Laman and Lemuel Are Humbled, Yet They Rebel Again

My brothers worshiped the Lord and helped me build the ship. We worked the timber in a strange manner, for the Lord showed me from time to time how to fashion the timbers of the ship. It was not made like the ships of man’s design, for we built it according to the Lord’s design, which He showed me. I often went up to the mountain to pray to the Lord, and He showed me great things.

When we finished the ship, my brothers saw that it was good—the workmanship very fine—and again they humbled themselves before the Lord. Then one night, the Lord’s voice came to my father, Lehi, telling him that we should board the ship. In the morning we gathered the large supplies of meat, fruit, honey, seeds and provisions that the Lord told us to gather, and we boarded the ship.

In her old age, my mother had borne two sons in the wilderness. The first was named Jacob, the second, Joseph.

After we boarded the ship, we set out to sea and the wind drove us toward the promised land. After many days of sailing, my brothers and Ishmael’s two sons and their wives began to make themselves merry. They danced, sang and spoke very rudely, forgetting that God was carrying them safely across the sea. I was afraid that their rudeness would provoke the Lord to smite us, and that we would be swallowed up in the depths of the seam, so I spoke to them very seriously, but they became angry with me, and said, “We will not tolerate you trying to be a ruler over us.”

Then Laman and Lemuel tied me with ropes and treated me harshly. The Lord allowed them to do this in order to show His power and thereby fulfill His words about the wicked.

I could not move being tied, and the pointers on the compass that the Lord had made ceased to move as well. Then a great storm arose. It was such a terrible tempest that my brothers did not know which way to steer the ship, and we were driven back for three days. They became very frightened, thinking they would be drowned in the sea, but they still would not untie me.

On the fourth day, this terrible storm grew stronger still. By the end of that day, our ship was about to be swallowed up in the depths of the raging sea, and my brothers began to realize that God’s judgments were upon them—that unless they repented, they would die. So they untied me.

My wrists and ankles had become very sore and swollen, but I did not complain. I looked to God and praised Him all that day. While I had been tied, my father had said many things to my brothers, and to Ishmael’s sons, for which they had threatened him. They had also threatened anyone else who had tried to speak on my behalf. My parents had become very sick, being old, and having suffered much grief because of their sons. Their sorrow over the iniquity of my brothers and their years of affliction had brought them near death.

My young brothers, Jacob and Joseph, needed much nourishment, but they suffered because of their mother’s afflictions. Even the tears and prayers of my wife and children did not soften my brothers’ hearts, that they would untie me. Nothing but God’s power, threatening them with destruction, could soften their hearts. Only after they realized they were about to die at sea did they repent and untie me.

Finally freed, I held the compass and it began to work again. And as the storm raged on, I prayed to the Lord, and at last the tempest stopped and the waves became calm. Then I steered the ship as we sailed toward the promised land.

After sailing for many days, we joyfully arrived at the promised land and gave great thanks to God. We went upon the land and pitched our tents. We plowed the land and planted the seeds we had brought from Jerusalem. The seeds grew very well, and we were blessed with abundant crops. As we explored this promised land, we discovered many types of animals in the forests. We found cows, oxen, donkeys, horses, goats, and all kinds of wild animals which were useful to us. We also found many types of ore, including gold, silver, and copper.