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1 Nephi
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1 Nephi 4
Nephi slays Laban at the Lord's command and then secures the plates of brass by stratagem—Zoram chooses to join Lehi's family in the wilderness. About 600-592 B.C.
And
it
came
to
pass
that
I
spake
unto
my
brethren,
saying:
Let
us
go
up
again
unto
Jerusalem,
and
let
us
be
a
faithful
in
keeping
the
commandments
of
the
Lord;
for
behold
he
is
mightier
than
all
the
earth,
then
why
not
b
mightier
than
Laban
and
his
fifty,
yea,
or
even
than
his
tens
of
thousands?
2 Therefore
let
us
go
up;
let
us
be
a
strong
like
unto
Moses;
for
he
truly
spake
unto
the
waters
of
the
b
Red
b
Sea
and
they
divided
hither
and
thither,
and
our
fathers
came
through,
out
of
captivity,
on
dry
ground,
and
the
armies
of
Pharaoh
did
follow
and
were
drowned
in
the
waters
of
the
Red
Sea.
3 Now
behold
ye
know
that
this
is
true;
and
ye
also
know
that
an
a
angel
hath
spoken
unto
you;
wherefore
can
ye
b
doubt?
Let
us
go
up;
the
Lord
is
able
to
c
deliver
us,
even
as
our
fathers,
and
to
destroy
Laban,
even
as
the
Egyptians.
4 Now
when
I
had
spoken
these
words,
they
were
yet
wroth,
and
did
still
continue
to
murmur;
nevertheless
they
did
follow
me
up
until
we
came
without
the
walls
of
Jerusalem.
5 And
it
was
by
night;
and
I
caused
that
they
should
hide
themselves
without
the
walls.
And
after
they
had
hid
themselves,
I,
Nephi,
crept
into
the
city
and
went
forth
towards
the
house
of
Laban.
6 And
I
was
a
led
by
the
Spirit,
not
b
knowing
beforehand
the
things
which
I
should
do.
7 Nevertheless
I
went
forth,
and
as
I
came
near
unto
the
house
of
Laban
I
beheld
a
man,
and
he
had
fallen
to
the
earth
before
me,
for
he
was
a
drunken
with
wine.
8 And
when
I
came
to
him
I
found
that
it
was
Laban.
9 And
I
beheld
his
a
sword,
and
I
drew
it
forth
from
the
sheath
thereof;
and
the
hilt
thereof
was
of
pure
gold,
and
the
workmanship
thereof
was
exceedingly
fine,
and
I
saw
that
the
blade
thereof
was
of
the
most
precious
steel.
10 And
it
came
to
pass
that
I
was
a
constrained
by
the
Spirit
that
I
should
kill
Laban;
but
I
said
in
my
heart:
Never
at
any
time
have
I
shed
the
blood
of
man.
And
I
shrunk
and
would
that
I
might
not
slay
him.
11 And
the
Spirit
said
unto
me
again:
Behold
the
a
Lord
hath
b
delivered
him
into
thy
hands.
Yea,
and
I
also
knew
that
he
had
sought
to
take
away
mine
own
life;
yea,
and
he
would
not
hearken
unto
the
commandments
of
the
Lord;
and
he
also
had
c
taken
away
our
property.
12 And
it
came
to
pass
that
the
Spirit
said
unto
me
again:
Slay
him,
for
the
Lord
hath
delivered
him
into
thy
hands;
13 Behold
the
Lord
a
slayeth
the
b
wicked
to
bring
forth
his
righteous
purposes.
It
is
c
better
that
one
man
should
perish
than
that
a
nation
should
dwindle
and
perish
in
d
unbelief.
14 And
now,
when
I,
Nephi,
had
heard
these
words,
I
remembered
the
words
of
the
Lord
which
he
spake
unto
me
in
the
wilderness,
saying
that:
a
Inasmuch
as
thy
seed
shall
keep
my
b
commandments,
they
shall
c
prosper
in
the
d
land
of
promise.
15 Yea,
and
I
also
thought
that
they
could
not
keep
the
commandments
of
the
Lord
according
to
the
a
law
of
Moses,
save
they
should
have
the
law.
16 And
I
also
knew
that
the
a
law
was
engraven
upon
the
plates
of
brass.
17 And
again,
I
knew
that
the
Lord
had
delivered
Laban
into
my
hands
for
this
cause—that
I
might
obtain
the
records
according
to
his
commandments.
18 Therefore
I
did
obey
the
voice
of
the
Spirit,
and
took
Laban
by
the
hair
of
the
head,
and
I
smote
off
his
head
with
his
own
a
sword.
19 And
after
I
had
smitten
off
his
head
with
his
own
sword,
I
took
the
garments
of
Laban
and
put
them
upon
mine
own
body;
yea,
even
every
whit;
and
I
did
gird
on
his
armor
about
my
loins.
20 And
after
I
had
done
this,
I
went
forth
unto
the
treasury
of
Laban.
And
as
I
went
forth
towards
the
treasury
of
Laban,
behold,
I
saw
the
a
servant
of
Laban
who
had
the
keys
of
the
treasury.
And
I
commanded
him
in
the
voice
of
Laban,
that
he
should
go
with
me
into
the
treasury.
21 And
he
supposed
me
to
be
his
master,
Laban,
for
he
beheld
the
garments
and
also
the
sword
girded
about
my
loins.
22 And
he
spake
unto
me
concerning
the
a
elders
of
the
Jews,
he
knowing
that
his
master,
Laban,
had
been
out
by
night
among
them.
23 And
I
spake
unto
him
as
if
it
had
been
Laban.
24 And
I
also
spake
unto
him
that
I
should
carry
the
engravings,
which
were
upon
the
a
plates
of
brass,
to
my
elder
brethren,
who
were
without
the
walls.
25 And
I
also
bade
him
that
he
should
follow
me.
26 And
he,
supposing
that
I
spake
of
the
a
brethren
of
the
b
church,
and
that
I
was
truly
that
Laban
whom
I
had
slain,
wherefore
he
did
follow
me.
27 And
he
spake
unto
me
many
times
concerning
the
elders
of
the
Jews,
as
I
went
forth
unto
my
brethren,
who
were
without
the
walls.
28 And
it
came
to
pass
that
when
Laman
saw
me
he
was
exceedingly
frightened,
and
also
Lemuel
and
Sam.
And
they
fled
from
before
my
presence;
for
they
supposed
it
was
Laban,
and
that
he
had
slain
me
and
had
sought
to
take
away
their
lives
also.
29 And
it
came
to
pass
that
I
called
after
them,
and
they
did
hear
me;
wherefore
they
did
cease
to
flee
from
my
presence.
30 And
it
came
to
pass
that
when
the
servant
of
Laban
beheld
my
brethren
he
began
to
tremble,
and
was
about
to
flee
from
before
me
and
return
to
the
city
of
Jerusalem.
31 And
now
I,
Nephi,
being
a
man
large
in
stature,
and
also
having
received
much
a
strength
of
the
Lord,
therefore
I
did
seize
upon
the
servant
of
Laban,
and
held
him,
that
he
should
not
flee.
32 And
it
came
to
pass
that
I
spake
with
him,
that
if
he
would
hearken
unto
my
words,
as
the
Lord
liveth,
and
as
I
live,
even
so
that
if
he
would
hearken
unto
our
words,
we
would
spare
his
life.
33 And
I
spake
unto
him,
even
with
an
a
oath,
that
he
need
not
fear;
that
he
should
be
a
b
free
man
like
unto
us
if
he
would
go
down
in
the
wilderness
with
us.
34 And
I
also
spake
unto
him,
saying:
Surely
the
Lord
hath
a
commanded
us
to
do
this
thing;
and
shall
we
not
be
diligent
in
keeping
the
commandments
of
the
Lord?
Therefore,
if
thou
wilt
go
down
into
the
wilderness
to
my
father
thou
shalt
have
place
with
us.
35 And
it
came
to
pass
that
a
Zoram
did
take
courage
at
the
words
which
I
spake.
Now
Zoram
was
the
name
of
the
servant;
and
he
promised
that
he
would
go
down
into
the
wilderness
unto
our
father.
Yea,
and
he
also
made
an
oath
unto
us
that
he
would
tarry
with
us
from
that
time
forth.
36 Now
we
were
desirous
that
he
should
tarry
with
us
for
this
cause,
that
the
Jews
might
not
know
concerning
our
flight
into
the
wilderness,
lest
they
should
pursue
us
and
destroy
us.
37 And
it
came
to
pass
that
when
Zoram
had
made
an
a
oath
unto
us,
our
b
fears
did
cease
concerning
him.
38 And
it
came
to
pass
that
we
took
the
plates
of
brass
and
the
servant
of
Laban,
and
departed
into
the
wilderness,
and
journeyed
unto
the
a
tent
of
our
father.
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1 Nephi
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