1 These be the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.2 (There are eleven days'journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadeshbarnea.)3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them;4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelled in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelled at Astaroth in Edrei:5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,6 The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have dwelled long enough in this mount:7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and to all the places near thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and to Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!)12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.14 And you answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.17 You shall not respect persons in judgment; but you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God': and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.20 And I said to you, You are come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God does give to us.21 Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; fear not, neither be discouraged.22 And you came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God does give us.26 Notwithstanding you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:27 And you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.28 Where shall we go up? our brothers have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.29 Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.30 The LORD your God which goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;31 And in the wilderness, where you have seen how that the LORD your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came into this place.32 Yet in this thing you did not believe the LORD your God,33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day.34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying,35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I swore to give to your fathers.36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in thither.38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which stands before you, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.39 Moreover your little ones, which you said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when you had girded on every man his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the hill.42 And the LORD said to me, Say to them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be smitten before your enemies.43 So I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.44 And the Amorites, which dwelled in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even to Hormah.45 And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you.46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you stayed there.

1 NOW behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our genealogy may be kept.2 And as these plates are small, and as these things are written for the intent of the benefit of our brethren the Lamanites, wherefore, it must needs be that I write a little; but I shall not write the things of my prophesying, nor of my revelations. For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me.3 Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land.4 And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.5 And now, behold, *two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land. They observed to keep the law of Moses and the sabbath day holy unto the Lord. And they profaned not; neither did they blaspheme. And the laws of the land were exceedingly strict.6 And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts.7 And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance.8 And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war-yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.9 And thus being prepared to meet the Lamanites, they did not prosper against us. But the word of the Lord was verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land.10 And it came to pass that the prophets of the Lord did threaten the people of Nephi, according to the word of God, that if they did not keep the commandments, but should fall into transgression, they should be destroyed from off the face of the land.11 Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was. And after this manner did they teach them.12 And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance.13 And it came to pass that *two hundred and thirty and eight years had passed away-after the manner of wars, and contentions, and dissensions, for the space of much of the time.14 And I, Jarom, do not write more, for the plates are small. But behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi; for behold, upon them the records of our wars are engraven, according to the writings of the kings, or those which they caused to be written.15 And I deliver these plates into the hands of my son Omni, that they may be kept according to the commandments of my fathers.