1 Now behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our genealogy may be kept.
As these plates are small ... I shall not write the things of my prophesying, nor of my revelations. 2:0
1-15
1 Now behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our genealogy may be kept.
My father, Enos, asked me to write a few words to keep our genealogy. [1]
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.
I'm writing these small plates for the Lamanites. [2]
Because the plates are small I won't include my prophecies or revelations. [3]
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.
The Nephites have become blind, deaf, stiff-necked, and hard of heart. God has exceedingly merciful by not killing them all by now. [4]
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.
But many of us who have had revelations aren't stiff-necked and have had communion with the Holy Spirit. [5]
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.
Two hundred years have passed away [6], and the Nephites waxed strong. They kept the law of Moses and the sabbath day. They weren't profane, they didn't blaspheme, and their laws were 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.
The Lamanites were more numerous than the Nephites.
They loved to murder people and drink the blood of beasts.
7And 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.
They attacked our cities, but our kings and leaders were mighty men who protected us from their assaults. [7]
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.
We multiplied and were rich in gold, silver, and precious things. We had buildings, tools, weapons, and machinery made of iron, copper, brass, and steel. [8]
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.
So the Lamanites didn't prevail against us.
10And 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.
But the Lord's prophets threatened the Nephites, saying that if they didn't keep the commandments and look forward to the Messiah as though he was already present, they'd be destroyed.
12And 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.
In this way, the prophets pricked the hearts of the Nephites with the word and caused them to repent.
13And 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.
Now 238 years have passed [9] and I have stopped writing because the plates are small.
But you can read more on the plates of Nephi, which records the wars of the kings.
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.
Now I'm delivering these plates to my son, Omni. [10]
Notes
The fifteen-verse Book of Jarom was, as you might expect, written by Jarom, who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Lehi, who was a descendant of Joseph, who was the son of Jacob (aka "Israel" in the Bible). The purpose of Jarom's little book is to tell you about that.
Or at least that's what the first verse says.
But by the second verse, Jarom has changed his mind. He engraved his words on plates for the benefit of the Lamanites.
Which was really nice of him.
He's not going to tell us about his prophesying or his revelations, though. Which was also nice of him.
(If you've read any of the previous books of the Book of Mormon, you've heard it all many times over. Jesus will be born centuries in the future and everyone must believe in him--even before he exists--or go to hell.)
Jarom says that much needs to be done among his people, because of the hardness of their hearts, the deafness of their ears, the blindness of their minds, the stiffness of their necks, and the fullness of their bladders. God has been exceedingly merciful to them by not killing them all by now.
And yet not all Nephites were hard, deaf, blind, stiff, and full. Many received revelations and had communion with the Holy Spirit -- five or so centuries before the Holy Spirit was supposedly given to Christians at Pentecost.
(Since Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 BCE.)
So it must be 399 BCE -- as the official LDS footnote says.
The Nephites were ready for the murderous, blood-drinking Lamanites. Their kings and leaders were mighty men with faith in Jesus. And they fortified their cities (cities that left no evidence of their existence).
The Nephites, like the good proto-Mormons that they were, "multiplied exceedingly" and "became exceedingly rich" in gold, silver, iron, copper, brass, and steel making tools and weapons "of every kind." This was before steel existed, of course, and no evidence for any of these Nephite weapons, tools, cities, or technologies have ever been found.
WooHoo! 600 - 238 = 362. So It's now 361 BCE.
So Jarom delivered his plates to his son Omni, who will be writing the next exciting book in the Book of Mormon: The Book of Omni.
