[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 Our father was overjoyed when we returned to him in the wilderness. Our mother, Sariah, was too, as she had already been mourning us.

1 And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us.

2 She thought that we had died in the wilderness. She complained to our father, saying that he was having visions. She said, You’ve dragged us out of our home, my sons are dead, and now we’re dying out here in the wilderness.

2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

3 This is the kind of thing my mother said to my father.

3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.

4 My father replied, I know that I have visions. If God hadn’t shown me a vision, I wouldn’t have known to leave Jerusalem, and I would have been killed along with my brethren.

4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.

5 But I have been promised a special land, and that brings me joy. I know that the Lord will help our sons safely escape from Laban and bring them back to us here in the wilderness.

5 But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.

6 That’s what my father was saying to comfort my mother as we were traveling through the wilderness to Jerusalem to get the brass plates.

6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.

7 When we returned to our parents’ camp, they were overjoyed, and my mother was finally comforted.

7 And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted.

8 She said, Now I know for sure that the Lord commanded my husband to escape into the wilderness, and I know for sure that the Lord has protected my sons and helped them escape from Laban. The Lord gave them the ability to do what he commanded them to do.

8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.

9 My parents were so happy. They offered sacrifices and  burnt offerings to the Lord and thanked the God of Israel.

9 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

10 After they had thanked God, my father took the brass plates and started reading them from the beginning.

10 And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.

11 He saw that they included the five books of Moses, which talked about the creation of the world and Adam and Eve, our first parents.

11 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;

12 They also included a history of the Jews from the beginning down to the present and the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign as king of Judah.

12 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;

13 The plates also included things that the prophets had prophesied, from the beginning down to the start of Zedekiah’s reign, including many of Jeremiah’s prophesies.

13 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.

14 My father also found on the brass plates a genealogy of his ancestors, so he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph. It was the same Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and the same Joseph that the Lord kept alive to keep his father and his family from dying of hunger.

14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.

15 They were led out of slavery and out of Egypt by the same God that had kept them alive.

15 And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them.

16 And so my father, Lehi, discovered the genealogy of his ancestors. He also saw that Laban was a descendant of Joseph, too, and that’s why he and his fathers had kept the records.

16 And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records.

17 When my father saw all of this, he was filled with the Spirit and started prophesying about his descendants.

17 And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—

18 He said that these brass plates would go out to all nations, families, languages, and people who were his descendants.

18 That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.

19 He said that the brass plates would never be destroyed, and they would not lose significance over time. He prophesied a lot of things concerning his descendants.

19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.

20 Up to that point, my father and I had kept the commandments that the Lord had given us.

20 And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us.

21 We had retrieved the records that the Lord commanded us to get. We read through them and found that they were valuable to us because they meant that we could preserve the Lord’s commandments for our children’s sakes.

21 And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.

22 It was the Lord’s wisdom that had us carry them with us as we journeyed in the wilderness toward the promised land.

22 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.