Chapter 11

Nephi’s Commentary on Isaiah

1 Now I, Nephi, want to talk a bit about what Isaiah has said. 2 Isaiah said many things which were hard for many of my people to understand, because they didn’t know how the Jewish interpreted scripture. 3 I haven’t taught them a lot about what the Jewish people believed, because I believe the Jewish people were misled. 4 I write to my people and to everyone who accepts my writings so they can come closer to God and know how God treats humanity. 5 My people, who are a part of the family of Israel, listen to what I say! The words of Isaiah may be confusing to you, but to those who are filled with the Spirit of prophecy they are easy to understand. 6 The Spirit helps me prophesy to you in a way that is easy for you to understand. I have spoken this plainly to you since I left Jerusalem with my father. 7 I love speaking plainly to my people so that they can learn.

8 I love reading the words of Isaiah because I too came from Jerusalem and have seen the actions of the Jewish people. I know that the Jewish people understand how the prophets prophesied. No one is able to understand what the prophets have said unless they are familiar with the Jewish people. 9 I grew up in Jerusalem, but will not be raising my children like how I was raised among the Jewish people. 10 Instead, I have taught my children about God and the prophecies of the prophets (including Isaiah).

Nephi’s Prophecies

The Jewish People

The Jewish People in Jerusalem

11 I would like to give some of my own prophecies about what I think is the best way to live.

12 People will know when Isaiah’s prophecies are being fulfilled. 13 These prophecies are valuable to humanity. I want to speak to those among my people that say that they are not. 14 I believe that they will be valuable to those in the last days. In that day they will understand the prophecies. They’re so valuable that I wanted to repeat them with my own writings! 15 Many generations of the Jewish people have been destroyed because of their wickedness. 16 However, the Divine has always sent prophets to try and help them give up their wickedness. 17 The prophets told Jerusalem what would happen to them right after my father left the city. 18 Despite the pleadings of the prophets those in the city of Jerusalem hardened their hearts. I’m here to prophecy to you that the city of Jerusalem has now been destroyed or been carried away as captives into Babylon.

19 I say this to you because the Spirit compels me to. 20 Its true that the city of Jerusalem has been carried away as captives into Babylon, but one day they will return and take their homeland back. 21 They will have wars and rumors of wars. When the Divine comes to join humanity they will reject Him due to their wickedness, hard hearts, and stubbornness. 22 They will crucify the Divine. After He is laid in His tomb for three days He will rise from the dead with healing in His wings. Everyone who trusts Him will be freed in the Divine’s realm. 23 I am filled with joy when I prophesy about Him. I have seen his day and my heart magnifies His holy name.

24 After the Messiah has risen from the dead and visited my people, then Jerusalem will be destroyed again. Woe to those that fight the Divine and Their people! 25 The Jewish people will be scattered across the world and Babylon will be destroyed.

Israel Will Be Restored

26 After the Jewish people have been scattered, and the nations of the earth have treated them harshly for many generations, they will accept Christ as the Son of God and his infinite atonement for humanity. 27 When that day comes they will trust Christ and worship the Creator in His name. They will have pure hearts, clean hands, and stop anticipating a coming Messiah. They will understand that it is wise to believe these things. 28 The Divine will restore Their people from their lost and fallen states. 29 They will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among humanity.

30 The Divine will bring Their words to the Jewish people. These words will be used as a metric when reviewing the Jewish peoples’ lives at the last day. 31 They will be given these words in order to convince them who the true Messiah is, who will be rejected by their ancestors. 32 These words will also be used to convince them that they don’t need to look for the Messiah anymore. 33 Anyone who comes and claims to be the Messiah is being deceptive. 34 The prophets only spoke of one messiah, and he will be rejected by the Jewish people. 35 According to the prophecies of the prophets, the Messiah will come six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem. 36 According to the prophets, as well as the angel who spoke to me, the Messiah’s name will be Jesus Christ, and he will be the Son of God.

37 I have spoken clearly so you can’t misunderstand me. 38 God is powerful enough to bring Israel out of Egypt! God is powerful enough to give Moses the power to heal people from poisonous snake bites if they looked at a serpent on a rod! God is powerful enough to give Moses the power to hit a rock so water would gush out! 39 Just as those things are true, it is also true that Jesus Christ is the only way humanity can be freed.

40 The Divine has promised me that what I write will be kept safe as I pass them on to my descendants and continue to be passed from generation-to-generation. This will fulfill the promise to Joseph, which said that his descendants will not be destroyed as long as the earth exists. 41 These writings will be passed from generation-to-generation as long as the earth exists! They will go as the Divine wishes. 42 Those that possess these writings will be reviewed and assessed by them.

The Nephites

The Law Points To Christ

43 We make these writings to persuade our descendants and our relatives to trust Christ and reconcile with God. 44 We know that after we have done everything that we can, we are freed by grace. 45 Even though we trust Christ we still keep the law of Moses. We eagerly look forward to Christ and when he will fulfill the law, which is why the law was given in the first place. 46 The law is dead to us and we are brought to life by Christ because of our faith. 47 Yet, for now, we keep the law of Moses because we are asked to. 48 We talk about Christ, we are filled with joy because of Christ, we teach about Christ, and we prophesy about Christ. We write our prophecies down so our descendants can learn about how to fix their mistakes. 49 We talk about the law of Moses so our descendants will know how dead it is. 50 Since they know how dead the law is they will look forward to the life that Christ brings and realize why the law was given. 51 After the law is fulfilled by Christ they shouldn’t be upset by Him and reject Him; they should be doing away with the law.

52 You, my people, are very stubborn. I have spoken very clearly to you so you couldn’t misunderstand. 53 The things I’ve taught you will stand as a testament against you, because they are enough to teach anyone the right way. 54 The right way is to trust Christ and not reject him. If you reject him you also reject the prophets and the law. 55 The right way is to trust Christ, the Holy One of Israel, and not reject him. 56 You should have humility, trust the Divine, and worship Christ with all your strength, mind, and power of our soul. If you do this you will not be thrown out. 57 You should keep the law of Moses until the law is fulfilled by Christ.

Christ Will Visit The Nephites

58 After Christ has risen from the dead he will show himself to you, my descendants, as well as the descendants of my siblings. 59 The things which he will teach you will be the things you should do. 60 I have seen that many generations will pass away and there will be great wars and contentions among my people. 61 There will be a sign for my people which signals the birth of the Messiah as well as his death and resurrection. 62 That day will be a terrible day for the wicked, because they will die. 63 They will die because they threw out the prophets and the saints and killed them by stoning them. 64 The blood of the saints will cry out to God against them.

65 The Divine says “All those prideful and wicked people will be burned up like dry grass on that day. 66 Those that kill the prophets and saints will be swallowed up by the earth. 67 Mountains will cover them, whirlwinds will blow them away, buildings will fall on them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. 68 They will be visited with thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and all sorts of destruction. 69 The Divine will be angry with them. They will be like dry grass and the day will come that they will burn.”

The Nephites Will Be Destroyed

70 My soul is filled with pain and anguish because of the loss of my slain people! 71 I have seen it and and it almost destroyed me while I was with the Divine. I must cry to my God, “I trust that your ways are just”. 72 Those righteous people who listen to the words of the prophets, instead of killing them, and eagerly look forward to Christ and the signs that announce him will not die, despite the hardships they will endure. 73 The Son of Righteousness will appear to them, heal them, and have peace with them. They will have this peace and righteousness for three full generations, and many of a fourth generation as well.

74 When these things happen my people will quickly be destroyed. Even though it kills me, I have seen it and know it will happen. 75 They sell themselves for nothing but pride. The reward for their pride and foolishness will be destruction. 76 Because they give themselves to the Devil and choose works of darkness instead of light, they must go down to hell. The Spirit of the Divine won’t always work with people. 77 When the Spirit stops working with someone then a speedy destruction is sure to follow, and this grieves my soul.

The Coming of the Book of Mormon

78 I talked about how the Jewish people need to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Eternal God, but the non-Jewish people also need to realize this. He will show himself to anyone who trusts him by the power of the Holy Ghost. 79 He shows himself to every nation, family, language, and people! He performs wonderful miracles and gives signs to humanity if they trust Him.

80 I will prophesy to you about the last days when the Divine will make these things reality. 81 After my descendants and the descendants of my brothers no longer trust the Divine and have been killed by the non-Jewish people, 82 that is to say after the Divine allows their enemies to surround and  overpower them 83 and are almost completely destroyed, the words of the righteous will still be written, prayers will be heard, and those who don’t trust the Divine won’t be forgotten. 84 Their ancestors who were destroyed will whisper to them from the grave with their writings, and these writings will sound familiar. 85 The Divine will give these ancestors the power to whisper to their descendants.

86 The Divine says “The Nephites will write their history in a book which will be protected. Those that don’t trust the Divine won’t have access to this book because they would want to destroy it. 87 Those who seek to destroy it will themselves be destroyed quickly. They will burn as quickly as dry grass. 88 This will happen in an instant!”

The Non-Jewish People

The Churches of the Non-Jewish People

89 Inevitably those that don’t trust the Divine will be killed by the non-Jewish people. 90 The non-Jewish people have made a lot of mistakes because of their pride, including starting many churches. 91 They deny God’s power and miracles and teach their own wisdom and understanding so they can get rich and control the poor. 92 Many of these churches are the source of envy, fighting, and malice. 93 There are secret and evil groups, just like there were in olden days. The Devil is their founder of all of them! He is the founder of murder and evil! 94 He ties a noose around their neck and keeps them bound forever.

All Are Invited To Christ

95 My beloved family and friends, God does not work in darkness. 96 The Divine does nothing except help the world, because the Divine loves the world. The Divine loves the world so much that They are willing to die for it to get closer to all of humanity. 97 The Divine doesn’t bar anyone from enjoying Their freedom. 98 Does the Divine turn anyone away? 99 No! The Divine says “Everyone, come to me! Have milk and honey without having to pay for it.” 100 Does the Divine force people out of churches? 101 No! 102 Does the Divine bar anyone from enjoying freedom? 103 No! The Divine freely gives it to all of humanity, but the Divine wants us to seek reconciliation. 104 Does the Divine tell people not to enjoy the goodness of God? 105 No! The Divine treats everyone equally and doesn’t turn away anyone. 106 The Divine tells us not to engage in priestcraft, which is when people teach in order to gain worldly notoriety and praise instead of seeking the welfare of Zion. 107 The Divine has forbidden priestcraft.

God has told us to be charitable. Being charitable is a form of love. 108 If you don’t have charity you have nothing. If you have charity you won’t allow anyone who works to build Zion to die. 109 Those who work to build Zion should work to build Zion; if they end up working for money and worldly notoriety they will die.

110 The Divine said not to murder, lie, steal, wrongly speak for the Divine, be envious, have malice, fight with each other, or engage in harmful sexuality. 111 Those that do this will die. The Divine doesn’t condone any of this.

The Divine does good among humanity. 112 The Divine doesn’t do anything that humanity won’t understand. 113 The Divine invites everyone to learn about Their goodness. 114 No one is denied, regardless of if they’re black or white, enslaved or free, male or female, 115 Jewish or non-Jewish. The Divine even remembers those that don’t know the Divine. Everyone is equal to the Divine.

Destruction Of The Wicked

116 In the last days, the days of the non-Jewish people, all of the nations of the Jewish people in the world will be drunk with wickedness.

Isaiah 29:6-32

117 The day will come when the Divine will come with thunder, earthquakes, loud noises, storms and tempests, and a devouring flame!

118 All the nations will fight against and distress Zion will be remembered like a dream. 119 They will be like hungry people who eat in their sleep, but when they wake up they are still hungry. 120 They will be like thirsty people who drink in their sleep, but when they wake up they are weak and still thirsty. 121 This will be how it is for all the nations that fight against Zion.

122 If you do evil things, take a moment to think about this because you will shout and cry; you will be drunk, but not with wine; you will stagger, but not because of alcohol. 123 The Divine has made you very sleepy 124 because you have closed your eyes and rejected the prophets and leaders. The Divine doesn’t let seers see because of your wickedness.

Translation of the Golden Plates 

125 The Divine will bring you a book from those who have passed away. 126 The book will be protected and it will be a revelation of the world from its beginning to its end. 127 Because this book is protected it will not be given when humanity is wicked. 128 The book will be kept from them. 129 The book will be given to a man who will read the words of those who have passed away aloud to another man who will write them down; the book itself will not be given to the transcriber. 130 The book, along with its revelations, will be protected by the power of God until God chooses the right time. This book will reveal all the things from the beginning of the world to its end. 131 The day will come that the words in this book will be shouted from the rooftops with the power of Christ! 132 Everything which humanity has ever done or ever will do will be shown to all of humanity!

133 When that book is delivered to the man that I spoke of it will be hidden from the world and, except the man it was given to, no one will be able to see it except three witnesses. They will see it with the power of God. They will testify of the truth of the book and the things that it says. 134 Only a few people will be able to see it, and even then it will only with the power of God. They will be permitted to see it in order to teach what the Divine says to others. The Divine has said that the words of the righteous authors of the book should speak from the grave. 135 The Divine will bring the words of the book forward! There will be as many witnesses as the Divine thinks is necessary. Woe to those that reject the word of God!

136 One day the Divine will say to the man who has the book “Take the words which are not sealed and give them to an educated person and ask him to read it.” 137 The educated person will say “Bring me the book and I will read it.” 138 The educated person will say this in order to gain notoriety in the world and get rich off of it, and not because he wants to glorify God. 139 The man will say “I cannot give you the book, because it is protected.” The educated person will say “Then I cannot read it.”

141 Then God will give the book back to the uneducated man and he will say “I am not educated.” 142 The Divine will say to him “The educated will not read them, because they reject them. I am still able to do my work. I want you to read the words which I will give to you. 143 Don’t touch the protected book, because I will bring them out when the time is right. I want to show humanity that I am able to do my own work. 144 When you read the words that I ask you to read and have gotten the witnesses I have asked you to get, then I want you to protect the book again by giving it back to me. This way I can preserve the words that you haven’t read until I decide to give the rest to humanity. 145 I am God, and I am a god of miracles. I will show the world that I am the same God that I was yesterday, that I am today, and will be tomorrow. I don’t do anything for humanity unless they trust me.”

A Marvelous Work And A Wonder (Isaiah 29:13-24)

146 The Divine will say to him who reads the book aloud: “Humanity speaks well of me and loves me, but they don’t know me. They only know me through the concepts that people make up about me. That is why I will do a marvelous work among humanity. 147 This will be a marvelous and wonderful work! It will destroy the concepts of me that have been established and it will confuse the educated. 

148 Woe to those that go to great lengths to hide their plans from the Divine. 149 Their works are evil and they will say ‘Who will see? Who will know?’ 150 They also say ‘You’ve got things all wrong! Should the potter be thought of as clay?’ 151 I will show them that I know everything that they do. 152 Can the creation say to the creator ‘you didn’t make me!’? 153 Can the pottery say to the potter ‘you know nothing’?

154 Not long from now Lebanon’s orchards will be ready to harvest. 155 It will be then that even the deaf will hear the words of the book and the blind will see. 156 The poor and oppressed will be full of joy because of the Divine. 157 Just as sure as the Divine lives they will see the ruthless vanish, those who taunt will disappear, those who have an eye for evil will be cut off, and those who falsely accuse and lie in court will become nothing.

158 The house of Jacob will no longer be ashamed or have its face grow pale. 159 When they see the work I have done among their children they will honor and trust me. 160 Those that did wrong before will come to understand. Those that complain will gain insight.”