3 Nephi 17

Jesus Must Leave

When Jesus finished speaking, he looked around at the crowd. He said to them: My time here is almost done. I see that you are tired. You can’t understand all the words the Father told me to say to you right now. So go home and think about what I said. Ask the Father in my name to help you understand. Get ready for tomorrow. I will come back to you again. But I need to go to the Father. I also need to show myself to the lost tribes of Israel. They are not lost to the Father. He knows where they are.

Jesus Heals Everyone

When Jesus said this, he looked around at the crowd again. They were crying. They looked at him like they wanted to ask him to stay a little longer. He said to them: My heart is filled with care for you. Do you have anyone who is sick? Bring them here. Do you have anyone who can’t walk, or who is blind, or who can’t move well, or whose body doesn’t work right, or who has a skin disease, or whose body has gotten weak, or who can’t hear, or who has troubles? Bring them here. I will heal them. I care about you. My heart is filled with kindness. I see that you want me to show you what I did for your family in Jerusalem. I see that you have enough faith for me to heal you.

When he said this, all the people came forward together. They brought their sick people, their people with troubles, their people who couldn’t walk, their blind people, their people who couldn’t talk, and everyone who had any kind of problem. He healed every one of them as they were brought to him. Then everyone bowed down at his feet and worshiped him. Both the people who had been healed and the people who were healthy did this. As many people as could get close because of the crowd kissed his feet. They cried so much that their tears covered his feet.

Jesus Blesses the Children

Then he told them to bring their little children. So they brought their little children and sat them on the ground around him. Jesus stood in the middle. The crowd moved back until all the children had been brought to him. When all the children had been brought and Jesus stood in the middle, he told the crowd to kneel on the ground.

When they kneeled down, Jesus groaned inside himself. He said: Father, I am upset because of the wrong things the people of Israel have done. When he said these words, he kneeled on the ground too. He prayed to the Father. The things he prayed cannot be written. The crowd heard him and told others about it. This is what they said: No one has ever seen or heard anything as great and amazing as what we saw and heard Jesus say to the Father. No one can say it with words. No one can write it down. No one can imagine the great and amazing things we saw and heard Jesus say. No one can imagine the joy that filled us when we heard him pray to the Father for us.

When Jesus finished praying to the Father, he stood up. But the crowd was so happy that they were overcome. Jesus spoke to them and told them to get up. They got up from the ground. He said to them: God blesses you because of your faith. My joy is complete.

When he said these words, he cried. The crowd told others about it. He took their little children one by one. He blessed them and prayed to the Father for them. When he finished doing this, he cried again. He spoke to the crowd and said to them: Look at your little children.

Angels Surround the Children

As they looked, they looked up toward heaven. They saw heaven open. They saw angels coming down from heaven in the middle of fire. The angels came down and surrounded the little children. The children were surrounded by fire. The angels helped them. The crowd saw and heard this and told others about it. They know their story is true. Every person saw and heard it for themselves. There were about 2,500 people. This included men, women, and children.