Silence in the Land
All the people in the land heard these words. They were witnesses of it. After these words, the land was silent for many hours. The people were so amazed that they stopped crying for their family members who had been killed. So the land was silent for many hours.
Then a voice came to the people again. All the people heard it and were witnesses of it. The voice said:
The Voice Speaks Again
“You people of these great cities that have fallen—you who are children of Jacob, you who are from the house of Israel—how many times have I gathered you like a hen gathers her baby chicks under her wings? I have taken care of you. How many times have I wanted to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? You people of the house of Israel who have fallen—you who live in Jerusalem—how many times did I want to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks? But you would not let me. You house of Israel, you whom I have saved—how many more times will I gather you like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? I will if you turn away from your sins and come back to me with all your heart. But if you don’t, the places where you live will become empty. They will stay that way until God keeps his promise to your ancestors.“
After the people heard these words, they started to cry and weep again because they had lost their family and friends.
The Darkness Ends
The three days passed this way. In the morning, the darkness went away from the land. The earth stopped shaking. The rocks stopped breaking apart. The terrible groaning stopped. All the loud noises went away. The earth came back together so it could stand again. The people who were still alive stopped crying and weeping. Their sadness turned into happiness. Their cries of pain became songs of thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, their Savior.
The words that the prophets had spoken came true.
The Righteous Are Saved
It was the better people who were saved. These were the people who welcomed the prophets instead of throwing stones at them. These were the people who had not killed God’s special people. They were saved. They were not buried in the earth. They were not drowned in the deep sea. They were not burned by fire. They were not crushed to death by falling rocks. They were not carried away in the windstorm. They were not killed by the smoke and darkness.
If you are reading this, try to understand. If you have the scriptures, look through them. See if all these deaths and destruction—by fire, by smoke, by storms, by windstorms, and by the earth opening up to swallow people—came true just as the holy prophets said they would. I tell you that many people talked about these things that would happen when Christ came. They were killed because they talked about these things. The prophet Zenos talked about these things. Zenock also talked about these things. They talked about us in particular because we are their children’s children. Our ancestor Jacob also talked about the children of Joseph. Aren’t we children of Joseph? The things that tell about us—aren’t they written on the brass plates that our ancestor Lehi brought from Jerusalem?
Christ Will Appear
At the end of the thirty-fourth year, something great happened. I will show you that the people of Nephi who were saved—and also those who had been called Lamanites who were saved—got great blessings from God. Soon after Christ went up to Heaven, he showed himself to them. He let them see his body. He taught them. I will tell you about his teaching later. So for now I am ending my words.