2 Nephi
The Second Book of Nephi
Nephi's teachings, and Isaiah
Preface · from the original edition
An account of the death of Lehi. Nephi’s brethren rebel against him. The Lord warns Nephi to depart into the wilderness. His journeyings in the wilderness, and so forth.
Chapters
- 1Lehi's last counsel to his sons: Jerusalem is destroyed, this land is a land of liberty, and Laman and Lemuel must shake off their chains.
- 2Lehi teaches Jacob why there must be opposition in all things, and why Adam fell — that men might be, and be free to choose for themselves.
- 3Lehi blesses Joseph, his last-born, with the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt: a choice seer will be raised up, named after his own father.
- 4Lehi blesses his grandchildren and dies. Nephi's brothers turn on him again, and he answers with the psalm beginning "O wretched man that I am."
- 5Nephi flees with everyone who will follow him, founds the land of Nephi, builds a temple after Solomon's pattern, and makes swords like Laban's.
- 6Jacob reads Isaiah to the people: kings will be nursing fathers to Israel, and those who fight against Zion will not prevail against her.
- 7Isaiah 50 in modern English: the servant gives his back to those who strike him and sets his face like flint, knowing that God will help him.
- 8Isaiah 51 in modern English: look to Abraham and Sarah, the Lord will comfort Zion, and Jerusalem is told to awake and shake off the dust.
- 9Jacob on the atonement — why death and hell must give up their dead, why the atonement had to be infinite, and a long roll of woes to the proud.
- 10Jacob names Christ, foretells his crucifixion at Jerusalem, and calls this land one of liberty with no king. Reconcile yourselves to God, he says.
- 11Nephi says why he keeps quoting Isaiah: his soul delights in the words, and three witnesses — Isaiah, Jacob, and himself — have seen the Redeemer.
- 12Isaiah 2 in modern English: the mountain of the Lord's house in the last days, swords beaten into plowshares, and the day the proud are brought low.
- 13Isaiah 3 in modern English: Jerusalem's leaders are stripped away, children rule, and the finery of the daughters of Zion is taken piece by piece.
- 14Isaiah 4 in modern English: seven women take hold of one man, and the Lord makes a cloud and a shelter over Zion for shade and for refuge.
- 15Isaiah 5 in modern English: the song of the vineyard that yields wild grapes, and the woes on those who call evil good and good evil.
- 16Isaiah 6 in modern English: Isaiah sees the Lord on his throne, a seraph touches a live coal to his lips, and he answers, "Here am I; send me."
- 17Isaiah 7 in modern English: Isaiah meets King Ahaz, who refuses to ask for a sign — so the Lord gives one: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
- 18Isaiah 8 in modern English: the child named Mahershalalhashbaz, Assyria rising like a flood, and the call to seek God rather than whisperers.
- 19Isaiah 9 in modern English: the people who walked in darkness see a great light, and to us a child is born, whose government has no end.
- 20Isaiah 10 in modern English: Assyria is the rod of God's anger but boasts as if the ax were greater than the one who chops. A remnant returns.
- 21Isaiah 11 in modern English: a rod out of the stem of Jesse, the wolf dwelling with the lamb, and the Lord's hand set a second time to gather Israel.
- 22Isaiah 12 in modern English: a short song of thanks, in which the redeemed draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.
- 23Isaiah 13 in modern English: the burden of Babylon — the day of the Lord, the stars withholding their light, and Babylon left to the wild beasts.
- 24Isaiah 14 in modern English: the taunt over the king of Babylon, and the fall of Lucifer, who said in his heart, "I will ascend into heaven."
- 25Nephi explains Isaiah plainly — the Messiah comes in six hundred years, is crucified, and rises — and tells why his people still keep the law of Moses.
- 26Nephi sees Christ appear to his descendants, then their destruction, and warns against priestcraft: God invites everyone and turns no one away.
- 27Nephi foretells the sealed book handed to an unlearned man, the learned man who cannot read it, and a marvelous work and a wonder among the people.
- 28Nephi's warning for the last days: churches that argue with one another, the cry that all is well in Zion, and the devil's quiet lulling to sleep.
- 29"A Bible! A Bible! We have a Bible." Nephi answers the Gentiles: God speaks to more nations than one, and the two records will grow together.
- 30Nephi on the last days: Gentiles who repent are covenant people too, the earth fills with the knowledge of the Lord, and Satan loses his power.
- 31The doctrine of Christ — why Jesus was baptized though he was holy, how narrow the gate is, and what it means to press forward with hope.
- 32Nephi on what comes after baptism: feast on the words of Christ, let the Holy Ghost show you what to do, and pray always instead of fainting.
- 33Nephi's farewell. He glories in plainness, in truth, and in his Jesus, and leaves his words to meet his readers again at the judgment bar.