# 3 Nephi 17

*Paraphrase*

### Jesus Prepares to Leave

After Jesus finished speaking, he looked around at the crowd again. “My time here is almost up. I can see you’re exhausted—you can’t absorb everything the Father wants me to tell you right now. So go home. Think deeply about what I’ve said. Ask the Father about it in my name, and he’ll help you understand. Get your minds ready. I’ll come back tomorrow. But now I need to return to the Father. I also need to visit the lost tribes of Israel—though they’re not really lost to the Father. He knows exactly where they are.”

### The Crowd’s Silent Plea

As Jesus said this, he looked around at the crowd again. Tears were streaming down their faces. They stared at him intently, silently pleading for him to stay just a little longer.

He said to them, “My heart is breaking with compassion for you. Do you have anyone who’s sick? Bring them here. Anyone lame, blind, crippled, disabled, leprous, withered, deaf, or suffering in any way—bring them all here. I’ll heal them. I’m filled with mercy for you. I can see you want me to show you what I did for your relatives in Jerusalem. And I can see your faith is strong enough—I can heal you.”

### Healing Everyone

As soon as he said this, the entire crowd moved together. They brought forward everyone who was sick, suffering, lame, blind, unable to speak—everyone afflicted in any way. And he healed every single person as they came to him. Then everyone—both those who’d been healed and those who’d been healthy—fell at his feet and worshiped him. As many as could push through the crowd kissed his feet, bathing them with their tears.

### Bringing the Children

Then he told them to bring their little children. They brought their young children and sat them on the ground in a circle around Jesus. He stood in the center, and the crowd made space so all the children could be brought to him. Once all the children were gathered and Jesus stood among them, he told the crowd to kneel.

### A Prayer Beyond Words

After they knelt, Jesus groaned from deep within. “Father, I’m troubled by the wickedness of the people of Israel.” Then he knelt too and prayed to the Father. What he prayed cannot be written down. The crowd heard it and witnessed it.

This is what they testified: “No eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard anything as great and marvelous as what we saw and heard Jesus speak to the Father. No words can express it. No one could write it down. The human heart can’t even imagine the great and marvelous things we saw and heard Jesus speak. And no one can conceive of the joy that flooded our souls when we heard him pray for us to the Father.”

When Jesus finished praying and stood up, the crowd’s joy was so overwhelming they couldn’t stand. Jesus spoke to them and told them to get up.

They rose from the ground, and he said, “You’re blessed because of your faith. My joy is now complete.”

### Blessing the Little Ones

As he said this, he wept. The crowd witnessed it. Then he took each little child, one by one, blessed them, and prayed to the Father for them. After he finished, he wept again.

He spoke to the crowd: “Look at your little ones.”

### Angels Descending in Fire

When they looked, they lifted their eyes toward heaven. The sky opened, and they saw angels descending surrounded by fire. The angels came down and formed a circle around the children. Fire encircled them, and the angels ministered to them. The crowd saw it and heard it and testified about it. They know their testimony is true because every single person—about twenty-five hundred men, women, and children—saw and heard it for themselves.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/3-nephi/17)*
