15:1 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in
the spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my
father.
15:2 And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were
disputing one with another concerning the things my father had spoken
unto them.
15:3 For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to
be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being
hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they
ought.
15:4 And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their
hearts, and also, because of the things which I had seen, and knew they
must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the
children of men.
15:5 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions,
for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of
the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
15:6 And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake
unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their
disputations.
15:7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our
father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree,
and also concerning the Gentiles.
15:8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
15:9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such
thing known unto us.
15:10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the
commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the
hardness of your hearts?
15:11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye
will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye
shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these
things shall be made known unto you.
15:12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared
unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father;
and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel, and are we
not a branch of the house of Israel?
15:13 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the
grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the
Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have
dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many
generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the
children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah
come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our
seed—
15:14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are
of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the
Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their
forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer,
which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall
come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his
doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.
15:15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto
their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that
day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true
vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?
15:16 Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among
the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch
of the olive-tree, into the true olive-tree.
15:17 And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will
not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he
meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may
show his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be
rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.
15:18 Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also
of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be
fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our
father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth
be blessed.
15:19 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them
concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerning the
restoration of the Jews in the latter days.
15:20 And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spake
concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel; and
after they were restored they should no more be confounded, neither
should they be scattered again. And it came to pass that I did speak
many words unto my brethren, that they were pacified and did humble
themselves before the Lord.
15:21 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying:
What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? What meaneth
the tree which he saw?
15:22 And I said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of
life.
15:23 And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our
father saw, that led to the tree?
15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God, and whoso would
hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would
never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the
adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to
destruction.
15:25 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word
of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul,
and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed
to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all
things.
15:26 And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our
father saw?
15:27 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was
filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that
he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
15:28 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated
the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
15:29 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful
hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
15:30 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of
God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness
thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth
up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end.
15:31 And they said unto me: Doth this thing mean the torment of the
body in the days of probation, or doth it mean the final state of the
soul after the death of the temporal body, or doth it speak of the
things which are temporal?
15:32 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a
representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day
should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the
works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.
15:33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be
cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are
pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand
before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been
filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must
needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the
kingdom of God must be filthy also.
15:34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and
there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore
there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is
filthy.
15:35 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which
I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the
final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or
to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
15:36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also
from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable
above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of
God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.