Ten years passed and there were wars and conflicts between the Nephites and Lamanites. Nephi, whom his people considered their king and protector, ordained his younger brothers Jacob and Joseph as priests in the Church. He then prophesied to his descendants, saying, "there will be many generations of war and conflict among my people."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 5:34
• 2 Nephi 6:2
• 2 Nephi 25:7
• 2 Nephi 26:2
• Book of Mormon Stories, (1997), 27–29
"In 600 years from now when Jesus the messiah is born into a mortal body, you will see signs of his birth and also of his death. On that day the wicked will be punished for killing the prophets and all the proud will be burned up. The earth will open and swallow them up. Tornadoes will carry them away. Buildings will collapse on them, crushing them, and grinding them into powder."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 26:3-4
"There will be lightning, earthquakes, and all types of destruction, because the anger of Jesus will be ignited against them, and they will be like stubble on that day. I feel anguishing pain when I think about the deaths of these people, but I must declare to my God, 'Your ways are just.'"
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 26:5-7
"Then to those among my descendants who remain alive, Jesus will appear. And he will perform healings among you. And then there will be three generations who live in righteousness after that."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 26:8-9
"After that, a speedy destruction will come upon my descendants. Though it pains me to say it, I have seen it in a vision and I know it will happen. They will yield to Satan, and because of their pride and their foolishness, they will be destroyed and must go down to hell."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 26:10
"Now I will prophesy about the last days," said Nephi. "About 1,800 years after Jesus's visit to my descendants, the Gentiles in the promised land will build up many false churches that will compete with one another. Priests from each will argue that theirs is the true church of Jesus, but all of them will be corrupt and teach false doctrines. They will commit wickedness and abominations and lead men astray, and none of them will be the true church of Jesus."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 26:14-20
• 2 Nephi 28:3-14
Nephi said that in those last days the records of the Nephites engraved on metal plates would be brought forth and given to a man—which is to say Joseph Smith—for him to bring to the world. He will be told by Jesus to dictate them to another man—which is to say Martin Harris—to create a new book of scripture: The Book of Mormon.
"But concerning this new book of scripture many of the Gentiles will say, 'A Bible! A Bible! We already have a Bible! There can't be any more Bible!'" said Nephi. "Suffering and sorrow will be the fate of those who reject the word of God! Suffering and sorrow will be the fate of those who denounce that which is good and say it is worthless!"
"Satan will pacify them with a false sense of security, convincing people that he doesn't really exist as he carefully leads them down to hell, grasping them in his awful chains. And all those he seizes will be judged before the throne of God, and then must go to the place prepared for them—a lake of fire and brimstone which is endless torture. Therefore woe unto those who think all is well and who say 'We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!'"
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 28:19-29
Nephi then prophesied that when the Book of Mormon comes into the world, many will believe it, and they will take these new scriptures to the remnant of the Lamanites—which is to say, the people now known as the Native Americans—and they will learn about their Lamanite ancestors and how they are descended from Jews from Jerusalem. They will regain the knowledge of Jesus that their ancestors once had.
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 30:3-5
"The remnant of the Lamanites will rejoice, recognizing this as a blessing from God," prophesied Nephi. "The scales of darkness will fall from their eyes, and within a few generations they will become a pure and delightful people."
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 30:7
"And now I, Nephi, can say no more," said Nephi, "for the Spirit stops me from speaking further. I am left to mourn the wickedness, ignorance, and stubbornness of men who don't understand great knowledge when it is given to them." If you believe in Christ, you will believe in the words of Nephi, for they are Christ's words. The only people that will be angry with Nephi's words are people with the spirit of Satan.
Sources:
• 2 Nephi 32:7
• 2 Nephi 33:10, 5
Now that Nephi was old and near death, he passed on the metal plates to his younger brother Jacob, commanding him to continue engraving the history of their people and passing the plates on from generation to generation. He chose a man to be king over his people, and in Nephi's honor the people decided that all of their kings would be called Nephi no matter what their name had been. Then Nephi died.
Sources:
• Jacob 1:1-12
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