And it came to pass that Jared, and his brother, and their families, and also the friends of Jared and his brother, and their families, went down into the valley which was northward, (and the name of the valley was Nimrod, being called after the mighty hunter,) with their flocks which they had gathered together, male and female, of every kind.
And they did also lay snares and catch fowls of the air; and they did also prepare a vessel, in the which they did carry with them the fish of the waters;
and they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.
And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod, the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a clowd, and the brother of Jared saw him not.
And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.—
And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in the which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord.
And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people;
and he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.
And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity:
for behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God, or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decrees of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.
And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God, that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness be come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you, as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done.
Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under Heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, which is Jesus Christ, which hath been manifested by the things which we have written.
And now I proceed with my record: for behold it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to that great sea which divideth the lands. And as they came to the sea, they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place Moriancumer; and they dwelt in tents; and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years.
And it came to pass at the end of the four years, that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.
And the brother of Jared repented him of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren which were with him. And the Lord said unto him, I will forgive thee and thy brethern of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe, ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And this is my thoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land choice above all other lands.
And the Lord said, Go to work and build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges after the maner which they had built, according to the instructions of the Lord. And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water;
and they were built after a manner that they were exceeding tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.
And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light, whither shall we steer.—And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.
And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top thereof, and also in the bottom thereof; and when thou shalt suffer for air, thou shalt unstop the hole thereof, and receive air. And if it so be that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole thereof, that ye may not perish in the flood.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded.
And he cried again unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold, there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?
And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire:
for behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea: for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
And behold, I prepare you against these things: for howbeit, ye cannot cross this great deep, save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come.—Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you, that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?
Influences
- 2:3 — Acts 9:36 (KJV)Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
- 2:7 — Mark 11:16 (KJV)And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
- 2:7 — Hebrews 11:9 (KJV)By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
- 2:9 — Galatians 4:4 (KJV)But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
- 2:9 — 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
- 2:11 — Acts 17:7 (KJV)Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
- 2:11 — Revelation 16:1 (KJV)And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
- 2:12 — 1 Corinthians 3:11 (KJV)For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- 2:13 — Acts 19:8 (KJV)And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
- 2:15 — Luke 1:77 (KJV)To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
- 2:25 — 1 Corinthians 15:54 (KJV)So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Notes
- 2:17
Ether 2:17 is a good example of the circular repetition that pervades the Book of Mormon.
"and they were built after a manner that they were exceeding tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.
As mentioned above, this repetitive writing style is found to be consistent across each author of the Book of Mormon.
Mormon critic M.T. Lamb made the rather axiomatic comment, "The prevailing style of the Book of Mormon is so verbose, so full of inelegant and uncalled-for repetitions, that any ordinary writer can greatly excel it-often reducing its wordy sentences to one-half, and one-third, and even one-fourth their present compass without any sacrifice of thought or force or beauty..." -M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), p. 27.
The verbose, lengthy, and repetitive style of the Book of Mormon casts doubt on the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. As Jerald and Sandra note, "Considering the effort needed to make the original gold plates of the Book of Mormon and then to engrave them, one would expect a scribe to be as concise as possible, not wordy. Nephi's brother, Jacob complained: 'I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates' (Jacob 4:1). However, lengthy sentences abound in the Book of Mormon." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 231.
B.H. Roberts, president of the LDS First Quorum of the Seventy and assistant church historian made these candid remarks, "... I shall hold that what is here presented [concerning various accounts of Anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon] illustrates sufficiently the matter taken in hand by referring to them, namely that they are all of one breed and brand; so nearly alike that one mind is the author of them, and that a young and undeveloped, but piously inclined mind. The evidence I sorrowfully submit, points to Joseph Smith as their creator. It is difficult to believe that they are the product of history..." -B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, ed. Brigham H. Madsen (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992), p. 264.
Other examples include: 2 Nephi 3:4-21, 3 Nephi 16:8-15, and Alma 5:6
- 2:23
This account is claimed to originate around the time of the Tower of Babel (approximately 2500 B.C.). However, the earliest known glass windows were not developed until the first century B.C. by the Romans. This discrepancy suggests the presence of an anachronism. As a result, it raises serious questions about whether the Book of Mormon was composed during the time period it claims to represent.