1 NephiChapter3

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father.

I returned to my father's tent after talking with the Lord.

And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem.

He said to me, "I've had a dream, and in it the Lord has commanded me that you and your brothers return to Jerusalem.

For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.

Laban has the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my fathers, and they're engraved on brass plates.

Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness.

So the Lord has commanded me that you and your brothers go to Laban's house, get the records, and bring them down here into the wilderness.

And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

Now, your brothers are complaining, saying it's a hard thing I've asked of them. But I haven't asked it of them. It's a commandment of the Lord.

Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured.

So go, my son, and you'll be favored by the Lord because you haven't complained."

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

I said to my father, "I will go and do what the Lord has commanded, because I know that the Lord gives no commandments to people without preparing a way for them to accomplish what he commands them."

And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord.

When my father heard this, he was overjoyed because he knew I had been blessed by the Lord.

And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness, with our tents, to go up to the land of Jerusalem.

My brothers and I set out through the wilderness with our tents to go up to the land of Jerusalem.

And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another.

When we arrived at the land of Jerusalem, we discussed our plans and

And we cast lots—who of us should go in unto the house of Laban. And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; and Laman went in unto the house of Laban, and he talked with him as he sat in his house.

decided to cast lots to see which of us would go into Laban's house. The lot fell on Laman, so he went in and talked with Laban as he sat in his house.

And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, which contained the genealogy of my father.

He asked Laban for the records engraved on the brass plates, which contained my father's genealogy.

And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, and thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee.

Laban was angry and threw him out, refusing to let him have the records. He said to him, "You're a robber! I'll kill you!"

But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness.

But Laman fled from him and told us what Laban had done. We became extremely sad, and my brothers were about to go back to my father in the wilderness.

But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.

But I said to them, "As the Lord lives, and as we live, we won't go back down to our father in the wilderness until we've done what the Lord has commanded us.

Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; therefore let us go down to the land of our father’s inheritance, for behold he left gold and silver, and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord.

Let's be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Let's go down to the land of our father's inheritance because he left behind gold, silver, and all kinds of riches. And he did all this because of the commandments of the Lord.

For he knew that Jerusalem must be destroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.

He knew Jerusalem would be destroyed because of the people's wickedness.

For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets. Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish. Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land.

They've rejected the words of the prophets. If my father stayed in the land after he'd been commanded to flee, he would die too. That's why he had to leave.

And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;

In God's wisdom, we should get these records so that we can preserve the language of our fathers for our children.

And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time.

And we can also preserve for them the words of all the holy prophets, which the Spirit and power of God has delivered from the beginning of the world down to this present time."

And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

This is how I persuaded my brothers to be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things.

So we went down to our own land and gathered up our gold, silver, and valuables.

And after we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.

After we had gathered them, we went back up to Laban's house.

And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.

We went in to Laban and asked him to give us the records engraved on the brass plates, and in exchange we offered him our gold, silver, and all our valuables.

And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.

When Laban saw our property and how much of it there was, he wanted it so badly that he threw us out and sent his servants to kill us so he could take it.

And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban.

We fled from them and had to leave our property behind, and it fell into Laban's hands.

And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness, and the servants of Laban did not overtake us, and we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock.

We fled into the wilderness. They didn't catch us, and we hid in a hollow in the rock.

And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod.

Laman was angry with me and my father, and so was Lemuel because he listened to Laman. So Laman and Lemuel said many harsh things to us, their younger brothers, and they even hit us with a stick.

And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.

As they were hitting us with the stick, an angel of the Lord came and stood in front of them. He said to them, "Why are you striking your younger brother with a stick? Do you not know that the Lord has chosen him to be a ruler over you, and that this is because of your wickedness? You will go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands."

And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.

After the angel had spoken to us, he left.

And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?

After he was gone, Laman and Lemuel started complaining again, "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? He's a powerful man. He can command fifty men, and he can even kill fifty. So why not us?"