This writer has taken the liberty to underline and highlight sections in the following quotations in order to follow specific trails. The plates of Nephi are
. May the reader understand that the verses in the BkM do not bear the highlighting, underlining, or italics that may appear inside quotation marks.
“I, Nephi, . . . make a record of my proceedings in my days.”
“ . . . and I make it with mine own hand; . . .” ...............................................................................I Nephi 1:1 & 3
“But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days. . . . upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; . . . "......................................................................................................................................... I Nephi 1:17
“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people.” ...........................................................................................................I Nephi 19:1
“And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of teaching my brethren, our father, Lehi, also spake many things . . .” ........................................................................................................................II Nephi 1:1
“FOR behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, . . .”..........................Jacob 1:1
“ . . . I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfill the commandment of my brother Nephi.” .............................Jacob 1:8
“And it came to pass that Nephi died.
Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.
But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, . . .” .......................................................................................................................................................Jacob 1:12-14
(The reader is invited to compare the above list of names against the people named in the first seven chapters of I Nephi. Any smart author would have changed some of the names since history itself changes hero characters naturally.)
“And I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave; wherefore, I said unto my son Enos: Take these plates. And I told him the things which my brother Nephi had commanded me, . . . I make an end of my writing upon these plates, . . .” .......................................................................................................................................Jacob 7:27
“ . . . I, Enos, knowing . . .” ..........................................................................................................................Enos 1:1
“ . . . my brethren, the Nephites; . . .” ...........................................................................................................Enos 1:9
“And I saw wars between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days. And it came to pass that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem.”............................................................................................................................................. Enos 1:24-25
“NOW behold, I, Jarom, write a few words . . . of my father, Enos, . . .”
“And as these plates are small, . . . written for the intent of the benefit of our brethren the Lamanites, . . .”
...................................................................................................................................................................Jarom 1:1-2
“And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; . . .” ..................................................................................Jarom 1:6
“And I, Jarom, do not write more, for the plates are small. But behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi; . . .”
“And I deliver these plates into the hands of my son Omni, . . .” .......................................................Jarom 1:14-15
“ . . . I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, . . .”
.........................................................................................................................................................................Omni 1:1
“ . . . I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers; and I conferred them upon my son Amaron.” .......................................................................................................................................................Omni 1:3
“And now I, Amaron , write . . .” ..................................................................................................................Omni 1:4
“And it came to pass that I did deliver the plates unto my brother Chemish.” .........................................Omni 1:8
“Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; . . .”.........................Omni 1:9
“Behold, I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish.” ........................................................................................Omni 1:10
“Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom.” ..........................................................................................Omni 1:12
“And behold, I have seen, in the days of king Benjamin, a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites.” .......................................................................................................................................Omni 1:24
“ . . . after Amaleki had delivered up these plates into the hands of king Benjamin, he took them and put them with the other plates, which contained records which had been handed down by the kings, from generation to generation until the days of king Benjamin.” .......................................................................Words of Mormon 1:10
“ . . . king Benjamin . . . had three sons; and he called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman.”
“And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, . . .”
“And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, . . .” .....................................................................................................Mosiah 1:1-6
“And it came to pass that after king Benjamin had made an end of these sayings to his son, that he gave him charge concerning all the affairs of the kingdom.
And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; . . .” ....................................................................................................................Mosiah 1:15-16
“ . . .even down to the time our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;” .............................................................Mosiah 2:34
“Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept of (sic) the kingdom.
Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, . . .” .........................................................................................................................................................Mosiah 28:10-11
“ . . .after king Mosiah had done these things, he took the plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, . . .handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.”
.................................................................................................................................................................Mosiah 28:20
“And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge.”.................................................................Mosiah 29:44
“ . . .five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.” .............................................Mosiah 29:46
“The account of Alma, who was the son of Alma, the first and chief judge over the people of Nephi, . . . an account of a war between the Nephites and the Lamanites, according to the record of Alma, the first and chief judge.”
(Italics in the original) ..................................................................................................................................
Alma Introduction
“And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me;
And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, . . .” ..............................................................................................................................................................Alma 37:1-2
“ . . . Shiblon took possession of those sacred things which had been delivered unto Helaman by Alma.” Alma 63:1
“Therefore it became expedient for Shiblon to confer those sacred things, before his death, upon the son of Helaman, who was called Helaman, being called after the name of his father.”..........................................Alma 63:11
“And thus ended the thirty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
And thus ended the account of Alma, and Helaman his son, and also Shiblon, who was his son.”
................................................................................................................................................................Alma 63:16-17
“An account of the Nephites. . . . according to the records of Helaman, who was the son of Helaman, and also according to the records of his sons, . . . An account of the righteousness of the
Lamanites, and the wickedness and abominations of the Nephites, . . .”
(Italics in the original)
Helaman Introduction
“And thus ended the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
And thus ended the book of Helaman, according to the record of Helaman and his sons.” .......Helaman 16:24-25
“THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN
And Helaman was the son of Helaman, who was the son of Alma, who was the son of Alma, being a descendant of Nephi who was the son of Lehi, who came out of Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.”
(Italics in the original)
.....................................................................................................3 Nephi Introduction
“And Nephi, the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, giving charge unto his son Nephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the plates of brass, and all the records which had been kept, and all those things which had been kept sacred from the departure of Lehi out of Jerusalem.” ......................................3 Nephi 1:2
“FOURTH NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
WHO IS THE SON OF NEPHI-- . . .”
“An account of the people of Nephi, . . .”.”
(Italics in the original)
The Nephites and the Lamanites are all converted . . . ................................................4 Nephi Title and Introduction
“And it came to pass that Nephi, he that kept this last record, (and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi) died, and his son Amos kept it in his stead; and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi also.”...........................4 Nephi 1:19
“And it came to pass that Amos died also, . . . and his son Amos kept the record in his stead; and he also kept it upon the plates of Nephi; and it was also written in the book of Nephi, which is this book.” ...............4 Nephi 1:21
“And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know . . .” .........................................................................4 Nephi 1:23
“And it came to pass that in this year there arose a people who were called the Nephites, and they were true believers in Christ; and among them there were those who were called by the Lamanites-Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites;
Therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, . . . were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites.
And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites; . . .” ...........................................................................................................................................................4 Nephi 1:36-38
(Readers are again invited to compare the above list of names with the names of those people listed in the beginning seven chapters of I Nephi. The author of I Nephi used the same names here as he did in I Nephi. If Nephi did not write I Nephi, these people never existed in the first place. The same names used over and over suggest the same author without much imagination.)
“ . . .both the people of Nephi and the Lamanites had become exceedingly wicked . . .” ........................4 Nephi 1:45
“ . . . Amos died; and his brother, Ammaron, did keep the record in his stead.”
“ . . . Ammaron . . .did hide up the records . . .”
“ . . . thus is the end of the record of Ammaron.” ............................................................................4 Nephi 1:47-49
“AND now I, Mormon, make a record of the things which I have both seen and heard, and call it the Book of Mormon.
And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records . . . he came unto me, . . .” ............................Mormon 1:1-2
“And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself, . . .” ......................................................Mormon 1:4
“ . . . for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, . . . I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.” ................................Words of Mormon 1:3
“And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (and my father’s name was Mormon) I remembered the things which Ammaron commanded me.”
(no period after parenthesis in the original)....................................
Mormon 1:5
“AND it came to pass in that same year there began to be a war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites.” ...........................................................................................................................................Mormon 2:1
“And behold I had gone according to the word of Ammaron, and taken the plates of Nephi, and did make a record according to the words of Ammaron.
And upon the plates of Nephi I did make a full account . . .” ........................................................Mormon 2:17-18
“AND now I, Mormon, being about to deliver up the record which I have been making into the hands of my son Moroni, . . .” ..........................................................................................................................Words of Mormon 1:1
“BEHOLD I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon.” .................................................Mormon 8:1
“I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi.” .........................................Mormon 8:13
“AND now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account . . .”
“And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.” ........................................................................................................................Ether 1:1-2
(The twenty-four golden plates spoken of here refer to plates allegedly discovered in Mosiah chapter eight. If the book of Mosiah is fiction, the people of Limhi were as well, and they could never have discovered the twenty-four golden plates. Moroni could not have had them to make an account from.)
“ . . .the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, . . .” ..........................Ether 12:14
“Behold, Ether . . . spake also concerning . . .the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come- . . .”........Ether 13:4-5
“Ether speaks of a New Jerusalem to be built in America by the seed of Joseph-- . . .”
(Italics in the original)
..................................................................................................................................................Ether 13 Introduction
“NOW I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, . . . I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me.” ...........................................................................Moroni 1:1
“AN epistle of my father Mormon, written to me, Moroni; . . .” .........................................................Moroni 8:1
“Behold, my son, I will write unto you again if I go not out soon against the Lamanites. Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, . . .” .............................................................................................Moroni 8:27