Jacob 1 (1 LE) - Covenant of Christ

Book of Mormon

Covenant of Christ

THE BOOK OF JACOB

The Book of Jacob

THE BROTHER OF NEPHI

The words of his preaching unto his brethren. He confoundeth a man who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. A few words concerning the history of the people of Nephi.

The words of his preaching to his people. He silences a man who attempts to overthrow Christ’s doctrine. A few words about Nephite history:

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1 For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem. Wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning these small plates upon which these things are engraven. ² And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi. ³ For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation. ⁴ And if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people. ⁵ For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them. ⁶ And we also had many revelations and the spirit of much prophecy. Wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom which should come. ⁷ Wherefore, we labored diligently among our people that we might persuade them to come unto Christ and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. ⁸ Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross, and bear the shame of the world. Wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfill the commandment of my brother Nephi.

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1 After fifty-five years had ended since Lehi left Jerusalem, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment regarding the small plates on which these writings are engraved. ²He commanded me to only write a few things on these plates that I considered to be extremely valuable, and to only touch lightly on the history of this people, who are called Nephites. ³He said his people’s history was to be engraved on his other plates and I was to keep these plates safe and hand them down to my descendants from generation to generation. ⁴If there was sacred preaching or any great revelation or prophecy, I was to engrave their main points on these plates and write about them as much as possible, on behalf of Christ to benefit our people. ⁵The things to happen to our people were accurately shown to us as a result of faith and our great concern. ⁶We also had many revelations and the spirit of great prophecy; so we knew about Christ, who was appointed to come, and His kingdom. ⁷Therefore we worked diligently among our people to persuade them to come to Christ and share in God’s goodness, so they could enter His rest. Then there wouldn’t be any reason for Him to declare in His wrath that they would not enter His rest, as He had been provoked during the days testing the children of Israel in the wilderness. ⁸Therefore we pray to God we could persuade all mankind not to rebel against God, not to provoke Him to be angry; rather, we pray that all people would believe in Christ, contemplate His death, endure your cross along with Him, and patiently go through the persecution and dishonor that come from the world. And so I Jacob intend to fulfill my brother Nephi’s commandment.

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⁹ Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people. Now, according to the reigns of the kings, ¹⁰ the people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the sword of Laban in their defense, and having labored in all his days for their welfare; ¹¹ wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people, Second Nephi, and Third Nephi, etc., according to the reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatsoever name they would.

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⁹Then Nephi grew old, and he sensed he would soon die. So he anointed a man to be a king and ruler over his people. Now according to the rule of the kings — ¹⁰the people loved Nephi tremendously since he had been a great protector for them and had wielded Laban’s sword in their defense and had worked his whole life for their well-being — ¹¹as a result, the people wanted to memorialize his name, calling those who ruled as his successors Second Nephi, Third Nephi, etc., according to the rule of the kings. So this is the title the people called them, whatever their name happened to be.

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¹² And it came to pass that Nephi died. ¹³ Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. ¹⁴ But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi; and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings.

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¹²Then Nephi died. ¹³Now the people who weren’t Lamanites were Nephites; however, there were also those called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. ¹⁴But I won’t distinguish them by these names after this; instead, I’ll call those who attempt to kill the Nephites Lamanites, and those who are friendly to Nephi I’ll call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the rule of the kings.

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¹⁵ And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old, desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son. ¹⁶ Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride. ¹⁷ Wherefore, I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having firstly obtained mine errand from the Lord. ¹⁸ For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph, had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people by the hand of Nephi. ¹⁹ And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence. Wherefore, by laboring with our mights, their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise, their blood would come upon our garments and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

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¹⁵Now the Nephites under the second king’s rule began to grow hard in their hearts and indulge in wicked practices to a certain degree, like David of old and his son Solomon did, wanting to have many wives and concubines. ¹⁶They also began to spend their time searching for gold and silver and began to be filled with pride. ¹⁷Therefore I Jacob addressed the following words to them as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained from the Lord the message I was to give them, ¹⁸since my brother Joseph and I had been ordained as priests and teachers of this people by Nephi. ¹⁹We honored our callings for the glory of the Lord, taking upon ourselves the responsibility, viewing the people’s sins as our responsibility if we didn’t diligently teach them God’s word. That being the case, by laboring with our strength their blood wouldn’t stain our clothes, otherwise their blood would stain our clothes and we wouldn’t be found spotless on the last day.