1st Nephi Chapter 3
3:1 After the Lord spoke to me, I went back to my father’s tent.
3:2 My father said to me, I had a dream where the Lord instructed that you and your brothers must return to Jerusalem.
3:3 Laban has the record of the Jews along with a genealogy of our forefathers engraved on brass plates.
3:4 The Lord has commanded that you and your brothers should go back to Laban’s house, get the records, and bring them here.
3:5 I know your brothers will dislike this request and claim it is too difficult, but it is not I who asks, it is the Lord.
3:6 Please go, my son, and the Lord will be with you since you go in faith.
3:7 I said to my father, “If it is the Lord’s will, I will go.”
3:8 My father was glad to hear this, knowing the Lord would bless me.
3:9 My brothers and I packed up our tents and traveled back to Jerusalem.
3:10 When we reached the city, we stopped to talk about what our next steps should be.
3:11 To determine who would go to Laban’s house, my brothers and I drew lots. Laman lost, so he went by himself to speak with Laban.
3:12 Laman told Laban that he wanted the records that were engraved on the plates of brass, which contained our genealogy.
3:13 When Laman spoke with Laban, Laban became furious. He threw my brother out of his house and refused to hand over the records. Laban called Laman a robber and threatened to kill him if he tried to take the records.
3:14 Laman escaped and told us how Laban had reacted. We were discouraged, and my brothers wanted to give up and return to our father in the wilderness.
3:15 Despite my own hesitations, I persuaded them not to go back until we had accomplished what the Lord and our father had commanded us to do.
3:16 I suggested we return to our old house in Jerusalem and retrieve the gold, silver, and property we had left behind.
3:17 We had left these things believing Jerusalem would soon be destroyed for rejecting the prophets.
3:18 Had we stayed, we too would have perished. We had to leave.
3:19 But now, God’s will is for us to obtain these records to preserve them for our children,
3:20 And to preserve the words spoken by the holy prophets through the Spirit and power of God from the world’s beginning.
3:21 I persuaded my brothers that we should continue on.
3:22 We returned to our home in Jerusalem and gathered our gold, silver and property.
3:23 After collecting these items, we returned to Laban.
3:24 We offered our gold, silver and property in exchange for the records that we sought.
3:25 When Laban saw our riches, he wanted it all. He threw us out and sent servants to kill us and keep our possessions.
3:26 We fled from Laban’s servants, but had to abandon our possessions, which Laban recovered.
3:27 We ran back to the wilderness and hid in a cave, safe from Laban and his servants.
3:28 Angry with me and my father, Laman and Lemuel yelled at me and Samuel and started hitting us with sticks.
3:29 As they did this, an angel appeared and asked why they beat their younger brother, since the Lord had chosen me. The angel said if we returned to Jerusalem, the Lord would deliver Laban into our hands.
3:30 After the angel spoke to us, he departed.
3:31 But after the angel left, Laman and Lemuel began complaining again, saying “How can the Lord deliver Laban into our hands? He is a mighty man who can command and slay fifty men. Why wouldn’t he kill us too?”