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2 Nephi 8


Chapter 8

Jacob continues reading from Isaiah: In the last days, the Lord will comfort Zion and gather Israel—The redeemed will come to Zion amid great joy—Compare Isaiah 51 and 52:1–2. About 559–545 B.C.

Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness. Look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are digged.

Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah, she that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him.

For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light for the people.

My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arm shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

Awake, awake! Put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days. Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

10 Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

11 Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

12 I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you. Behold, who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man, who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto grass?

13 And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile hasteneth, that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

15 But I am the Lord thy God, whose waves roared; the Lord of Hosts is my name.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: Behold, thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury—thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling wrung out—

18 And none to guide her among all the sons she hath brought forth; neither that taketh her by the hand, of all the sons she hath brought up.

19 These two sons are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for theethy desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword—and by whom shall I comfort thee?

20 Thy sons have fainted, save these two; they lie at the head of all the streets; as a wild bull in a net, they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.

21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, and not with wine:

22 Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.

23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over—and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over.

24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

      • afflicted (adjective)

        Suffering grief or pain.

      • afflicted (adjective)

        Suffering.

      • in ancient times, in the ancient days (adverb phrase)

        Long ago; in the distant past.

      • arise (verb)

        To get up from kneeling, sitting, or lying.

      • art thou (phrase)

        Are you.

      • as (adverb)

        Like.

      • awake (verb)

        To realize the importance of something; to start to act.

      • away (adverb)

        Out of existence.

      • B.C. (noun)

        Before the birth of Christ.

      • because of (conjunction)

        By reason of; through.

      • behold (interjection, archaic)

        Look! See! In fact.

      • bow, bow down (verb)

        To bend the head, kneel, or lie down on one’s belly as a courtesy to others, a sign of submission to a ruler, or as worship to God.

      • bring forth (verb)

        To produce; to bear.

      • call (verb)

        To summon; to choose; to give a church responsibility to.

      • compare (verb)

        To take note of how things are alike or different.

      • continually (adverb)

        Always; without pause.

      • latter days; last days (noun)

        Modern times; the period before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (sometimes also called the “end times”).

      • desolation (noun)

        Ruin; destruction; disaster that causes many deaths.

      • destroy (verb)

        To ruin; to cause something to cease to exist.

      • destruction (noun)

        The tearing down or complete ruin of something.

      • dwell (verb)

        To live; to reside.

      • everlasting (adjective)

        Lasting forever.

      • for (conjunction)

        Because.

      • for (conjunction)

        Because; because you see.

      • forth (adverb)

        Forward; away.

      • foundation (noun)

        The base on which a building is built.

      • full of (adjective)

        Characterized by; having an excess of.

      • garment (noun)

        Clothing.

      • from generation to generation (adverb phrase)

        Forever; for a very long period of time (generation means all the people living at one time).

      • God (proper noun)

        God the Father or His Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father rules all things with perfect justice, mercy, and love. Jesus Christ often speaks and acts for His Father. He suffered so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be resurrected. The Father and Son are separate individuals but are united in purpose.

      • hath (verb, archaic)

        Has.

      • hearken (verb)

        To listen; to take advice from; to obey.

      • heart (noun)

        A person’s thoughts, desires, and feelings.

      • heaven (noun)

        The sky; figuratively, the place where God lives.

      • holiness (adjective)

        Sacredness; purity; being given by or devoted to God.

      • holy (adjective)

        Sacred; set apart for God’s purposes.

      • Jacob (proper noun)

        Brother of Nephi; author of the third book of the Book of Mormon.

      • Jerusalem (proper noun)

        People who live in Jerusalem, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Judah.

      • Lord (noun)

        A term of respect for God the Father or Jesus Christ.

      • Maker (proper noun)

        A title for God.

      • man (noun)

        Human beings.

      • men (noun)

        People; humanity.

      • may, might (verb)

        Can; could.

      • may (verb)

        Can; could.

      • mine (pronoun, archaic)

        My.

      • nation (noun)

        A large group of people who are related to each other or who have the same language, history, or government; the country where they live.

      • none (pronoun)

        No one.

      • O (interjection, archaic)

        A word placed before the name of someone being addressed, often to show strong feeling.

      • obtain (verb)

        To get.

      • proceed, proceed forth (verb)

        To come or go out.

      • righteousness (noun)

        Goodness; morality; obedience to God’s commandments.

      • salvation (noun)

        Being saved by God from death and the effects of sin; being saved by God from enemies or other physical danger.

      • save (preposition)

        Except; unless.

      • shall, should (verb)

        Will, would.

      • shall, should (verb)

        Will, would.

      • should (verb)

        May; must; ought to.

      • Son (proper noun)

        Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He created the earth and rules it. He often speaks and acts for His Father. He suffered so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be resurrected.

      • sorrow (noun)

        Sadness; suffering.

      • soul (noun)

        Spirit; the part of us that exists before birth, that continues after death, and that has awareness and the ability to choose.

      • strength (noun)

        Force; power; vigor.

      • stretch forth (verb phrase)

        To reach out with.

      • taketh (verb, archaic)

        Takes.

      • that (conjunction)

        In order that; so that.

      • that (conjunction)

        Who.

      • thee (pronoun, archaic)

        You.

      • therefore (adverb)

        For this reason.

      • therefore (adverb)

        Now; so.

      • therein (adverb)

        In it.

      • thine (pronoun, archaic)

        Your, yours.

      • thou art (phrase)

        You are.

      • thou hast (phrase, archaic)

        You have.

      • thou shalt (phrase, archaic)

        You will.

      • thou (pronoun, archaic)

        You.

      • thy (pronoun, archaic)

        Your.

      • unto (preposition)

        To.

      • come unto (verb)

        To come to; to show willingness to follow or obey.

      • unto (preposition)

        To.

      • like unto (preposition)

        Like; the same as.

      • unto (preposition)

        To.

      • vanish (verb)

        To disappear; to cease to exist.

      • from whence (prepositional phrase)

        From which; from where.

      • wilderness (noun)

        Land where few or no people live.

      • word (noun)

        Message; teachings.

      • ye (pronoun, archaic)

        You.

      • yea (interjection, archaic)

        Indeed; yes. This is pronounced “yay.”