Nephi Breaks His Steel Bow

Then my brothers said, “Nephi, your words are so harsh we cannot bear them.” I replied, “I know my words are harsh against the wicked. I have justified the righteous and have testified that they will be lifted up at the last day. Guilty people take the truth to be hard on them, for it cuts them to the very center of their souls. If you were righteous—willing to listen to the truth and to obey God’s commandments, then you would not feel that I was speaking harshly to you.”

After I had diligently urged my brothers to keep the commandments, they humbled themselves before the Lord, and I was joyful. I had great hope that they would walk the path of righteousness.

All these things were said and done as my father lived in his tent in the valley he had named Lemuel. Of Ishmael’s five daughters, I married one, each of my three older brothers married one, and Zoram married the oldest. Up to this time, my father had fulfilled all the commandments the Lord had given him, and I, too had been very blessed by the Lord.

One night the Lord’s voice came to my father telling him to continue his journey in the wilderness. The next morning, when my father went to his tent door, to his great astonishment he saw a ball of strange workmanship, made of fine brass, sitting on the ground. Within the ball were two spindles. One pointed the way we should go in the wilderness.

We gathered our provisions that the Lord had given us, and the rest of the things we needed for our journey, including all types of seeds. Then we packed our tents and crossed the river that my father had named Laman. After traveling in a south-southeastern direction for four days, we set up camp in a place we called Shazer.

Then my brothers and I went into the wilderness with our bows and arrows to hunt for food. After finding food, we returned to our families. Then we continued our journey, going south-southeast, staying in the most fertile areas along the borders of the Red Sea.

We traveled for many days, hunting food along the way with our bows and arrows, stones and slings. We followed the direction of the spindle on the brass ball, which led us to the most fertile parts of the wilderness.

After many days, we set up camp again to rest for a while and to hunt for more food. While hunting, I broke my steel bow, and my brothers became angry with me because I could no longer obtain food. We returned to camp and found our families very tired because of their journeying and suffering from hunger. Soon all the men except myself began to complain greatly against the Lord because of their afflictions in the wilderness. Because of our weakness due to hunger, and because of my broken bow and my brothers’ bows which had lost their spring, our situation became desperate. And because my brothers had once again become stubborn, complaining against the Lord, I spoke to them for a long time.

Then I made a bow out of wood, and an arrow out of a straight stick. I took a sling and some stones and went to my father and asked him, “Where should I go to find food?” My father asked the Lord where I should go, for the family had humbled themselves after I had spoken many things to them in the energy of my soul. The Lord’s voice came to my father and chastised him for complaining, and my father became very sorry for having complained against God.

Then the Lord’s voice said to him, “Look at the writing on the ball.” After my father read the writing on the ball, he started to tremble with fear. When my brothers, Ishmael’s sons, and our wives read the writing, they also began to tremble. I then realized that the pointers on the ball worked according to our faith in and obedience to the directions they gave us. Also upon the pointers, we discovered some new words that were plainly written, which gave us understanding about the Lord’s ways. The writing was changed from time to time according to the faith and diligence we gave to its instructions. From this we learn that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.

I went to the top of a mountain, as instructed by the directions written on the ball. On the mountain, I found wild animals and obtained food for our families. When I returned to camp with food, everyone was overjoyed! They humbled themselves before the Lord and gave thanks to Him.

We regained our strength and continued our journey again in the same direction. After traveling for many days, we set up camp to rest again. And in this place, which we called Nahom, Ishmael died and was buried. His daughters were very sad for having lost their father, and because of their afflictions in the wilderness. They complained against my father, saying, “Lehi brought from our home in Jerusalem to wander in this wilderness. Now our father is dead, and we’ve suffered from fatigue, hunger and thirst. And after all our suffering we are going to die of starvation in this wilderness!”

They carried on with their complaining against my father, and toward me, asking their husbands to take them back to Jerusalem. Then, to make them angry against me, Laman said to Lemuel and Ishmael’s sons, “Let us kill our father, and also Nephi, who thinks he is a ruler and teacher over us, his older brothers. Nephi says the Lord has talked with him, and that angels have ministered to him, but we know he lies. He cunningly says these things to deceive us, to lead us away into some strange wilderness, where he plans to make himself king over us and do with us as he pleases.”

But in spite of my brothers, the Lord was with us all. His voice came like thunder and we all heard it. He told my brothers many things and chastised them severely. After this, they repented of their anger and became humble, and the Lord blessed us with food once again.