Episode 7: God blackens the skin of the Lamanites

2 Nephi 1-5

Lehi's speech

1 ¹ After I finished speaking, it was my father’s turn. Here’s what he said: ⁶ “Whoever comes to this land was brought by the Lord. ¹⁹ We alone possess this land. If we obey the commandments, no one will take it away from us and we’ll live safely here forever.”

A few words from Lehi to Jacob

2 ^1-30 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you, my first-born son in the wilderness.

Joseph and the fruit of many loins.

3 ¹ And now I'm talking to you, Joseph, my last-born son in the wilderness. ⁴4 “You're the fruit of my loins. I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. ⁵ He foresaw our day, and God promised to raise up, in the latter days, a righteous people from his loins.”

^6-12 Joseph said, “God said to me: I will raise up a seer from the fruit of your loins. And the fruit of your loins will write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah will write. And what is written by the fruit of your loins will grow together with the fruit of Judah’s loins, which will confound false doctrines and bring peace to the fruit of your loins in the latter days. ¹⁵ He’ll be named after me and his father.”

Lehi dies

4 ^1-35 Lehi finishes his speech before dying. This was his final warning: “God will curse you if you put your trust in the arm of flesh or make flesh your arm.”

The Nephites escape to a place called Nephi

5 ^1-3 My brothers didn't want me [Nephi] to rule over them, so they decided to kill me. ⁵So the Lord told me to escape to the wilderness.

⁶ Zoram and Sam went with me, along with their families, and my younger brothers Jacob and Joseph, and my sisters. ^7-8 We traveled for many days and then camped at a place we called Nephi. ⁹ The people with me decided to call themselves the people of Nephi.

^10-11 We obeyed the law of Moses and prospered exceedingly. ¹² I brought the brass plates, ball or compass. ¹⁴ I also brought the sword of Laban to protect us from the people who now called themselves Lamanites. ¹⁵ I taught my people how to build buildings and work with wood, iron, copper, brass, steel, gold, and silver, all of which were in great abundance. ¹⁶ I built a temple like Solomon’s temple.

^18-19 The people wanted me to be their king. But I refused, becoming their ruler and teacher instead.

God blackens the skin of the Lamanites

²⁰ The Lord said to me, “Since they [Laman, Lemuel, and their followers] won’t obey you, they’ll be cut off from my presence.” ²¹ And he cursed them by changing their white, exceedingly fair and delightsome skin into a skin of blackness so they would no longer appeal to my people.

²² God said, “I’ll make them loathsome to your people. ²³ Whoever mixes their seed with them will be cursed with the same cursing.” ²⁴ And because of God’s curse, they became an idle people, full of mischief.

God tells Nephi to make some more plates

²⁶ I consecrated Jacob and Joseph to be priests and teachers. ^27-28 We were happy for thirty years after leaving Jerusalem.

²⁹ I kept the plates that I’d made. ³⁰ Then God came to me and said, “Make some more plates.” ³² So I make some more plates. ³³ I engraved things that pleased God and everyone else seemed pleased with them too.

³⁴ It was now 560 BCE, and we already had wars and contentions with our relatives.