The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 18:10

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1830 Edition

And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly, lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us, because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the Sea; wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness; but, behold, they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us.

Changes

And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly, lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us, because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the Ssea; wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness; but, behold, they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us.

Simple English

I began to fear greatly. I was afraid the Lord would be angry with us and destroy us because of our sin. I was afraid we would be swallowed up in the deep sea. So I began to speak to them seriously. But they were angry with me. They said: “We won’t let our younger brother be our ruler.”

Paraphrase

I was terrified the Lord would be angry and sink us in the ocean because of their behavior. So I tried to talk sense into them. But they got angry and said: “We’re not taking orders from our little brother!”