1 Nephi 16

Hard Truth and Humble Hearts

After I finished speaking, my brothers said to me: 'What you’ve told us is too hard to accept. We can’t handle it.' I answered: 'I know I’ve said hard things about the wicked—because they’re true. And I’ve defended the righteous, saying they’ll be honored at the last day. The guilty hate the truth because it cuts straight to their hearts.' 'Brothers, if you were living right and willing to listen to the truth—really paying attention so you could walk faithfully before God—you wouldn’t complain about the truth and accuse me of being too harsh.'

I urged my brothers with everything I had to keep the Lord’s commandments. They humbled themselves before the Lord. I felt joy and real hope that they would walk the right path. All this happened while my father lived in a tent in the valley he called Lemuel.

Marriages and a Mysterious Compass

I married one of Ishmael’s daughters. My brothers also married daughters of Ishmael, and Zoram married Ishmael’s eldest daughter. My father had now done everything the Lord commanded him. And I had been blessed tremendously by the Lord.

During the night, the Lord spoke to my father, commanding him to leave in the morning and journey into the wilderness. When my father got up in the morning and stepped outside the tent, he was amazed—there on the ground was a round ball of intricate workmanship, made of fine brass. Inside the ball were two spindles, and one of them pointed the way we should go into the wilderness. We gathered everything we could carry into the wilderness—all the remaining provisions the Lord had given us. We also took seeds of every kind to plant. We packed our tents and left, crossing the river Laman.

Journey Through the Wilderness

After traveling four days in a south-southeast direction, we set up camp again. We called the place Shazer. We took our bows and arrows and went hunting for food. After we’d killed enough for our families, we returned to them at Shazer. Then we traveled on through the wilderness in the same direction, staying in the most fertile areas near the Red Sea. We traveled many days, hunting food along the way with our bows and arrows, stones and slings. We followed the directions of the ball, which led us through the more fertile parts of the wilderness. After traveling many days, we camped for a while to rest and gather more food for our families.

The Broken Bow Crisis

When I went out to hunt, my bow broke—it was made of fine steel. My brothers were furious with me for breaking it, because now we couldn’t get any food. We returned to our families empty-handed. Everyone was exhausted from the journey and suffering badly from lack of food.

Laman and Lemuel and Ishmael’s sons started complaining bitterly about their hardships in the wilderness. Even my father began to murmur against the Lord his God. Everyone was deeply distressed, complaining against the Lord. I was struggling too because of my broken bow. My brothers' bows had lost their spring, making it extremely difficult to find any food. I spoke firmly to my brothers because they had hardened their hearts again, complaining against the Lord their God.

Faith and the Magic Ball

I made a bow out of wood and an arrow from a straight stick. Armed with my new bow and arrow, a sling, and stones, I asked my father: 'Where should I go to find food?' He asked the Lord, because they had humbled themselves after my words. I had spoken to them with all the energy of my soul. The Lord’s voice came to my father, and he was severely rebuked for complaining against the Lord. It brought him down into deep sorrow.

The Lord’s voice told him: 'Look at the ball and read what’s written there!' When my father read what was written on the ball, he trembled with fear. So did my brothers, Ishmael’s sons, and our wives. I saw that the pointers in the ball worked according to our faith, diligence, and attention to them. New writing appeared on them—plain and easy to read—helping us understand the Lord’s ways. The writing changed from time to time based on our faith and diligence. This shows how the Lord uses small things to accomplish great purposes.

I climbed to the top of the mountain, following the directions on the ball. I killed wild animals and brought food for our families. When I returned to our tents with the animals I’d killed, everyone rejoiced. They humbled themselves before the Lord and gave him thanks.

We continued our journey, traveling nearly the same direction as before. After many days, we set up camp again to rest for a while.

Death and Rebellion in Nahom

Ishmael died and was buried in the place called Nahom.

Ishmael’s daughters mourned terribly for their father and for all their wilderness hardships. They complained against my father for bringing them out of Jerusalem: 'Our father is dead, we’ve wandered endlessly in the wilderness, we’ve suffered terrible hardship, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. After all this suffering, we’re going to die of hunger in the wilderness.' They complained against my father and against me. They wanted to return to Jerusalem.

Laman said to Lemuel and Ishmael’s sons: 'Let’s kill our father and our brother Nephi, who thinks he can rule and teach us—even though we’re his older brothers.' 'He says the Lord has talked with him and that angels have visited him. But we know he’s lying to us. He tells us these things and uses clever tricks to deceive us, thinking he can lead us into some strange wilderness. Once he gets us there, he plans to make himself king and ruler over us, so he can do whatever he wants with us.' This is how my brother Laman stirred them up to anger.

The Lord was with us. His voice came and spoke many words to them, rebuking them severely. After being chastened by the Lord’s voice, they let go of their anger and repented of their sins. The Lord blessed us again with food so we wouldn’t starve.