28:23 — Revelation 20:10 (KJV)
    And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
  • 28:24 — Amos 6:1 (KJV)
    Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
  • 28:26 — Acts 2:38 (KJV)
    Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
  • 28:28 — Matthew 7:24 (KJV)
    Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
  • 28:28 — Matthew 7:26 (KJV)
    And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
  • 28:29 — Revelation 1:2 (KJV)
    Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
  • 28:30 — Luke 12:38 (KJV)
    And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
  • 28:30 — Matthew 25:29 (KJV)
    For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
  • 28:31 — Mark 7:7 (KJV)
    Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.