Nephi is Told to Build a Ship

Then we took up our travels, heading east. We continued to suffer with affliction in the wilderness as our wives bore children, but the Lord poured great blessings upon us. While eating raw meat (for we were commanded not to make many fires) our wives were healthy and nursed their babies. The women became as strong as the men, and they began to bear the harshness of the journey without complaint.

The miracle of our survival in the harsh wilderness is proof that God’s promises will be fulfilled. If His children keep His commandments, He will feed and strengthen them so that they may accomplish His commandments, for the Lord fed us while we traveled in the wilderness.

We camped and traveled in the wilderness for eight years, and finally we came to a land we called Bountiful because it had so much fruit and wild honey prepared for us by the Lord. Bountiful was by the sea, which we called Irreantum, meaning “many waters.” We were very happy to pitch our tents by the seashore and rest, for we had suffered much in the wilderness—so much that I cannot write it all.

After we had been in Bountiful for many days, the Lord’s voice came to me, saying, “Go up onto the mountain.” I went up and prayed, and the Lord said to me, “Nephi, you will build a ship according to my design that I will show you. You will do this so that I may carry your people to the promised land across this great ocean.” I asked the Lord, “Where do I find ore to smelt, to make the tools needed to build this ship?” And the Lord told me where to find the ore.

I, Nephi, made bellows from animal skins to blow a fire. Then I struck two stones together and made a fire. Before this, I had not made many fires because of the Lord’s command, for He had said, “I will make your raw meat taste good so that you will not have to cook it. If you keep my commandments, I will be your light in the wilderness and prepare the way before you. I will lead you to the promised land, and you will know that it is I who leads you. After you arrive in the promised land, you will know that I the Lord am God, and that I delivered you from destruction by bringing you out of Jerusalem.”

After speaking with the Lord, I did my best to keep His commandments, and I encouraged my brothers to be faithful and diligent as well. Then I made tools from metal ore that I smelted out of the rock. When my brothers realized what I was doing, they said I was a fool to think that I could build a ship good enough to cross the great ocean. They would not help me because they did not believe that I could build a ship or that the Lord had told me to build it.

I became very sorrowful because of their hard hearts and stubbornness. When they saw this, they became glad and said, “We knew that you could not build a ship. We knew you overestimated your abilities. You can’t do such a great work. You are just like our father, who is led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart. He has led us to wander for these many years in the wilderness. Our wives have suffered by bearing children in the wilderness. They have suffered everything but death and would have been better off dying in Jerusalem rather than suffering so much out here. For these many years we have suffered in the wilderness when we could have been happily enjoying our possessions in the land of our inheritance. We know the people of Jerusalem are righteous, for they keep all the Lord’s statutes, judgments, and commandments according to the law of Moses. But our father has judged them and has led us away because he knew we would follow him. And you, Nephi, are just like him!”

I replied, “Do you believe our forefathers would have been led out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not listened to the words of the Lord? Do you believe they would have been led out of their bondage if the Lord had not commanded Moses to lead them out? You know the children of Israel were in bondage and were given many hard tasks as slaves, and so you know that it was good for them to be led out of bondage. You know that Moses was commanded by the Lord to do this great work, and that by his word the Red Sea divided and the children of Israel walked through on dry ground. You know that the armies who followed them were drowned in the Red Sea. You know that the children of Israel were fed with manna while in the wilderness, and that Moses, by his word according to God’s power in him, struck a rock, and water flowed out for the people to drink.

“After being led by the Lord their God, their Redeemer, who went before them by day, who gave them light by night, and who did all things for them that they needed, they still hardened their hearts and rebelled against Moses and against God. And by the Lord’s word, He destroyed the children of Israel in their rebellion, or by His word, He led and nourished them in the wilderness. After they crossed the Jordan River, the Lord gave them strength to drive out those who were in the land, to scatter and destroy them. And do you think that the people driven out by our forefathers were a righteous people? No, they were not. And do you think that our forefathers would have been chosen to inherit the land of promise if the people who were already there were righteous? No, they would not have been. The Lord esteems all people equally, yet He favors the righteous. Those who were driven off the land were ripe in wickedness, and the fulness of His anger was upon them. The Lord cursed the land against them to their destruction, and blessed the land for our forefathers so that they could obtain power over it, for the Lord created the earth to be inhabited, and He created His children to possess the earth in righteousness. He raises up a righteous nation and destroys the wicked ones. He leads the righteous into precious lands, and He destroys the wicked, cursing the land for their sakes. He rules high in the heavens, for it is His throne, and the earth His footstool. He loves to bless those who accept Him as their God. He blessed our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by making covenants with them, and He remembered those covenants by bringing their descendants out of Egypt.

“The Lord purified the children of Jacob (Israel) because they were stubborn and hard in their hearts, as you are. He sent fiery flying snakes among them. After they had been bitten, He prepared a way for them to be healed by simply looking at the brass snake held up by Moses. Because the way to be healed was so simple, many would not look up, and died. They also hardened their hearts from time to time, and reviled against Moses, and also against God. But in spite of all this, you know they were led by His matchless power into the promised land.

“After all this, the children of Israel, now in Jerusalem, have become wicked and are ripening for destruction. I know the day must surely come when they will be destroyed, except for a few who will be taken captive. This is why the Lord commanded my father to depart into the wilderness. The Jews planned to kill him, as you now do, so you are murderers in your hearts like the Jews. You are swift to do iniquity, but slow to remember the Lord your God. You have seen an angel who spoke to you, and you have heard the Lord’s voice from time to time. He spoke to you with a soft, gentle voice, but you had become too hardened to feel His words. This is why the Lord has spoken to you with a voice of thunder, causing the earth to quake as if it were about to split open. You know that by the power of His almighty word, He can cause the earth to pass away, the mountains to become valleys, and the valleys to become mountains. Knowing all this, why are you still so hard in your hearts? My soul is full of anguish because of you, and my heart is pained, for I am afraid that you will be cast from God’s presence forever. Look at me. I am so full of the Spirit of God that it consumes my strength!”

After I said all this, Laman and Lemuel were angry with me, and seeing my weakness, they were about to take me and throw me into the sea. As they were about to take hold of me I said, “In the name of the Almighty God, do not touch me, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh. Whoever touches me will wither as a dried reed in the sun, and be nothing before God, who will smite him!” Then I told them to stop complaining and plotting against my father and me, and to no longer refuse to help me build the ship. I said, “If God commanded me to do anything, I could do it. If He commanded me to say to this water, ‘Be thou earth,’ it would be earth! And if the Lord has such great power and has brought about so many miracles among His people, why can’t He tell me how to build a ship?” I said many more things to confound Laman and Lemuel. The Spirit of God was so powerful upon them, that they dared not touch me for many days, for they were afraid of withering before me.

After many days, the Lord told me to hold out my arm and touch my brothers, and that He would shock them so they would know it was by His power. I did as the Lord said, and after He shook them they said, “Nephi, we know for sure that the Lord is with you, and that His power has shaken us.” Then they fell down before me and were about to worship me, but I told them not to. I said, “I’m your younger brother. Worship the Lord your God, and honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God will give you.”