1 AND it came to pass that in this *same year, behold, Nephi delivered up the judgment-seat to a man whose name was Cezoram.

2  For as their laws and their governments [ Both their laws and their government had become corrupt. If you look at the voter turnout during the past elections for Utah they are as follows: 2010 Utah was 48th in percentage voter turnout, 2012 Utah was 39th, 2014 Utah was 39th, 2016 Utah was 49th, 2020 Utah was 44th. So the people of this state gave their voice to the minority of the people, no wonder we have the laws that we have. Apathy. ] were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.

3 Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.

4 And it came to pass that Nephi had become weary because of their iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment-seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days;

5 For they remembered the words which their father Helaman spake unto them. And these are the words which he spake:

6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.

7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.

8 And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.

9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. [ What is the difference between these two options for redemption? What is the cause for one to happen and not the other? First we as individuals need to exercise agency, that agency requires us to believe in God, and then repent, without our repenting and trust in the Savior it cannot happen. Verse 11. ]

11 And he hath power given unto him [ The Son, The redeemer, the Savior. ] from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels [Why do angels visit men? see Moroni 7:30-31] to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation; [ We are responsible to use our own agency to learn to listen and submit to the will of God so that we have a foundation in him before the time that we are tested. ] that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, [ False doctrines, and the Devil will send them. ] yea, his shafts in the preachers, or prophets. ] yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, [ When Stan bring all that he has to confuse you and to beat you down. ] it [ The pressure from the adversary. ] shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, [ The only way to stay above the woe's that will come upon you is for you to have a testimony in the Savior, even a knowledge of God. One should come to realize that if someone is being dragged then then it suggests that it is against their agency, if it where their agency they would walk or run or at least follow. Dragging is something the adversary does. There is no gentilness, love or persausation as with Gods way - it is unrighteous dominion - dominion because they can. This who have hooked their wagon to the wrong master. ] because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure [ 1. Certain; unfailing; infallible; 2. Certainly knowing, or having full confidence; 3. Certain; safe; firm; permanent; 4. Firm; stable; steady; not liable to failure, loss or change; as a sure covenant. 2 Samuel 23:5. Nehemiah 9:38. Isaiah 28:16; 5. Certain of obtaining or of retaining; as, to be sure of game; to be sure of success; to be sure of life or health; 6. Strong; secure; not liable to be broken or disturbed; 7. Certain; not liable to failure. ] foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

13 And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman taught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.

14 And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi, beginning at the city Bountiful;

15 And from thenceforth to the city of Gid; and from the city of Gid to the city of Mulek;

16 And even from one city to another, until they had gone forth among all the people of Nephi who were in the land southward; and from thence into the land of Zarahemla, among the Lamanites.

17 And it came to pass that they did preach with great power, insomuch that they did confound many of those dissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.

18 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—

19 Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about baptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the wickedness of the traditions of their fathers.

20 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did proceed from thence to go to the land of Nephi.

21 And it came to pass that they were taken by an army of the Lamanites and cast into prison; yea, even in that same prison in which Ammon and his brethren were cast by the servants of Limhi.

22 And after they had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them. [ Nephi and Lehi are cast into prison and there is a mob of 300 Lamanites coming to slay them. ]

23 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire, [ When the angry mob of about 300 arrive, they see that Nephi and Lehi are encircled about as if by fire. ] even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.

24 And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage. [ Nephi and Lehi gain courage as they see that the Lamanites are afraid to lay their hands upon them. ]

25 For they saw that the Lamanites durst not lay their hands upon them; neither durst they come near unto them, but stood as if they were struck dumb with amazement.

26 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did stand forth and began to speak unto them, [ With their new found courage, the fact that they know full well that the Lord is protecting them as this otherwise is not possible. ] saying: Fear not, for behold, it is God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us.

27 And behold, when they [ Nephi and Lehi. ] had said these words, [ To fear not because God is the one who has shown you this marvelous thing. ] the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison did shake as if they were about to tumble to the earth; but behold, they did not fall. And behold, they that were in the prison were Lamanites and Nephites who were dissenters.

28 And it came to pass that they were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them. [ This mob of 300 is now in solemn fear for their own lives. ]

29 And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.

30 And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul— [ This voice that they heard was not a thundering voice, but a still small voice of peace that touched each of them on an individual basis. ]

31  And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, [ Even though the voice was not loud there was no doubt that they had heard it. It penetrated the earth. ] behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse—

32 And behold the voice came again, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and seek no more to destroy my servants. And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled.

33 And also again the third time the voice came, [ Just so you do not think that you just heard something, no there is no mistake about it. ] and did speak unto them marvelous words which cannot be uttered by man; and the walls did tremble again, and the earth shook as if it were about to divide asunder.

34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites could not flee because of the cloud of darkness which did overshadow them; [ Even though they want to run the darkness was too great, they were stuck there. ] yea, and also they were immovable because of the fear which did come upon them.

35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.

36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he [ Aminadab. ] beheld that [ Witnessed with his own eyes. ] they [ Nephi and Lehi. ] did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld. [ As if - or they were talking to someone in the heavens. An unbeliever would be careful not to say that they were indeed talking to God, but would couch it as if they were talking to God to no acknowledge God. ]

37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; [ So some kind of cleansing or sanctification must have taken place, or was this just the power to overcome the fear that they had to even look? ] and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.

38  And they said unto the man: [ Aminidab. ] Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?

39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. [ One translation of his name means noble kinsman, another translation means the people's freewill offerring, or the people's offerring of the soul. Then look at what he say's . It is not by accident in that he is recommending what the people are to do in order for them to offer up their own freewill offerring. ] . And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.

40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us? [ See verse 39 as the name Aminabab is a prophetic statement based on who he is and what he asked the people to do. ]

41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, [ First repent, change your ways. ] and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, [ Pray until you have the faith to believe in Jesus Christ, accept him as your Savior and ask for his forgiveness. ] who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.

43 And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire. [ Every person gets his or her own individual response of burning, their own baptism by fire. ]

44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

45 And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. [ They followed the same pattern as was taught in . 2 Ne 31:13, 2 Ne 32:2-3. Follow, then a baptism of fire, then speaking with the tongues of angels (ie the words of Christ). ]

46 And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, [ Or a still small voice, the same voice that spoke to them 3 times earlier. ] saying:

47 Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.

48 And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them. [ Then they see the heavens opened to them. So they started out as a angry mob, they wanted to kill Nephi and Lehi, and they end up having the heavens opened to them. What does that say about us where we are already seeking the Lord and trying to be righteous and follow the commandments? Do we need to have more faith in the promises that have been given to us? In the coming days is this the same kind of pillar that we will need to be protected by a pillar of fire by night.. Is the spirituality that was developed by these people in any way associated with the powerful protection of fire and light that we will need as the saints in the coming days? ]

49 And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; and they were bidden to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt.

50 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and did minister unto the people, declaring throughout all the regions round about all the things which they had heard and seen, insomuch that the more part of the Lamanites were convinced of them, because of the greatness of the evidences which they had received.

51 And as many as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war, and also their hatred and the tradition of their fathers.

52 And it came to pass that they did yield up unto the Nephites the lands of their possession. [ Remember the Nephites had fought for the land and got to a point were they felt that it was not longer worth trying to get their land back - So the stopped trying that startegy (Fighting to get their lands back. (See 4:19) ]