Father? Yes, Nephi, come in.

Come in; sit with me.

The Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem.

Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass. Thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness. I suppose Laman and Lemuel have refused? They murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded,

for I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which He commandeth them.

Thou hast been blessed of the Lord.

Be safe! I depend on you.

Which of us shall go? Laman, as the eldest, you have always claimed the right and privilege of being the first among us. We will cast lots.

As I said …

We await word of your success.

-Oh, please, sit, sit. -Thank you ... Zoram, fetch this man some wine. that will not be necessary. It is kind, but my visit will be brief.

Very well.

Tell me, what have you come to discuss with me? My father, Lehi, has sent me.

The Lord has commanded us to ask thee

for the records which are engraven upon the plates of brass, the records which contain the genealogy of my father. The plates of brass have been handed down in my family for generations. Your father believes I should simply give them to you?

What if I were to cry out,

claiming thou art a robber? Then I would be within my rights to slay you, would I not? I … Thou art a robber! I will slay thee!

Seems you did not fare so well. At least I am alive. He called me a robber and threatened to slay me! Now what shall we do? We return to our father in the wilderness. We will not go down to our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us! Nephi, I tried! He will not give us the plates.

Wait, let us go down to the land of our father’s inheritance. He has left gold and silver and all manner of riches. He knew that Jerusalem must be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people. And it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; and also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets.

Come in. It grows cold.

The Lord will not forsake them. You are a visionary man.

Thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and now we perish in the wilderness.

I have not seen what you have seen. I cannot help but fear for their lives. Sariah, I know 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.

I know the Lord will deliver our sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us.

Once again, the Lord has commanded us to ask for the records which are engraven upon the plates of brass ...

for which we will give unto you our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.

Zoram!

It’s beautiful. Beautiful.

I am quite pleased with your generous offer.

Guards! Thieves! -There are thieves in my house! -You are the thief! Slay them! Slay them all!

We trusted the Lord, and we have lost everything!

We will find another way. There is no other way! What do you propose now? Return to the house of that thief? They will kill us before we get to the door! We must go back. We cannot disappoint Father or the Lord. You are a fool! - You are a fool! -Laman!

Father is a fool!

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.

How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?

-He is a mighty man. -He can command fifty,

yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us? Let us go up again unto Jerusalem.

Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord.

He is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, or even than his tens of thousands?

Let us go up;

let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground. Nephi, this is not the same! An angel has spoken unto you;

wherefore can ye doubt?

Let us go up;

the Lord is able to deliver us,

even as our fathers.

Nephi, if Laban or any of his guard catch you, they will kill you.

Stay here. Hide yourselves until I return.

God be with you.

Thou must kill Laban.

Never at any time have I shed the blood of man.

Nephi, the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands.

Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth His righteous purposes.

It is better that one man should perish

than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.

Master Laban, have you returned already? Zoram, go with me into the treasury.

As you wish.

And how fare the elders of the Jews this evening?

I know that you have been out by night among them.

I shall carry the engravings,

which are upon the plates of brass, to my elder brethren, who are without the walls.

Of course, Master Laban. Thank you.

Come with me to meet my brethren.

Of course, Master Laban. Thank you …

for this opportunity to attend thee as you meet your brethren of the elders at this late hour. Who do you see?

-Laban. -It’s Laban.

The other with him— is it Nephi?

No!

Laman! Lemuel! Sam! It is I, Nephi!

Be still, be still. If you will hearken unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, we will spare your life.

I speak unto you, even with an oath, that you need not fear.

If you go down into the wilderness with us, you will be a free man.

The Lord hath commanded us to do this thing.

And if you will come down into the wilderness to the tent of my father, thou shalt have place with us.

I promise thee

I will go down into the wilderness unto thy father.

I make an oath with thee;

I will tarry with thee from this time forth.

Lehi!

They live!

Oh, thank the Lord, they live!

I thought you had perished!

We have obtained the plates, Father.

Now I know of a surety

that the Lord hath commanded my husband

to flee into the wilderness.

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.

Come, we must offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord, and give thanks unto the God of Israel.

They contain the five books of Moses! And an account of Adam and Eve, our first parents.

Also, the prophecies of the holy prophets.

Yes,

and more.

Look!

The genealogy of my fathers.

I am a descendent of Joseph,

even that same Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt.

The Spirit has shown me that these plates of brass shall go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who are of my seed.

It is wisdom in the Lord that we should have them.

They are of great worth unto us,

insomuch that we can preserve the commandments of the Lord

unto our children.