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Show é ; ie a 3 ae AG We ‘ FIRST BOOK «OF NEPHI. coe wherefore, the Lord commanded nart into the away his life; life; wherefore, wilderness; and ye yea, Jike untocthey* ye are my also have to take also sought to take sought in your hearts, murderers de father that he should Jews and the FIRST lis away are and ye but slow to re- Ye are swift to do iniquity, member the Lord your God, Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still, small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he hath spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunttt¥, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. And ye also know, that by the power of his Almighty word, he can cause the earth that it shall pass away; yea, and ye know that by his word, he can cause that rough places be made smooth, and smooth places shall be broken up. O, then, why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts! Be- hold, my souljs heart is pained: .. fi “ A 3 rent with anguish and I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever. my Be- hold, I am full of the spirit of God, msomuch as if my frame {had no strength. And now it came a because of you, words, to pass that when me into the depths of the Sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me, I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh ; and xe aa / 7 nt = ae> —s eS 7 Of whoso shall lay their hands upon me, shall withér even as a dried reed; and he shall be as nought before the power of God, for God shall smite him. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, saith unto them, That they should murmur no“Wore against their father Bs neither . = should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship. AndoI saith unto them, lf God had commanded it. me to do all things, I could do If he should command me that I should say unto this wa- ter, Be thou earth, it should be earth ; and if I. should say it. it would be done. And now, if the Lord hath such great power, and hath wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that Ishould build a ship? And it came to pass thatI, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren, insomuch contend agaist me; that they were confounded, and could not neither durst they lay their hands upon OP 4¥ NFEPHYI. me, nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days. Now they durst not do this, lest they should wither before me, so powerful was the spirit of God; and thus it had wrought upon them. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord; and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God. And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not, ie Lord did shake them, even according to the word which he had spoken. ~ And now, they said, We know of asurety, that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that hath shaken us. And they fell down before me, and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer them, saying: I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy Ged shallgivethe. I had spoken these they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw BOOK @Ac.NXVili And it came to pass that go forth with'me; manship. US. they did worship and we did work | the Lord, and did timbers of curious work-~ And the Lord did shew me from time to time, afier what manner I should work the timbers of the ship. Now J, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had | *shewn unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of. men. And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore, the Lord shewed unto iieé great things. | = And it came to pass that afterI had finished the ship according to the word of the Lord, my brethrén beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine: wherefore, they did humble themselves again before the Lord. “And it came t6” pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship.— And it came to pass that on the morrow, after that we had prepared all things, much fruits and meat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions, according: to that which the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into the ship with all our loading and our seeds; and whatsoever’ SAS ee EOE Waa a's i |