The Crowd Disperses
The crowd split apart. Some went one way, some another, leaving Nephi standing there alone.
Nephi headed home, thinking over everything the Lord had shown him.
The Voice of God
As he walked, his heart grew heavy. The Nephites’ wickedness weighed on him—their secret plots, their murders, their robberies, all their evil. While he was turning these things over in his mind, a voice spoke to him:
“Nephi, you’re blessed because of what you’ve done. I’ve watched you preach the word I gave you without ever giving up. You haven’t been afraid of them. You haven’t tried to save your own life. You’ve sought my will and kept my commands. Because you’ve done this so faithfully, I’m going to bless you forever. I’ll make you mighty in word and deed, in faith and action. Everything will happen according to your word, because you won’t ask for anything against my will. You are Nephi, and I am God. I tell you this in the presence of my angels: you’ll have power over these people. You can strike the earth with famine, disease, and destruction—whatever their wickedness deserves. I’m giving you power—whatever you seal on earth will be sealed in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. This is the authority you’ll have among these people. If you say to the temple, ‘Be torn in two,’ it will happen. If you say to a mountain, ‘Fall down and become level ground,’ it will happen. And if you say God will strike these people down, it will happen.”
“Now go and tell these people this is what the Lord God Almighty says: Unless you turn from your sins, you’ll be destroyed.”
Nephi Returns with a Warning
When the Lord finished speaking, Nephi didn’t go home. Instead, he turned back to the crowds scattered across the city and started preaching. He told them what the Lord had said—that they’d be destroyed if they didn’t change.
Even after the miracle Nephi had done—revealing the chief judge’s murder—they hardened their hearts and refused to listen to the Lord’s words. So Nephi declared the Lord’s message again: “Unless you turn from your sins, the Lord says you’ll be destroyed.” After Nephi spoke, they hardened their hearts even more. They wouldn’t listen. Instead, they cursed him and tried to grab him and throw him in prison.
But God’s power was with him. They couldn’t touch him. The Spirit lifted him up and carried him away from the middle of the crowd. Led by the Spirit, he went from one group to another, preaching God’s word. He made sure everyone heard the message.
They refused to listen. Fighting broke out. They turned on each other and started killing one another with swords.
That’s how the seventy-first year of the judges ended among the Nephites.