Episode 5: A group marriage, a magic brass ball, and a broken steel bow

1 Nephi 16-17

A group marriage

16 ⁷ Zoram (Laban's servant), my brothers, and I married Ishmael's daughters.

A magic brass ball

¹⁰ The next morning, my father saw a brass ball of curious workmanship. It had two spindles: one pointed the way we should go and the other pointing in another direction. ^11-16 We traveled for many days, using our bows and arrows to kill food for our families, following the direction of the ball, which led us to the more fertile parts of the wilderness.

A broken steel bow

¹⁸ But then I broke my steel bow, and my brothers were angry with me since we relied on it to obtain our food. ²⁰ Laman, Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, and even my father began to murmur against God. ²³ So I made another bow out of wood, an arrow from a stick, and asked my father where I should go to find food. ²⁴ He asked God, and God said, “Read what’s written on the ball.” ²⁸ I looked at the ball, which worked according to the faith of the looker. ²⁹ The writing on it changed from time to time, according to the faith that was given to it. ³⁰ The ball told me to go to the top of the mountain. ³¹ So I went to the mountain top and killed wild beasts for our families. ³² When I came down with the food, everyone was filled with joy.

Ishmael dies

³² After that we traveled again for many days. ³⁴ Then Ishmael died at a place called Nahom. ^35-36 His daughters mourned exceedingly, murmured against my father, and wanted to return to Jerusalem.

³⁷ Laman said to Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael, “Let’s kill our father and our brother, Nephi.” ³⁹ But then the voice of God spoke many words to them and chastised them exceedingly. So they repented and God blessed us with more food.

The trip to Bountiful

17 ¹ After that we traveled eastward, and our women delivered babies. ² We lived on raw meat and our women gave plenty of suck for their children. ^4-5 After eight years (591 BCE), we arrived at a place we called Bountiful, because it had so much fruit and wild honey. And we came to a sea which we called Irreantum (which being interpreted means “many waters”).

Nephi builds a boat

⁸ Many days later, I heard the voice of the Lord say to me, “Build a boat to take you across these waters.” ⁹ I said, “Where will I find the ore to make tools?” ¹⁰ But the Lord showed me where to find ore. ¹¹ So I made a bellows out of the skin of wild beasts, and smote two stones together to make fire. (¹² Up to that time we didn’t need fire since God said to us, “I’ll make your food sweet. You don’t need to cook it.”) ¹⁶ Then I made tools from the ore which I made out of the rock.

¹⁷ When my brothers saw me making the ship, they murmured against me. ^23-47 But I made a little speech to calm them down, reminding them that God sent fiery flying serpents to bite and kill the Israelites when they murmured during the Exodus from Egypt.

⁴⁸ After my speech, my brothers wanted to drown me in the sea. ^49-52 But I told them that I could turn water into dirt if I wanted to, and they calmed down.

⁵³ Then the Lord said to me, “Stretch out your hand toward your brothers and I’ll shock them to show them that I’m God.” ⁵⁴ And I stretched out my hand and the Lord shook them, just like he said he would. ⁵⁵ After that my brothers said to me, “Now we know the Lord is with you, because the Lord shook us.” Then they fell down to worship me, but I told them to worship God instead.