Nephi is Told to Get the Brass Plates

After the Lord had told me these things, I returned to my father’s tent, wherein he told me, “In a dream, the Lord commanded me to tell you and your brothers to go back to Jerusalem, where Laban, the keeper of the holy records, has the writings of Moses and other prophets, and the genealogy of my forefathers engraved on brass plates. The Lord commanded me to tell you to go to Laban’s house where he keeps these brass plates, to ask Laban for them, and to bring them to me in this valley. When I told your brothers to do this they complained, saying what I was asking of them was too hard. I told them it wasn’t my commandment, but the Lord’s. You must go, Nephi. Lead your brothers, and the Lord will favor you because you have not complained.”

I answered my father, “I will go and do as the Lord has commanded, for I know He does not give us commandments without preparing a way for us to obey them.” When my father heard this, he was very glad, knowing that I had been blessed by the Lord.

Then my three older brothers and I took our tents and traveled back to Jerusalem. Upon arriving there, we talked about how to get the brass plates from Laban. We cast lots to know who should go into Laban’s house and talk with him. The lot fell upon Laman, so he went in and talked with Laban as he sat in his house. Laman asked Laban for the brass plates, which contained my father’s genealogy. Laban became angry and threw Laman out of his house, shouting, “You’re a robber, and I’ll kill you!” But Laman escaped and ran back to tell us what had happened.

We became very discouraged, and my brothers were about to return to my father in the wilderness, but I told them, “As the Lord lives, and as we live, we will not go back to our father until we have accomplished the Lord’s command. Let us be faithful like our father, who gave up all his wealth to obey the Lord. Our father knows that this city will be destroyed because the people here are so wicked.

“They have rejected the words of the prophets. If our father had also rejected the word of the Lord, which told him to leave, then our entire family would still be here, where we would die. This is why we had to leave.

“And in His wisdom, the Lord told us to come back here for the records so we can preserve the language of our forefathers and the words of the holy prophets, who have spoken by the Spirit and power of God since the world began until now.”

By saying these things I persuaded my brothers to be more faithful so we could accomplish our task. Then we went back to our home (in Jerusalem) to gather our gold, silver, and treasures to take to Laban’s house. This time we all went into Laban’s house and told him we would like to buy the brass plates with our gold, silver, and treasures. When Laban saw our great wealth, he was determined to have it. Being very cunning and greedy, Laban drove us out of his house and called his servants to kill us. In order to escape the servants, we had to abandon our property, run into the wilderness and hide in a cave.

After resting in the cave, Laman and Lemuel became very angry with me, and also with our father for telling us to get the plates. They started beating Sam and me with a stick.

Then an angel of the Lord came and stood before them and asked, “Why are you beating your younger brother? Don’t you know that the Lord has chosen him to be your ruler because of your sins? Now go back to Jerusalem, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.” After saying this, the angel left. Just as soon as the angel had left, Laman and Lemuel asked, “How can the Lord deliver Laban into our hands? Laban commands fifty servants, who could kill fifty men, and there are only four of us!”