36:1 My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto
you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of
God ye shall prosper in the land. |
LDS apologists often point
to this passage as an example of chiasmus, a
literary structure that supposedly argues for an ancient
origin for the Book of Mormon. In fact, it turns out that
chiasmus is a textual pattern that is bound to turn up in
any book of sufficient length. See this
page for more information. |
36:2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in
remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were
in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their
afflictions. |
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36:3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in
thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou
wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that
whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported
in their trials, and their troubles, and their
afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. |
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36:4 And I would not that ye think that I know of
myself--not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of
the carnal mind but of God. |
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36:5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been
born of God I should not have known these things; but God
has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things
known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself; |
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36:6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah,
seeking to destroy the church of God; but
behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way. |
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36:7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the
voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath
our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of
the Lord came upon us. |
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36:8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And
I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel. |
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36:9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be
destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God. |
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36:10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth;
and it was for the space of three days and three nights
that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of
my limbs. |
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36:11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which
were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for
when I heard the words--If thou wilt be destroyed of
thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God--I was struck with such great fear and
amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell
to the earth and I did hear no more. |
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36:12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my
soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked
with all my sins. |
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36:13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities,
for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God,
and that I had not kept his holy commandments. |
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36:14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children,
or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in
fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very
thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my
soul with inexpressible horror. |
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36:15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and
become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be
brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged
of my deeds. |
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36:16 And now, for three days and for three nights
was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. |
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36:17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked
with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my
many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my
father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of
one Jesus
Christ, a Son of God, to atone
for the sins of the world. |
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36:18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought,
I cried within my heart: O 1Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am
in the 2gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by
the everlasting chains of death. |
[1] Mark 10:47 ...Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me.
[2] Acts 8:23: ...thou art in the gall of
bitterness... |
36:19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could
remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the
memory of my sins no more. |
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36:20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I
did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding
as was my pain! |
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36:21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could
be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.
Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other
hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was
my joy. |
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36:22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi
saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with
numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of
singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long
to be there. |
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36:23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength
again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto
the people that I had been born of God. |
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36:24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have
labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto
repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the
exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also
be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. |
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36:25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth
give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors; |
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36:26 For because of the word which he has imparted
unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have
tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I
have seen; therefore they do know of these things of
which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge
which I have is of God. |
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36:27 And I have been supported under trials and
troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of
afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and
from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in
him, and he will still deliver me. |
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36:28 And I know that he 1will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with
him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever, for he
has brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has
swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led
them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has
delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to
time. |
[1] John 6:40: ...and I
will raise him up at the last day. |
36:29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of
the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his
everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and
captivity, from time to time even down to the present
day; and I have always retained in remembrance their
captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain in
remembrance, as I have done, their captivity. |
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36:30 But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye
ought to know as I do know, that inasmuch as ye shall
keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the
land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will
not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from
his presence. Now this is according to his word. |
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