The First Book Of Nephi His Reign And Ministry (Chap. 1.15)

1 Nephi 15:1
And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away
in the spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to the tent
of my father.

1 Nephi 15:2
And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were
disputing one with another concerning the things my father had
spoken unto them.

1 Nephi 15:3
For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were
hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and
they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto
the Lord as they ought.

1 Nephi 15:4
And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their
hearts, and also, because of the things which I had seen, and
knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great
wickedness of the children of men.

1 Nephi 15:5
And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my
afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great
above all, because of the destruction of my people, for I had
beheld their fall.

1 Nephi 15:6
And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake
unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their
disputations.

1 Nephi 15:7
And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which
our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the
olive-tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.

1 Nephi 15:8
And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

1 Nephi 15:9
And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no
such thing known unto us.

1 Nephi 15:10
Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the
commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because
of the hardness of your hearts?

1 Nephi 15:11
Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If
ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing
that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments,
surely these things shall be made known unto you.

1 Nephi 15:12
Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared
unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our
father; and behold are we not broken off from the house of
Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?

1 Nephi 15:13
And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the
grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the
Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have
dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many
generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto
the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the
Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the
remnant of our seed—

1 Nephi 15:14
And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they
are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people
of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge
of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of
their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him;
wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and
the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come
unto him and be saved.

1 Nephi 15:15
And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise
unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea,
at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment
from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of
God?

1 Nephi 15:16
Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again
among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a
natural branch of the olive-tree, into the true olive-tree.

1 Nephi 15:17
And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it
will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the
Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the
Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for
the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the
house of Israel.

1 Nephi 15:18
Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but
also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which
should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord
made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the
kindreds of the earth be blessed.

1 Nephi 15:19
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them
concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerning the
restoration of the Jews in the latter days.

1 Nephi 15:20
And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spake
concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of
Israel; and after they were restored they should no more be
confounded, neither should they be scattered again. And it came
to pass that I did speak many words unto my brethren, that they
were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord.

1 Nephi 15:21
And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again,
saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream?
What meaneth the tree which he saw?

1 Nephi 15:22
And I said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of
life.

1 Nephi 15:23
And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our
father saw, that led to the tree?

1 Nephi 15:24
And I said unto them that it was the word of God, and whose
would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it,
they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the
fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to
lead them away to destruction.

1 Nephi 15:25
Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the
word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of
my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they
would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his
commandments always in all things.

1 Nephi 15:26
And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which
our father saw?

1 Nephi 15:27
And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was
filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things
that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.

1 Nephi 15:28
And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which
separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the
saints of God.

1 Nephi 15:29
And I said unto them that it was a representation of that
awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the
wicked.

1 Nephi 15:30
And I said unto them that our father also saw that the
justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and
the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming
fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no
end.

1 Nephi 15:31
And they said unto me: Doth this thing mean the torment of
the body in the days of probation, or doth it mean the final
state of the soul after the death of the temporal body, or doth
it speak of the things which are temporal?

1 Nephi 15:32
And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a
representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day
should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even
the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of
probation.

1 Nephi 15:33
Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must
be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are
pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to
stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works
have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be
filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of
God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.

1 Nephi 15:34
But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy,
and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God;
wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for
that which is filthy.

1 Nephi 15:35
And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of
which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it;
wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the
kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of
which I have spoken.

1 Nephi 15:36
Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and
also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and
most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the
greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my
brethren. Amen.