Nephi’S Words Anger His People

Event 140

Reference: Hel. 8:1-28; 9:1-41

AND now it came to pass that when Nephi had said thesewords, behold, there were men who were judges, who alsobelonged to the secret band of Gadianton, and they wereangry, and they cried out against him, saying unto thepeople:MormonCity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.Why do ye not seize upon this man and bring him forth, that hemay be condemned according to the crime which he has done? 2Why seest thou this man, and hearest him revile against thispeople and against our law?Gadianton’s Men3 For behold, Nephi had spoken unto them concerning thecorruptness of their law; yea, many things did Nephi speakwhich cannot be written; and nothing did he speak whichwas contrary to the commandments of God. 4 And thosejudges were angry with him because he spake plainly untothem concerning their secret works of darkness;nevertheless, they durst not lay their own hands upon him,for they feared the people lest they should cry out againstthem. 5 Therefore they did cry unto the people, saying:MormonWhy do you suffer this man to revile against us? For behold hedoth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and alsothat these our great cities shall be taken from us, that we shall haveno place in them. 6 And now we know that this is impossible, forbehold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore ourenemies can have no power over us.Judges7 And it came to pass that thus they did stir up the people toanger against Nephi, and raised contentions among them;for there were some who did cry out:MormonLet this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things whichhe saith will surely come to pass except we repent; 8 Yea, behold,all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us;for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning ouriniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well allthings which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities; 9 Yea,and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testifiedconcerning those things.People10 And it came to pass that those people who sought todestroy Nephi were compelled because of their fear, thatthey did not lay their hands on him; therefore he beganagain to speak unto them, seeing that he had gained favor inMormon the eyes of some, insomuch that the remainder of them didfear. 11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more untothem saying:MormonCity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power untoone man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea,and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites,who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and thewaters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowedthem up? 12 And now behold, if God gave unto this man suchpower, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say thathe hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerningthe judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent? 13 But,behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the wordswhich have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words whichwere spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power givenunto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning thecoming of the Messiah. 14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Sonof God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in thewilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. 15 Andas many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so asmany as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having acontrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.Nephi16 And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, butalso all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days ofAbraham. 17 Yea, and behold, Abraham saw of his coming, andwas filled with gladness and did rejoice. 18 Yea, and behold I sayunto you, that Abraham not only knew of these things, but therewere many before the days of Abraham who were called by theorder of God; yea, even after the order of his Son; and this that itshould be shown unto the people, a great many thousand yearsbefore his coming, that even redemption should come unto them.19 And now I would that ye should know, that even since the daysof Abraham there have been many prophets that have testifiedthese things; yea, behold, the prophet Zenos did testify boldly; forthe which he was slain. 20 And behold, also Zenock, and alsoEzias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah being that sameprophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem) and now weknow that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words ofJeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to hisprophecy? 21 And now will you dispute that Jerusalem wasdestroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, allexcept it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed ofZedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land ofJerusalem? But behold, this is not all—22 Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testifiedof these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almostall of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testifiedof the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and haverejoiced in his day which is to come. 23 And behold, he is God, and he is with them, and he did manifest himself unto them, thatthey were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory,because of that which is to come. 24 And now, seeing ye knowthese things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore inthis ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things,notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea,even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and allthings which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.NephiCity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.25 But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and rebelled against yourholy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up foryourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, andwhere nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up foryourselves wrath against the day of judgment. 26 Yea, even at thistime ye are ripening, because of your murders and your fornicationand wickedness, for everlasting destruction; yea, and except yerepent it will come unto you soon. 27 Yea, behold it is now even atyour doors; yea, go ye in unto the judgment-seat, and search; andbehold, your judge is murdered, and he lieth in his blood; and hehath been murdered by his brother, who seeketh to sit in thejudgment-seat. 28 And behold, they both belong to your secretband, whose author is Gadianton and the evil one who seeketh todestroy the souls of men.1 BEHOLD, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spokenthese words, certain men who were among them ran to thejudgment-seat; yea, even there were five who went, andthey said among themselves, as they went:Mormon2 Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be aprophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy suchmarvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not believe that he hath;yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if thisthing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that hebe dead, then will we believe that the other words which he hasspoken are true.Five Men3 And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and camein unto the judgment-seat; and behold, the chief judge hadfallen to the earth, and did lie in his blood. 4 And nowbehold, when they saw this they were astonishedexceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for theyhad not believed the words which Nephi had spokenconcerning the chief judge. 5 But now, when they saw theybelieved, and fear came upon them lest all the judgmentswhich Nephi had spoken should come upon the people;therefore they did quake, and had fallen to the earth. 6 Now,immediately when the judge had been murdered—he beingstabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy, and he fled, andthe servants ran and told the people, raising the cry ofmurder among them; 7 And behold the people did gatherMormonJudgment-seat incity of Zarahemla themselves together unto the place of the judgment-seat—and behold, to their astonishment they saw those five menwho had fallen to the earth. 8 And now behold, the peopleknew nothing concerning the multitude who had gatheredtogether at the garden of Nephi; therefore they said amongthemselves:MormonJudgment-seat incity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.These men are they who have murdered the judge, and God hassmitten them that they could not flee from us.People9 And it came to pass that they laid hold on them, andbound them and cast them into prison. And there was aproclamation sent abroad that the judge was slain, and thatthe murderers had been taken and were cast into prison.Mormon10 And it came to pass that on the morrow the people didassemble themselves together to mourn and to fast, at theburial of the great chief judge who had been slain. 11 Andthus also those judges who were at the garden of Nephi, andheard his words, were also gathered together at the burial.City of Zarahemla12 And it came to pass that they inquired among the people,saying:Where are the five who were sent to inquire concerning the chiefjudge whether he was dead?JudgesAnd they answered and said:MormonConcerning this five whom ye say ye have sent, we know not; butthere are five who are the murderers, whom we have cast intoprison.People13 And it came to pass that the judges desired that theyshould be brought; and they were brought, and behold theywere the five who were sent; and behold the judges inquiredof them to know concerning the matter, and they told themall that they had done, saying:Mormon14 We ran and came to the place of the judgment-seat, and whenwe saw all things even as Nephi had testified, we were astonishedinsomuch that we fell to the earth; and when we were recoveredfrom our astonishment, behold they cast us into prison. 15 Now, asfor the murder of this man, we know not who has done it; and onlythis much we know, we ran and came according as ye desired, andbehold he was dead, according to the words of Nephi.Five Men16 And now it came to pass that the judges did expound thematter unto the people, and did cry out against Nephi,saying:Mormon Behold, we know that this Nephi must have agreed with some oneto slay the judge, and then he might declare it unto us, that hemight convert us unto his faith, that he might raise himself to be agreat man, chosen of God, and a prophet. 17 And now behold, wewill detect this man, and he shall confess his fault and makeknown unto us the true murderer of this judge.JudgesCity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.18 And it came to pass that the five were liberated on theday of the burial. Nevertheless, they did rebuke the judgesin the words which they had spoken against Nephi, and didcontend with them one by one, insomuch that they didconfound them. 19 Nevertheless, they caused that Nephishould be taken and bound and brought before themultitude, and they began to question him in divers waysthat they might cross him, that they might accuse him todeath— 20 Saying unto him:MormonThou art confederate; who is this man that hath done this murder?Now tell us, and acknowledge thy fault;Judgessaying,MormonBehold here is money; and also we will grant unto thee thy life ifthou wilt tell us, and acknowledge the agreement which thou hastmade with him.Judges21 But Nephi said unto them:MormonO ye fools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffneckedpeople, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer youthat ye shall go on in this your way of sin? 22 O ye ought to beginto howl and mourn, because of the great destruction which at thistime doth await you, except ye shall repent. 23 Behold ye say that Ihave agreed with a man that he should murder Seezoram, our chiefjudge. But behold, I say unto you, that this is because I havetestified unto you that ye might know concerning this thing; yea,even for a witness unto you, that I did know of the wickedness andabominations which are among you. 24 And because I have donethis, ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should do thisthing; yea, because I showed unto you this sign ye are angry withme, and seek to destroy my life. 25 And now behold, I will showunto you another sign, and see if ye will in this thing seek todestroy me. 26 Behold I say unto you: Go to the house of Seantum,who is the brother of Seezoram, and say unto him—Nephi27 Has Nephi, the pretended prophet, who doth prophesy somuch evil concerning this people, agreed with thee, in thewhich ye have murdered Seezoram, who is your brother?28 And behold, he shall say unto you,Nay.29 And ye shall say unto him: Have ye murdered your brother?NephiCity of Zarahemla23 to 21 B.C.30 And he shall stand with fear, and wist not what to say. Andbehold, he shall deny unto you; and he shall make as if he wereastonished; nevertheless, he shall declare unto you that he isinnocent. 31 But behold, ye shall examine him, and ye shall findblood upon the skirts of his cloak. 32 And when ye have seen this,ye shall say:From whence cometh this blood? Do we not know that it is theblood of your brother?33 And then shall he tremble, and shall look pale, even as if deathhad come upon him. 34 And then shall ye say:Because of this fear and this paleness which has come uponyour face, behold, we know that thou art guilty.35 And then shall greater fear come upon him; and then shall heconfess unto you, and deny no more that he has done this murder.36 And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothingconcerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power ofGod. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that Iam sent unto you from God.37 And it came to pass that they went and did, evenaccording as Nephi had said unto them. And behold, thewords which he had said were true; for according to thewords he did deny; and also according to the words he didconfess. 38 And he was brought to prove that he himself wasthe very murderer, insomuch that the five were set at liberty,and also was Nephi. 39 And there were some of theNephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and therewere some also, who believed because of the testimony ofthe five, for they had been converted while they were inprison. 40 And now there were some among the people, whosaid that Nephi was a prophet. 41 And there were otherswho said:MormonBehold, he is a god, for except he was a god he could not know ofall things. For behold, he has told us the thoughts of our hearts,and also has told us things; and even he has brought unto ourknowledge the true murderer of our chief judge.People