1 AND now, [ Nephi is bring the remarks from the previous chapter forward. Building upon that doctrine. ] behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? [ See 2 Ne 31:13. ] And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; [ A: How do Angels speak? ] wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; [ Do more than just nibble. Get in there and enjoy the entire meal. A feast denotes that it provides an entirity of food for enjoyment. From good breads to start off with to all of the meat one would want or need - clear through to the finest deserts - the icing on the cake! ] for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. [ But they will or can only do that if you let them. ]

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, [ Why is it so important that we ask? Who is the condemnation on then? Us we have to open the door and let the Lord into our lives. ] neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, [ Verses those that are brought into the light - those who will receive further personal revealation. See vs 6. There is a whole different level of the scriptures than that which is taught in Sunday school, and seminary. You need to want to know more, you have to study and ponder, pray and then be taught by the Holy Ghost. You have to pay the price in order to understand. ] but must perish in the dark. [ Those in the dark will perish because they will not know how to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel. ]

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. [ What is he suggesting here? That until we have received the Holy Ghost we cannot receive personal revealation. Idea carried forth from verse 3. So in essence what Nephi is suggesting that until you as an individual get down on your knees and ask, until you want to know. All of the preaching in the world will not change what you think. Until you have received your own personal witness of the truth all of the intelectual knowledge in the world will not help until you have your own personal spiritual experience. And further more you cannot have that spiritual experience unless you want to, you must be open to it and seek for it. ] And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, [ Why? Because he precieves that what he has just said is true. The Lord does not allow Nephi to write things in his way as they would be too plain and the Lord wants those who would like to have it to have them, but they will come through being taught by the spirit. If you are not taught by the spirit you will not really understand them. If they do not want to listen to what he is saying and act on it then all of the preaching in the world will not get them to change one bit. He will hereafter begin mourning because he is fearful the people will not search out the “great knowledge” which he feels is in the scripture but the evil spirit will discourage them from finding it. Nevertheless, he hopes that through prayer the Holy Ghost will reveal it to them. Meanwhile he was forbidden to utter those things he was so anxious to declare openly and plainly. Why? because they are things that are reserved to be included in the writings of John . ] and I am left to mourn [ Nephi is giving us a message here. In essence he is saying I feel bad that there is an opportunity for us to know God, to see God, to walk with God while in the flesh, but we miss out on that opportunity because of the following: ] because of the unbelief, [ They don't think that it is possible to see God while they are in the flesh. ] and the wickedness, [ They do not live lives which would allow them to be in the presence of God. ] and the ignorance, [ Ignorance because they simple don't ask, they don't try to find out how. ] and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, [ The keyword here is search and study them. The Savior said that we need to search the scriptures, that means learn and understand them. "for when they are learned they think they are wise." How do we obtain knowledge? We have to search, to ask, to study and work for it. ] when it is given unto them in plainness, [ It is there for the taking - but you have to do the work. He has seen our day remember, and he is saying to us reach out, take advantage of what is available to you, and you simple do not get it, you treat these things with lightness. ] even as plain as word can be. [ I think that Nephi kind of adds this at the end because he knows that the things that he is going to teach will not be taught directly by him, face to face, but rather his audience will only receive his message through the words which he has written, and the words which he writes will be generations in advance of when they will be read. So why are these words so plain to Nephi? Because he has seen the same things in vision, he prayed to see them and then was taught by God; so in essence he is saying to us if you will pray then God will teach you too and then you will see how plain they are. ]

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; [ You are still not convinced that you should do as he has instructed. ] and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. [ He wishes that they would just be obedient. Is that not the wish of parents, of our leaders? ] For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; [ The spirit of the Holy Ghost will teach us to pray. Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. [ The evil spirit teaches us why pray, your prayers are not ever answered. You are not worthy to receive an answer you are too bad... Has Nephi read your mind? Who are you listening too? ]

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, [ When should we pray? Everytime that we embark on doing something so that the Lord can direct our path and bless us as we go forth to do his will. What does that imply? Does that suggest that if we do so it does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen? No but it does mean that the Lord is invited in so that things that the Lord can be a part of the process. Which when we involve the Lord the outcome is alway better. ] that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.