The Fourth Book of Nephi

4 Nephi 1

In the 34 th year after Christ’s arrival, his disciples established the Church of Christ throughout the Nephite lands. All those who came to them and repented their sins were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and received the Holy Ghost.

In the 36th year after Christ’s arrival all the Nephite and Lamanite people had been converted. There was no conflict among them, and everyone treated each other honestly. No one was either rich or poor and everyone was free. The disciples healed the sick and crippled, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. They performed all sorts of miracles in the name of Jesus Christ.

In the years that followed the people prospered and the cities were rebuilt. The people were blessed with many children and the population grew. These people lived by the new commandments of Jesus Christ rather than by the old laws of Moses. They fasted and prayed, and met regularly to hear the word of God.

In the 100th year after Christ’s arrival the nine mortal disciples had all gone to God’s paradise, and other disciples were ordained in their place. The generation that had seen and heard Jesus Christ in person had lived their time on earth, and had passed on. It was a time of peace and love. God lived in the hearts of all the people. There was no envy, conflict, fornication, dishonesty, murder, or any manner of sinfulness. The Nephites were happier than any people who had ever been created by God. There were no robbers, murderers, or Lamanites. All the people were one. They were the children of Jesus Christ and heirs to the kingdom of God.

In the 110th year after Christ’s arrival Nephi3’s son, Nephi4 died, and his son Amos1 continued the record for the next 84 years. During the time of Amos the peace of Jesus Christ continued, except for a small band of people who revolted against the church and assumed the Lamanite name. For the first time since the visitation of Jesus Christ, Lamanites again inhabited the land.

In the 194th year after Christ’s arrival Amos died, and his son Amos2 assumed custody of the records. By this time most of the second generation of Nephites since the time of Jesus Christ had lived their turn on earth and passed on. The Nephite population had grown so large that they spread far and wide across the land. Because of the prosperity that Jesus Christ’s blessings had brought to them they were very rich.

In the 201st year after Christ’s arrival people were flaunting their wealth and self-importance. They wore expensive clothing, fine pearls, and other ostentatious luxuries. From that time forward there were great disparities of wealth between the different classes of people. The wealthy people built churches for themselves for the purpose of getting richer, and started to renounce the true Church of Christ.

In the 210th year after Christ’s arrival there were many churches in the land. Most of these churches professed themselves to be the Church of Christ, but failed to observe most of the gospel that he had given to the Nephite people. They accepted and tolerated all sorts of sinfulness. They knowingly administered the sacrament to people who were unworthy of it. In this way, the churches grew in their sinfulness because Satan had gotten hold of their hearts.

One of these churches rejected Jesus Christ and persecuted the true Church of Christ because of the humility of its members and their belief in Jesus Christ. They despised the faithful because of the miracles that they were able to perform. When they used their power and authority to throw the true believers into prison God broke the prisons open. In spite of the miracles that the faithful performed the unfaithful hated them. They tried to kill them just as the Jews in Jerusalem had tried to kill Jesus Christ. When they threw them into the fire the true believers came out unharmed. No matter how hard the unbelievers tried to hurt the people of Jesus Christ, the faithful did nothing to the wicked in return. But from one year to the next, the number of believers in Jesus Christ grew smaller and smaller.

In the 231st year after Christ’s arrival there was a great division among the people. On one side were the Nephites, who were true believers in Jesus Christ. On the other side were the Lamanites, who rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ and taught their children to hate the Nephites.

In the 244th year after Christ’s arrival the Lamanites far surpassed the Nephites in numbers and continued building expensive churches in honor of themselves.

In the 260 th year after Christ’s arrival wicked people reestablished the secret oaths and conspiracies of Gadianton. By this time the Nephites were as vain and sinful as the Lamanites, and the faithful disciples sunk into despair over the sins of the world.

By the 300 th year after Christ’s arrival the Nephites were so wicked that it was hard to tell them from the Lamanites. The reestablished Gadianton Robbers spread like a plague across the land, building up their treasure of gold and silver.

In the 305th year after Christ’s arrival Amos2 died, and his brother Ammaron took over custody of the records.

In the 320th year after Christ’s arrival the Holy Ghost instructed Ammaron to hide the sacred records that had been passed down from generation to generation since Lehi left Jerusalem. Ammaron did as he was told, and the records were hidden so that the prophecies and promises of God to the family of Israel could be fulfilled at a future time.