15:1 And it
came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away
in the spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to
the tent of my father. |
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15:2 And it
came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were
disputing one with another concerning the things which my
father had spoken unto them. |
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15:3 For he
truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard
to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord;
and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did
not look unto the Lord as they ought. |
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15:4 And now
I, Nephi, was 1grieved
because of the hardness of their hearts, and also,
because of the things which I had seen, and knew they
must unavoidably come to pass because of the great
wickedness of the children of men. |
[1] Mark 3:5: ...being
grieved for the hardness of their hearts... |
15:5 And it
came to pass that I was overcome because of my
afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were
great above all, because of the destruction of my people,
for I had beheld their fall. |
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15:6 And it
came to pass that after I had received strength I spake
unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of
their disputations. |
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15:7 And
they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which
our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of
the olive-tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. |
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15:8 And I
said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? |
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15:9 And
they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no
such thing known unto us. |
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15:10
Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep
the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will
perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? |
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15:11 Do ye
not remember the things which the Lord hath said? --If ye
will not harden your hearts, 1and
ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with
diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things
shall be made known unto you. |
[1] Matthew 21:22:
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive. |
15:12
Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was
compared unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord
which was in our father; and behold are we not 1broken off from the
house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of
Israel? |
[1] Romans 11:17: And
if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a
wild olive tree... |
15:13 And
now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the
grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness
of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our
seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space
of many years, and many generations after the Messiah
shall be manifested in body unto the children of men,
then shall the fulness of the gospel
of the Messiah come unto the
Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our
seed-- |
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15:14 And
at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they
are of the house of Israel, and that they are the
covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and
come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to
the knowledge of the gospel
of their Redeemer, which was
ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they
shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the
very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to
come unto him and be saved. |
Despite a fairly strong
missionary effort by the LDS church, the number of Native
American converts is very small, which appears to make
this verse a false prophecy. In addition, this verse
predicts that the Native Americans will come to realise
that they are the seed of Israel. Not only has this
failed to happen, but it is now very evident that the
Native American population are not
related to the Semites in any way. |
15:15 And
then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise
unto their everlasting God, their rock and their
salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the
strength and nourishment from the 1true
vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God? |
[1] John 15:1 I am the
true vine... |
15:16
Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered
again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted
in, being a natural branch of the olive-tree, into the
true olive-tree. |
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15:17 And
this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it
will not come to pass until after they are scattered by
the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of
the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the
Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of
the Jews, or of the house of Israel. |
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15:18
Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone,
but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the
covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days;
which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham,
saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth
be blessed. |
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15:19 And
it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them
concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them
concerning the restoration of the Jews in the latter
days. |
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15:20 And I
did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spake
concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house
of Israel; and after they were restored they should no
more be confounded, neither should they be scattered
again. And it came to pass that I did speak many words
unto my brethren, that they were pacified and did humble
themselves before the Lord. |
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15:21 And
it came to pass that they did speak unto me again,
saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a
dream? What meaneth the tree which he saw? |
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15:22 And I
said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of
life. |
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15:23 And
they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our
father saw, that led to the tree? |
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15:24 And I
said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso
would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast
unto it, they would never perish; neither could the
temptations and the 1fiery
darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to
lead them away to destruction. |
[1] Ephesians 6:16:
...the fiery darts of the wicked. |
15:25
Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto
the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the
energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I
possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God
and remember to keep his commandments always in all
things. |
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15:26 And
they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which
our father saw? |
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15:27 And I
said unto them that the water which my father saw was
filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in
other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the
water. |
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15:28 And I
said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated
the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the
saints of God. |
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15:29 And I
said unto them that it was a representation of that awful
hell, which the angel said
unto me was prepared for the wicked. |
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15:30 And I
said unto them that our father also saw that the justice
of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and
the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a
flaming fire, which 1ascendeth
up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end. |
[1] Revelation 14:11:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever: and they have no rest day nor night... |
15:31 And
they said unto me: Doth this thing mean the torment of
the body in the days of probation, or doth it mean the
final state of the soul after the death of the temporal
body, or doth it speak of the things which are temporal? |
The question of whether Hell
is a real place, or a symbol for earthly suffering
occupied the Protestant churches of Smith's day. |
15:32 And
it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a
representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for
the day should come that they must be judged of their
works, yea, even the works which were done by the
temporal body in their days of probation. |
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15:33
Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they
must be cast off also, as to the things which are
spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness;
wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to
be judged of their works; and if their works have been
filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be
filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the
kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy
also. |
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15:34 But
behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy,
and there cannot any 1unclean
thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must
needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is
filthy. |
[1] Ephesians 5:5:
...nor unclean person...hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God. |
15:35 And
there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and
the devil is the preparator
of it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is
to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because
of that justice of which I have spoken. |
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15:36
Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous,
and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most
precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea,
and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus
I spake unto my brethren. Amen. |
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