1And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.
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My father began to murmur against the Lord his God. 16:20
1And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.
2And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision.
Behold, I had a dream, or in other words, I had a vision. [1]
3 And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi and also of Sam; for I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved.
And because of the dream, I am happy to say that Nephi and Sam will be saved, along with many of their seed.
4But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you; for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.
But the same can't be said for Laman and Lemuel.
5And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.
6And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.
I saw a man in a white robe who told me to follow him.
7And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.
So I followed him to a dark and dreary wasteland.
8:8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.
9And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.
But after praying to the Lord, I saw a large field.
10And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.
And I saw a tree whose fruit makes people happy. [2]
11And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.
Its fruit was white, whiter than anything I've ever seen.
And it tasted sweet, sweeter than anything I've ever tasted.
12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.
I became exceedingly happy afer eating the fruit, so I wanted my family to eat it also.
13 And as I cast my eyes round about, that perhaps I might discover my family also, I beheld a river of water; and it ran along, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit.
As I was looking for my family, I saw a river near the tree.
14 And I looked to behold from whence it came; and I saw the head thereof a little way off; and at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.
Then I saw my wife, Sariah, and my sons Sam and Nephi, looking like they were lost.
15And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit.
So I called them over and asked them to eat the fruit.
16And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.
And they did.
17And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore, I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them.
18And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.
I wanted Laman and Lemuel to eat the fruit, but they refused to do so.
19 And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.
20 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world.
Then I saw a sraight and narrow path leading to the tree, with a rod of iron by its side.
21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
22And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.
A huge mass of people were pressing forward, trying to get to the path that leads to the tree.
23And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.
Then it became dark, so those on the path lost their way.
24And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
But some managed to grab hold of the iron rod and continue on the path to the tree.
25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.
When they arrived at the tree, they ate the fruit, but looked around as though they were ashamed.
26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.
Then I saw a large building floating in the air on the other side of the river.
27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
It was filled with well-dressed people, pointing and laughing at the people who were eating the fruit.
28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.
When the fruit-eaters saw the people scoffing at them, they were ashamed and walked away on forbidden paths and were lost.
29 And now I, Nephi, do not speak all the words of my father.
30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.
Large crowds grabbed on to the iron rod and pulled themselves forward until they reached the tree and ate its fruit.
31 And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.
Other crowds went to the large building.
32And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads.
Many drowned in the fountain; many others got lost on strange roads.
33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.
34 These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away.
Those who entered the strange building, pointed and laughed at me and the other fruit-eaters.
35 And Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, said my father.
Laman and Lemuel didn't eat the fruit.
36And it came to pass after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, he said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel; yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord.
37 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them.
38 And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them.
Notes
Lehi's dream was nearly identical to Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream in 1811, 18 years before Joseph Smith, Jr. "translated" the Book of Mormon.
Lehi dreamed about tree with fruit that could make you happy if you ate it (or smoked it?).
Lehi ate the fruit, it was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, and it was whiter than anything he'd ever seen before. (Being white is the best thing a thing can be in the Book of Mormon.)