



Produced by Margaret Willden, Mormon Texts Project Intern
(http://mormontextsproject.org/)






THE LIFE OF NEPHI,

THE SON OF LEHI,

Who Emigrated from Jerusalem, in Judea, to the Land which is now known
as South America, about Six Centuries Before the Coming of our Savior.


BY GEORGE Q. CANNON.


PUBLISHED BY THE CONTRIBUTOR COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 1888.


FROM THE PRESS OF THE JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR.



PREFACE.

Some years since the desire took possession of me to write the life of
Nephi, the son of Lehi, and, as time and opportunity should permit,
the lives of other prominent men of his race of whom we have an
account in the Book of Mormon, so as to form a series of biographies
for the perusal of the young. My aim was to make the children of our
Church familiar with the events described in the Book of Mormon, and
with some of the prominent men of that mighty people of which Nephi
was one of the greatest progenitors. Various causes--the principal one
of which has been the pressure of other and more exacting labors--have
prevented me from carrying my design into execution until the present
time. I have felt that, as I owed so much of my own success in life to
the important and interesting lessons contained in that precious
record, it was a duty incumbent upon me to do all in my power to have
it read and appreciated as widely as possible by every member of our
Church, but especially by the rising generation.

The age in which we live is one of doubt and unbelief. Skepticism is
spreading. All faith in divine things, as taught by the ancient
servants of God, is being unsettled. Man's reason is being extolled as
a higher standard than God's revelations. The personality of God, the
origin of man and his fall, the atonement of the Savior the places of
reward and punishment, known as heaven and hell, and the existence of
a personal devil, are all questioned, and, by many members of
religious sects denied. The Bible is no longer accepted as a reliable
standard, only so far as its teachings may agree with the new and
fashionable views entertained respecting religion and science.

Fortunately for us, we are in a position to stem and turn this tide of
infidelity, so that it shall not overwhelm our young people. We are
not dependent upon the Bible alone for our knowledge concerning these
grand, cardinal truths over which the world is stumbling and debating.
We have other records--among the most important of which is the Book
of Mormon--which corroborate and furnish ample proofs of their
heavenly origin. We have the teachings and knowledge of men living in
lands far apart and of races widely separated; and they agree in their
testimonies, and sustain the divinity of the truths which are taught
by the Son of God Himself, and by His inspired servants.

The Prophet Nephi, whose life we here present, was one of the greatest
and most advanced of these teachers of heavenly truths. There have
been but few men, so far as we know, who comprehended, and spoke, and
wrote about them as plainly as did he. He had a personal knowledge of
the doctrines, principles and facts respecting which men now dispute.
He has written fully upon them. His testimony, therefore, is worth
more to the world than any number of men's opinions and theories. And,
best of all, it carries within itself the highest evidence of its
truth. This is characteristic of his writings, and of all the writings
in the Book of Mormon. To every humble, prayerful soul the perusal of
that book is a solace. It produces peace and joy, and brings the clear
conviction that it is God's word. No arguments are required to prove
this. Men have assailed and denounced it; but the indisputable truth
still remains that, when read with a meek spirit and a prayerful
heart, the testimony of its divine origin descends like refreshing dew
from heaven, upon the reader, and he knows, by the Spirit and power of
God, that it is His word.

That THE LIFE OF NEPHI may have the effect to increase faith, and
stimulate inquiry and the more careful perusal of the divine records
which the Lord has given to us, is the most earnest desire of THE
AUTHOR.



CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

Nephi's Character—-He Gives God the Glory—-Born at Jerusalem—-Probable
Time of Birth—-His Education--Kings Known to Lehi--Ezekiel and
Jeremiah and other Prophets--Familiarity of Nephi with Writings of
Prophets

CHAPTER II.

True and False Prophets--Lehi's Vision--He Warns the People--They
Persecute and Try to Kill Him--Commanded in a Dream to Take His Family
into the Wilderness--Came to Red Sea--Camped near it--Built an Altar
and Made Offering to the Lord--Laman and Lemuel--Their
Unbelief--Shaken and Confounded Before their Father

CHAPTER III.

Faith of Nephi and its Effects--Sam's Belief—-Revelation with Promise
to Nephi--Land of Promise, Choice Above other Lands--Nephi to be a
Ruler and a Teacher to his Brethren--Required to Return to
Jerusalem--His Willingness--Lehi Gratified at His Faith--Laban and
Brass Plates--Angry and Refused to Give Them to Laman--Threatened His
Life--Laman and Lemuel Discouraged--Nephi's Proposition--His Brothers
Agree to it

CHAPTER IV.

Lehi's Riches--Laban Covets Them--Sent his Servants to Kill Laman and
his Brothers--They flee for their Lives--Nephi Whipped by Laman and
Lemuel--Visited by an Angel--Laman and Lemuel still Murmur--Nephi
Leads Them to the City Walls--Laban Lying Drunk--His Sword--Most
Famous Weapon in the World--Those who have Seen it--Nephi Constrained
to Kill Laban--Personates Him and Obtains Plates--His Brothers
Frightened--Laban's Servant, Zoram--Promises to go With Nephi into the
Wilderness

CHAPTER V.

The Status of Zoram--Law of Moses Respecting Bondmen--Character of
Laban--Advantages of Taking Zoram into the Wilderness

CHAPTER VI.

Return into Wilderness--Joy of Lehi and Sariah--Lehi a Visionary
Man--Sariah's Grief and Murmuring--Her Subsequent Testimony--Sacrifice
and Burnt Offerings--The Brass Plates--Their Contents--Lehi a
Descendant of Joseph--Value of These Records to his
Descendants--Another Colony of Jews--Lost Knowledge of Hebrew Language
and of God--N