Helaman 9

After Nephi had finished speaking five of the men who were assembled ran off to the chief judge’s throne. On the way there they said, “Now we will know for sure if this man is a prophet, and whether God has commanded him to prophesy to us. I don’t believe that he is a prophet. But if he’s right about the chief judge being dead, perhaps the other things he says are true as well.”

When they arrived at the throne they found the chief judge lying dead in his own blood. When they saw the truth of Nephi’s words they were overcome with fear at the possibility that Nephi’s other prophecies might be fulfilled. They fell to the ground unconscious.

After the judge had been murdered by his stealthy brother, his servants raised the cry of murder while the brother had slipped away. As people gathered around the throne they found the five men lying on the ground. Not knowing about the scene in Nephi’s garden, they said, “These must be the murderers, and God has struck them down so they couldn’t run away.”

The five men were immediately arrested and thrown into prison. The next day the people gathered to mourn and pay their respects to the slain judge. Among those present were some who’d been at Nephi’s garden on the previous day, and heard his words. “Where are the five men who were sent to verify the truth of Nephi’s words?” they asked.

“We don’t know about the five men you mention,” answered others, “but we have thrown the judge’s five murderers into prison.”

The judges had the five brought forward, and asked them to explain what had happened. “We ran to the throne and saw everything just as Nephi had described it,” they said. “We were so astonished that we fell to the ground. When we recovered, we found ourselves in prison. We don’t know who killed the chief judge. He was already dead when we arrived.”

“We know that Nephi is behind this,” the judges declared. “He must have conspired with someone to kill the chief judge so that he could trick us into believing in his prophecies, and convert us to his faith. He pretends to be a great man who is chosen by God to be a prophet. But we know better. He will confess his crime and tell us who the real murderer is.”

The five men were freed, but they disagreed with the judges accusation of Nephi as a conspirator to murder. The judges had Nephi arrested anyway, and interrogated him. The judges tried to trick Nephi into incriminating himself.

“We know that you are in alliance with the murderer,” they said. “Tell us who he is. If you acknowledge your part in this we will give you money and spare your life.”

“You fools,” Nephi answered, “are blind and stubborn. How long do you think that God will permit your sinfulness? You should be howling and mourning at the great destruction that awaits you if you don’t repent. You say that I conspired to kill the chief judge because I knew of his death, just as I knew about the wickedness and abominations amongst you. You are angry and want to kill me because I’ve shown you a sign. Well let me show you another sign and we’ll see if you still want to destroy me.

“Go to the house of the chief judge’s brother and ask him if he agrees with my testimony that he has killed his brother. He will say, ‘No,’ and tell you that he is innocent. Then inspect his cloak and you will find fresh blood on it.

“When you have seen this,” Nephi explained, “then ask him, ‘Where did this blood come from? Isn’t this the blood of your brother?

“He will then tremble and become pale, as if death were upon him. Then say to him, ‘Because of your fear and the paleness of your face we know you are guilty.’

“At this point,” Nephi continued, “his fear will become so great that he will confess everything and abandon his claims to innocence. He will tell you that I, Nephi, had nothing to do with the murder except what was shown to me by the power of God. You will know then that I am an honest man, and that I am sent by God.”

When the people confronted the judge’s brother all of Nephi’s predictions were fulfilled. At first the brother denied the crime, but then confessed. Nephi was released.

There were some who believed what Nephi said, and others who recognized the truth from the testimony of the five who’d been imprisoned. There were some who knew that Nephi was a true prophet of God. There were others who said, “He must be a god or else he couldn’t have known what he knew. He told us the thoughts in our hearts, and he informed us who the true murderer of the chief judge was.”