# 1 Nephi 14

*Paraphrase*

### The Choice Before the Gentiles

I, Nephi, saw what will happen: If the Gentiles listen to the Lamb of God when he reveals himself to them—in word and in real power—and he removes everything that trips them up, and if they don’t close their hearts to the Lamb—then they’ll be counted with your father’s family line. They’ll belong to the House of Israel. They’ll be blessed on this promised land forever, never again taken captive. The House of Israel will never again be scattered and confused. The deep pit that the great evil church dug to trap people—the Devil and his children founded it to drag souls down to hell—that pit will swallow the very ones who dug it. The Lamb of God says they’ll be completely destroyed. Not their souls destroyed, but cast into that endless hell. This follows the Devil’s way of enslaving people. It also follows God’s perfect justice against everyone who does evil and disgusting things in his sight.

The angel then said to me: “Nephi, you’ve seen that things will go well for the Gentiles if they repent. You know about the Lord’s promises to the House of Israel. And you’ve heard that anyone who doesn’t repent will die. So disaster awaits the Gentiles if they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. “The time is coming,” says the Lamb of God, “when I’ll do an incredible, lasting work among humanity. It will push everyone one way or the other—either convincing them to find peace and eternal life, or leaving them to their hard hearts and blind minds, enslaved and destroyed, both physically and spiritually. That’s the Devil’s captivity I’ve been describing.”

### Two Churches in the World

After the angel said this, he asked me: “Do you remember the Father’s promises to the House of Israel?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “Look at that great evil church, the mother of all corruption. The Devil laid its foundation.” He continued: “Listen, there are really only two churches: the church of the Lamb of God, and the church of the Devil. If you don’t belong to the Lamb’s church, you belong to that great church—the mother of all corruption. She’s the prostitute of the whole earth.”

I looked and saw the prostitute of all the earth. She sat on many waters. She ruled over the whole earth—every nation, family group, language, and people. Then I saw the church of the Lamb of God. Its members were few because the prostitute who sat on many waters was so wicked and corrupt. Still, I saw the Lamb’s church—God’s holy people—scattered across the whole earth. But their influence was small because of the great prostitute’s wickedness.

### The Final Battle

I watched as this great mother of corruption gathered massive armies from every Gentile nation on earth to fight against the Lamb of God. Then I saw the Lamb of God’s power descend on his church’s holy people and on the Lord’s covenant people scattered everywhere on earth. They were armed with righteousness and God’s power in brilliant glory.

I saw God’s anger pour out on that great evil church. Wars and threats of war broke out among every nation and family group on earth. As wars and threats of war erupted among all the nations belonging to the mother of corruption, the angel said: “Look! God’s anger burns against the mother of prostitutes. You’re seeing it all! When the day comes that God pours out his anger on the mother of prostitutes—the great evil church of all the earth that the Devil founded—on that day the Father will start preparing the way to fulfill his promises to his people of the House of Israel.”

### John the Apostle Will Write More

The angel said to me: “Look!” I looked and saw a man dressed in a white robe. The angel said: “That’s one of the Lamb’s twelve apostles!”

“He’ll see and write the rest of these things, plus many things that have already happened. He’ll also write about the end of the world. Everything he writes will be right and true. Look, it’s all written in that book you saw coming from the Jew’s mouth. When it first came from the Jew’s mouth—when the book first appeared—everything written in it was clear, pure, extremely valuable, and easy for everyone to understand.”

“This apostle of the Lamb will write many things you’ve already seen. You’ll see the rest too. But don’t write what you’ll see next. The Lord God has chosen the apostle of the Lamb to write those things. He’s shown everything to others too, and they’ve written it all down. Their writings are sealed up to come out pure and true, just as the Lamb gave them, at the Lord’s chosen time for the House of Israel.”

I heard and testify that the angel told me the apostle of the Lamb was named John. I’m forbidden to write the rest of what I saw and heard. What I have written is enough for me—though it’s only a small part of what I saw.

I testify that I saw the same things my father saw. The angel of the Lord showed them to me. Now I’ll stop describing what I saw while the Spirit carried me away. Even though I haven’t written everything I saw, what I have written is true. That’s how it is. Amen.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/1-nephi/14)*
