The Book of Mormon
~600 BC

1 Nephi 1

In Jerusalem during King Zedekiah's reign, prophets warn of destruction unless people repent. Lehi prays and receives a vision of fire, heavenly beings, and a book declaring Jerusalem's fate. He preaches repentance and testifies of the coming Messiah. The Jews reject his message and seek to kill him.

Nephi Introduces Himself

I, Nephi, was born to good parents. So I learned many things from my father. I have seen many hard times in my life. But the Lord has blessed me in all my days. I have learned much about God’s goodness and mysteries. So I am making a record of what happens in my life. I make a record in my father’s language. It has the learning of the Jews and the Egyptian language. I know that the record I make is true. I make it with my own hand. I make it using what I know.

Prophets Warn Jerusalem

In the first year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, my father Lehi lived in Jerusalem all his life. In that same year many prophets came. They told the people they must repent or the great city Jerusalem would be destroyed. So my father Lehi went out and prayed to the Lord with all his heart for his people.

Lehi’s Vision Begins

As he prayed to the Lord, a pillar of fire came and stayed on a rock in front of him. He saw and heard much. Because of what he saw and heard, he shook and trembled. Then he went back to his house in Jerusalem. He lay down on his bed. He was overcome with the spirit and the things he had seen. Being overcome with the spirit, he was carried away in a vision. He saw the heavens open. He thought he saw God sitting on his throne with countless angels around him singing and praising their God. Then he saw one coming down from the middle of heaven. His brightness was greater than the sun at noon. He also saw twelve others following him. Their brightness was greater than the stars in the sky.

The Book from Heaven

They came down to the earth. The first one came and stood before my father. He gave him a book and told him to read it. As he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He read: 'Trouble, trouble to Jerusalem! I have seen your sins.' My father read many things about Jerusalem. It would be destroyed. Many people would die by the sword. Many would be taken away as prisoners to Babylon. When my father had read and saw many great and wonderful things, he said many things to the Lord: 'Great and wonderful are your works, O Lord God Almighty! Your throne is high in the heavens. Your power, goodness, and mercy is over all people on earth. Because you are merciful, you will not let those who come to you die!' This is how my father praised his God. His soul was happy. His whole heart was filled because of the things he had seen. The Lord had shown him these things.

Nephi’s Writing Plan

I do not make a full account of the things my father has written. He has written many things he saw in visions and dreams. He has also written many things he prophesied and spoke to his children. I will not make a full account of these things. But I will make an account of my life. I make a shorter version of my father’s record on plates I have made with my own hands. After I finish the shorter version of my father’s record, then I will make an account of my own life.

Lehi Preaches to the People

So I want you to know that after the Lord had shown so many wonderful things to my father Lehi about the destruction of Jerusalem, he went out among the people. He began to prophesy and tell them about the things he had seen and heard. The Jews made fun of him because of the things he told them about. He told them about their wickedness and sins. He told them that the things he saw and heard, and also the things he read in the book, showed clearly that a Messiah was coming and that the world would be saved. When the Jews heard these things, they were angry with him. They treated him like the old prophets, whom they had thrown out and stoned and killed. They also tried to kill him. But I will show you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those he has chosen because of their faith, to make them strong to be saved.

Influences

  • 1:1 — 1 Corinthians 4:1 (KJV)
    Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
  • 1:14 — Revelation 15:3 (KJV)
    And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
  • 1:17 — 2 Maccabees 2:31 (KJV)
    But to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgment.
  • 1:20 — Acts 7:54 (KJV)
    When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Notes

  • 1:1

    "The book of Genesis seems to have had a real influence upon the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon. Two of Nephi's brothers, Joseph and Jacob, have names taken from the book of Genesis. His mother's name is Sariah, which reminds us of Abraham's wife Sarah-also called Sarai (Genesis 17:15). Ishmael-a friend of the family-is also a name taken from Genesis (Genesis 17:18). The name Laban is likewise found in Genesis (Genesis 24:29). The story of Nephi in some ways parallels that of Joseph found in Genesis (the younger son is favored by the father, is chosen of God, the older brothers try to kill him, etc)." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 20.

  • 1:1

    The name Nephi, the younger son of Lehi, appears to have been drawn from the King James Version of the Apocrypha. In 2 Maccabees 1:36 (KJV) we read: “And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much to say, a cleansing; but many men call it Nephi.”

    There are over 300 proper names in the Book of Mormon. Roughly 141 of those names can be found in the Bible as well. For example, Abrahahm, Ammon, Bethabara, Esrom, Ether, Gomorrah, Ishmael, Jared, Jonas, Judea, Lemuel, Madmenah, Nazareth, Pathros, Pekah, Rama, Shinar, Sinim, and Zebulun are names found both in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

    "Many Book of Mormon names not found in the Bible seem to be made up by re-arranging various syllables or changing the ending of Bible names. For example, the Bible speaks of Abinadab, the Book of Mormon mentions Abinadi and Abinadom. The BOM also uses the biblical Aminadab and a modified Aminodi. The Bible mentions Kish, the Book of Mormon has Akish and Kishcumen. The Bible has Gimzo, and the Book of Mormon speaks of Gimgimno. Besides using the biblical name Helam, Smith expands it to Helaman.... Some seem to be simply different spellings. Melech in the Bible becomes Melek in the Book of Mormon. Biblical Chemosh becomes Chemish. Book of Mormon Ziff seems to be a different spelling of biblical Ziph. Nehor seems to be from the biblical Nahor. More names are created by adding such endings as 'hah.' The Book of Mormon has the names Nephi and Nephihah; Moroni and Moronihah; Ammon and Ammonihah; Mathoni and Mathonihah..." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 27

  • 1:1

    "Although criticism of the Apocrypha was growing among the Protestants in Joseph Smith's day, it was still printed in a number of King James Bibles at that time. In fact, when Smith purchased a Bible in the late 1820's, he picked one which contain the Apocrypha. LDS scholar Reed Durham mentioned this purchase in his BYU dissertation (A History of Joseph Smith's Revision of the Bible, Ph.D. dissertation, BYU, 1965, p. 25). In view of the parallels it seems obvious that Joseph Smith read at least portions of the Apocrypha before writing the book of 1 Nephi. He was apparently familiar with the Apocryphal book of Judith and both 1 and 2 Maccabees. From these three books he absorbed portions and combined them into one story in the Book of Mormon. There are thirty-two interesting parallels between material found in three books of the Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon story of Nephi....Interestingly, twenty-eight of the thirty-two parallels to the Apocrypha are found in the first five chapters of the Book of Mormon. This constitutes an extraordinary cluster of similarities..." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 29.

    Parallel: Both the book of Nephi (BOM) and the book of 2 Maccabees (APO) use the word "Nephi" in their opening chapter (1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Maccabees 1:36). Furthermore, the very first verse found in 2 Maccabees mentions the Jews in Egypt. The second verse in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 1:2) contains Nephi's statement that the book would be written in the Egyptian language.

    For other parallels, please see: 1 Nephi 1:17, 1 Nephi 4:20-24, 1 Nephi 2:4-6, 1 Nephi 3:3, 1 Nephi 3:16, 1 Nephi 3:25, 1 Nephi 3:31, 1 Nephi 4:1-2, 1 Nephi 4:4-5, 1 Nephi 4:7-9, 1 Nephi 4:18, 1 Nephi 4:19-24 & 38, 1 Nephi 4:20, 1 Nephi 4:27, 1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 13:40, 2 Nephi 5:8, Mosiah 3:1, Mosiah 10:13, 4 Nephi 1:31.

  • 1:1

    The Book of Mormon opens with this statement: "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents." Smith's own story states: "I was born in the town of Sharon...of goodly parents."

    Smith is quoted as saying "born of goodly parents" in An American Prophet's Record, pp. 3-8.

    For other examples of Smith's common phrases, see 2 Nephi 26:15 and 2 Nephi 28:16.

  • 1:17

    "There are thirty-two interesting parallels between material found in three books of the Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon story of Nephi....Interestingly, twenty-eight of the thirty-two parallels to the Apocrypha are found in the first five chapters of the Book of Mormon. This constitutes an extraordinary cluster of similarities..." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 29.

    Parallel: In the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, Nephi says he will make an abridgment of his record. This echoes a portion of 2 Maccabees 2:19-23, who likewise talks about making an abridgment.

    For other parallels, please see: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 1:2, 1 Nephi 4:20-24, 1 Nephi 2:4-6, 1 Nephi 3:3, 1 Nephi 3:16, 1 Nephi 3:25, 1 Nephi 3:31, 1 Nephi 4:1-2, 1 Nephi 4:4-5, 1 Nephi 4:7-9, 1 Nephi 4:18, 1 Nephi 4:19-24 & 38, 1 Nephi 4:20, 1 Nephi 4:27, 1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 13:40, 2 Nephi 5:8, Mosiah 10:13, 4 Nephi 1:31.

    For a full note on the use of the Apocrypha, please see the annotation at 1 Nephi 1:1.

1 Nephi 2