The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 12:4

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~600–592 BC

1830 Edition

And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities, that they were sunk; and I saw many, that they were burned with fire; and I saw many, that they did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.

Influences

Revelation 8:5 (KJV)
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Matthew 27:51 (KJV)
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Changes

And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities, that they were sunk; and I saw many, that they were burned with fire; and I saw many, that they did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.

Simple English

I saw a dark mist on the face of the promised land. I saw lightning and heard thunder and earthquakes and all kinds of loud noises. I saw the earth and rocks split apart. I saw mountains fall into pieces. I saw the plains of the earth break up. I saw many cities sink. I saw many burn with fire. I saw many fall to the earth because of the shaking.

Paraphrase

Then a thick darkness covered the promised land. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and earthquakes shook everything. I heard terrifying sounds. The earth and rocks split apart. Mountains crumbled to pieces. Plains cracked open. Some cities sank into the ground. Others burned with fire. Many more collapsed from the violent shaking.