The Book of Mormon
~559–545 BC

2 Nephi 7

Continuing Isaiah's words, Jacob declares Israel is not permanently rejected despite transgressions. The Lord affirms his power to redeem and describes a suffering servant who remains confident. Those fearing the Lord should trust him; those creating their own light face judgment.

The Lord Challenges His People

Here’s what the Lord asks: 'Did I abandon you? Did I throw you out forever? Where’s the divorce decree ending our relationship? To which creditor did I sell you off?' No—you sold yourselves through your own wrongdoing. Your rebellion drove you away. So when I came, why was no one there? When I called out, why didn’t anyone answer? House of Israel, do you think my reach is too short to save you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Listen: at my word I can turn the sea into a desert. I can dry up rivers until the fish rot and die of thirst. I can cover the sky with storm clouds and wrap the heavens in darkness.

The Servant Speaks

The Lord God has given me the words of someone trained, so I know how to speak to you when you’re exhausted, House of Israel. Every morning he wakes me. He opens my ears to hear like someone who’s been taught. The Lord God opened my ears, and I didn’t resist. I didn’t pull back. I let them beat my back. I let them rip out my beard. I didn’t turn away when they mocked me and spit in my face. But the Lord God will help me. That’s why I won’t be humiliated. I’ve set my face like stone, and I know I won’t be put to shame. The Lord is close, and he will prove I’m right. Who wants to argue with me? Let’s face each other. Who’s my enemy? Let him step forward, and I’ll strike him down with my words. The Lord God is on my side. Everyone who tries to condemn me will wear out like old clothes. Moths will devour them.

A Warning to the Self-Reliant

Who among you honors the Lord and listens to his servant? If you’re walking in darkness with no light, trust in the Lord’s name and lean on your God. But all of you who light your own fires and surround yourselves with your own sparks—go ahead, walk in the light of your own making. Here’s what you’ll get from me: you’ll lie down in torment.

Influences

  • 7:1 — Isaiah 50:1 (KJV)
    Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
  • 7:2 — Isaiah 50:2 (KJV)
    Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
  • 7:3 — Isaiah 50:3 (KJV)
    I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
  • 7:4 — Isaiah 50:4 (KJV)
    The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
  • 7:5 — Isaiah 50:5 (KJV)
    The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
  • 7:6 — Isaiah 50:6 (KJV)
    I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
  • 7:7 — Isaiah 50:7 (KJV)
    For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
  • 7:8 — Isaiah 50:8 (KJV)
    He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
  • 7:9 — Isaiah 50:9 (KJV)
    Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
  • 7:10 — Isaiah 50:10 (KJV)
    Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
  • 7:11 — Isaiah 50:11 (KJV)
    Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Notes

  • 7:1-11

    Chapters 7 and 8 of 2 Nephi reproduce material from Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 50–52:2), while an additional thirteen chapters (2 Nephi 12–24) quotes Isaiah 2–14—amounting to more than twenty-one total chapters of Isaiah within the Book of Mormon. Given that these records were reportedly engraved on small metal plates, a medium that would require significant effort and space (Jacob 4:1), this extensive duplication raises questions about purpose and necessity—especially since the Nephites already possessed Isaiah’s writings on the brass plates and the biblical text was independently preserved (as later evidenced by discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls). Critics argue that this repetition, along with numerous phrases reflecting the King James Bible, suggests literary dependence rather than ancient origin. In contrast, Latter-day Saint scholars, including those from FAIR, contend that Isaiah was doctrinally central to Nephite theology. They emphasize that prophets like Nephi and Jacob not only quoted but interpreted Isaiah, indicating that these passages were intentionally preserved to teach covenant and messianic themes.

2 Nephi 62 Nephi 8