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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing
known unto us.
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?
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.
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?
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 —
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
22 And I said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of life.
23 And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father
saw, that led to the tree?
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.
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.
26 And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our father
saw?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.