[color-box]For comparison purposes, the original Book of Mormon text is supplied (italicized and indented) after each Modern Book of Mormon verse.[/color-box]
1 I went to my father’s tent after I had finished talking with the Lord.
1 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father.
2 He told me, I have had a dream, and in the dream the Lord told me that you and your brothers need to return to Jerusalem.
2 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem.
3 Laban has the record of the Jews and a genealogy of my ancestors, and they are written on plates of brass.
3 For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.
4 The Lord has told me that you and your brothers should go to Laban, ask him for the records, and then bring them back here.
4 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness.
5 Your brothers complain and say that what I’m asking them to do is difficult, but I’m not the one asking them to do it—it’s a commandment from the Lord.
5 And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.
6 Go, my son, and the Lord will bless you because you have not complained.
6 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured.
7 And I told my father, I will go and do what the Lord has said to do, and I know that the Lord doesn’t tell us to do things that he hasn’t prepared a way for us to do.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
8 My father was very happy when he heard that because he that the Lord has blessed me.
8 And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord.
9 And my brothers and I took our tents and traveled into the wilderness toward Jerusalem.
9 And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness, with our tents, to go up to the land of Jerusalem.
10 When we arrived in Jerusalem, my brothers and I talked about what we were going to do.
10 And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another.
11 We drew names to see which one of us should go to Laban. Laman’s name was drawn, so he went to Laban and talked with him in his house.
11 And we cast lots—who of us should go in unto the house of Laban. And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; and Laman went in unto the house of Laban, and he talked with him as he sat in his house.
12 He asked Laban for the records that were written on brass plates that talked about my father’s ancestors.
12 And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, which contained the genealogy of my father.
13 Laban was angry with my brother and kicked him out of the house. He didn’t want to give Laman the records. He told Laman, You are a robber and I will kill you.
13 And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, and thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee.
14 Laman ran out of the house and us the things that Laban had done. This discouraged us, and my brothers were about to return to my father in the wilderness.
14 But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness.
15 But I told them that we would not go back to our father until we had done what the Lord commanded us to do.
15 But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.
16 Let’s faithfully keep the commandments of the Lord. Let’s go to our old home and grab the gold, silver, and other valuables that our father left there because of the Lord’s commandments.
16 Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; therefore let us go down to the land of our father’s inheritance, for behold he left gold and silver, and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord.
17 And he did this because he knew that the people’s wickedness would cause Jerusalem to be destroyed.
17 For he knew that Jerusalem must be destroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.
18 They haven’t listened to what the prophets have said. If my father hadn’t left, he would have been killed too. He had to leave.
18 For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets. Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish. Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land.
19 God has a reason for us to take these records, and it’s so that our children can learn our ancestors’ language.
19 And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;
20 And also so that they will have a record of what the holy prophets have said. The prophets, from the beginning of the world until now, have been told by the Spirit and the power of God what to say.
20 And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time.
21 This was the kind of thing that I said to persuade my brothers to keep God’s commandments.
21 And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.
22 We went back to our old house and grabbed our gold, silver, and other valuables.
22 And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things.
23 After we had done that, we went to Laban’s house again.
23 And after we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.
24 We told Laban that we wanted the brass plates and that we would give all of our gold, silver, and other valuables to him in return.
24 And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.
25 But when Laban saw all of our valuables, he wanted to take it from us. He kicked us out of his house and sent his servants to kill us so that he could take our property.
25 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.
26 We ran out ahead of Laban’s servants and had to leave our property behind, and Laban took it.
26 And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban.
27 We escaped into the wilderness and Laban’s servants didn’t catch us. We hid in a cave.
27 And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness, and the servants of Laban did not overtake us, and we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock.
28 Laman was angry with my father and me (and so was Lemuel, since he did whatever Laman did). Laman and Lemuel yelled at us, their younger brothers, and even hit us with a heavy stick.
28 And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod.
29 As they were hitting us with a stick, an angel came and stood in front of them and said, Why are you hitting your younger brother with a stick? Don’t you know that the Lord has chosen him to be a ruler over you because of your sins? Go to Jerusalem again and the Lord will give Laban to you.
29 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.
30 The angel disappeared after it had spoken to us.
30 And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.
31 After the angel had disappeared, Laman and Lemuel started complaining again. They said, How can the Lord give us Laban? He’s a powerful man. He can command fifty guards and kill fifty men, so why wouldn’t he be able to kill us?
31 And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?