The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 17:19

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1830 Edition

And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceeding sorrowful, because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful, they were glad in their hearts, insomuch, that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work;

Changes

And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful, because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful, they were glad in their hearts, insomuch, that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work;.

Simple English

I was very sad because their hearts were hard. When they saw I was sad, they were happy. They rejoiced over me and said: “We knew you couldn’t build a ship. We knew you lacked good judgment. You can’t do such a great work.”

Paraphrase

I was heartbroken by their stubbornness. When they saw how sad I was, they were actually happy about it. They mocked me: “We knew you couldn’t build a ship. We knew you didn’t have what it takes. You can’t pull off something this big.”