THE FIRST BOOK OF NEFI Chapter 6

  1. Now it came to pass that I, Nefi, did teach my brothers these things. And it came to pass that I did read many things to them which were engraved upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of yhwh in other lands among people of old. And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moshe. But that I might more fully persuade them to believe in yhwh their Redeemer, I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Yesha’yahu; for I did apply all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning. Wherefore, I spoke unto them, saying, Hear you the words of the prophet, you who are a remnant of the house of Isra’el, a branch who have been broken off. Hear you the words of the prophet which were written unto all the house of Isra’el and apply them unto yourselves, that you may have hope as well as your brothers from whom you have been broken off.

    2. Yesha’yahu 48 from the Plates of Brass

  2. For after this manner has the prophet written: Hearken and hear this, O house of Ya’akov, who are called by the name of Isra’el and are come forth out of the waters of Y’hudah (or out of the waters of immersion), who swear by the name of yhwh and make mention of the Elohim of Isra’el; yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness. Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the Elohim of Isra’el, who is yhwh Tzva’ot; yes, yhwh Tzva’ot is his name. Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly. And I did it because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your brow brass. And I have, even from the beginning, declared to you; before it came to pass, I showed them you. And I showed them for fear that you should say, My idol has done them, and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them. You have heard and seen all this,150 and will you not declare them? And that I have showed you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them? They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not, they were declared unto you, for fear that you should say, Behold, I knew them. Yes, and you heard not, yes, you knew not; yes, from that time your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously and were called a transgressor from the womb. Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain from you, that I cut you not off. For behold, I have refined you; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake — yes, for my own sake — will I do this; for I will not allow my name to be polluted.151 And I will not give my glory unto another.
  3. Hearken unto me, O Ya’akov, and Isra’el my called, for I am he: I am the First, and I am also the Last. My hand has also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens; and I call unto them and they stand up together. All of you, assemble yourselves and hear: Who among them has declared these things unto them? yhwh has loved him; yes, and he will fulfill his word which he has declared by them.152 And he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans also, says yhwh. I, yhwh, yes, I have spoken; yes, I have called him to declare; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
  4. Come you near unto me. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and Adonai yhwh and his spirit have sent me. And thus says yhwh your Redeemer, HaKodesh of Isra’el: I have sent him. yhwh your Elohim who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go, has done it. Oh that you had hearkened to my mitzvot; then had your shalom been as a river153 and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. Your seed also had been as the sand, the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof. His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
  5. Go forth out of Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter to the end of the earth, say you, yhwh has redeemed his servant Ya’akov and they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts, he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also and the waters gushed out. And though he has done all this, and greater also, there is no shalom, says yhwh, unto the wicked.

    6. Yesha’yahu 49 from the Plates of Brass

  6. And again, Hearken, O you house of Isra’el, all you that are broken154 off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the shepherds of my people, yes, all you that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Isra’el. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken you people from far. yhwh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me and said unto me, You are my servant, O Isra’el, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; surely my judgment is with yhwh, and my work with my Elohim.
  7. And now says yhwh, that formed me from the womb, that I should be his servant to bring Ya’akov again to him. Though Isra’el be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of yhwh, and my Elohim shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Ya’akov and to restore the preserved of Isra’el. I will also give you for a light to the Goyim, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus says yhwh, the Redeemer of Isra’el, his Kadosh, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of yhwh that is faithful. Thus says yhwh: In an acceptable time have I heard you, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped you. And I will preserve you and give you my servant for a covenant of the people, to strengthen the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages, that you may say to the prisoners, Go forth — to them that sit in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun afflict them; for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. And then, O house of Isra’el, behold, these shall come from far, and lo, these from the north, and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.
  8. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains, for they shall be smitten no more. For yhwh has comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But behold, Tziyon has said, yhwh has abandoned me, and my yhwh155 has forgotten me — but he will show that he has not. For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you, O house of Isra’el. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms156 of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste against your destroyers, and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.
  9. Lift up your eyes round about and behold, all these gather themselves together, and they shall come to you. And as I live, says yhwh, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on, even as a bride. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants. And they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children whom you shall have, after you have lost the first, shall again in your ears say, The place is too narrow for me, give place to me that I may dwell. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?
  10. Thus says Adonai yhwh: Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Goyim and set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring your sons in their arms,157 and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their face towards the earth and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am yhwh, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus says yhwh: Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, for I will contend with him that contends with you and I will save your children. And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that I yhwh am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya’akov.