Reading the Book of Mormon this time through I kept noticing the poetry and beauty. There’s Nephi’s Psalm, of course, and Alma’s elaborate chiasmus in Alma 36. But some of the beauty comes in smaller packages. Here are a few of the phrases that gave me chills this time through:
build up again a broken people
the work of death
known unto God were all their cries and all their sufferings
I seek not for power, but to tear it down
while the world shall stand
the whole human family of Adam
One of my favorite phrases used in the Book of Mormon is “full purpose of heart.”
“prepare ye the way of the Lord”
“…believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world.”
Jacob 1:8–possibly my favorite passage in the whole Book of Mormon. Certainly one of the most beautiful.
And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God. Alma 31:5
“O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!”
Shakespeare couldn’t have said it that beautifully.
And I was lead by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.
“And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.”
“Wrestle” is the perfect way to describe the process of freeing yourself from sin – wrestling with yourself before God in prayer. I love the story of Enos.
A sad one, but a good one:
“The time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.”
Jacob 7:26
And there is always the (counter?) verse in second Nephi, also beautiful:
“Men are that they might have joy.”
Kaimi,
A missionary in my branch in the MTC had that scripture posted to his girlfriend’s picture. Her name was Joy. :-)
Back to the topic at hand…
I love the wording of this scripture:
31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.
(Book of Mormon | Moroni 10:31)
I fired off the last comment quickly, so let me try to do better:
First, thank you Adam, for a great post topic. I like some of your choices, too. “build up again a broken people” is a _great_ image. Although I have to wonder if you’re predisposed to like lines like “the whole human family of Adam.” :P
Second, the follow up comments have been great, too. Russell points out a great passage. Guy Murray beat me to one I was thinking of citing myself. And Elisabeth notes that wrestle is a _great_ verb in Enos.
And finally, I should share a few others:
A longstanding favorite: Alma 34:38 — we should “live in thanksgiving daily” to God. (See also my discussion of this verse here).
Alma 4:19 — “bearing down in pure testimony against them.”
Alma 60:23 (also a longstanding favorite) — “the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also”
Alma 57:27 and 21, another old favorite, the theme of the youth temple guides of which I was a member:
“Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually, . . . yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them.”
King Benjamin: “if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.” (Mosiah 2:21)
“And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I had made that I would no more assist them; …” (Mormon 5:1)
Remarkable, all. Suckering you into showing us the pearls you’ve found was the real purpose of the post.
“Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” (Hel 3:35)
“And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.” (Mni 10:26)
“No one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard [Jesus] pray for us unto the Father.”
(3 Nep. 17:17).
“For do ye suppose that ye can get rid of the justice of an offended God, who hath been trampled under feet of men, that thereby salvation might come?”
A graphic depiction of what the Lord subjected himself to for our sakes–not to mention its effect on his sense of justice.
O be wise; what can I say more?
Jacob 6:12
“That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ . . . ” Alma 34:38
and “tender mercies”
To me, Ether 3 is an extremely beautiful extended passage. Particular phrases I like:
“O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock.”
“touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness”
“the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger … [a]nd [the brother of Jared] saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood”
I particularly like how the simple, concrete descriptions provided match well the theme: radical Mormon materialism–the literal physical nature of God. Perhaps it was lines like these (assuming that Ether’s account in Ether 3 is a transcription of the brother of Jared’s writing) that led Moroni to observe “Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.”
Some striking moments of tragic beauty (arousing fear and pity and all that) also stand out to me:
The decline of the Jaredites, culminating in Ether 15:
“when they had all fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz, behold Shiz had fainted with the loss of blood. … And … when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz. … And … after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.”
The disintegration and later destruction of the Nephite/Lamanite societies prior to the appearance of Jesus Christ in the western hemisphere in 3 Nephi 8:
“they did destroy upon the judgment-seat, yea, did murder the chief judge of the land. And the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land.”
“there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city of Zarahemla did take fire. And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned. And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city there became a great mountain.
***
And … there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness; And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all; And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land. And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.”
and also to the Gentiles who have care for the house of Israel
(Book of Mormon | Mormon 5:10)
and my personal favorite
And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins; And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.
(Book of Mormon | Moroni 8:25 – 26)
Great idea, Adam…consider me succored.
“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things…”
Lehi’s enlightenment as he tries to grasp the sundering of his
own family right before his eyes.
“and I saw the day of grace was passed with them…
for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion
against their God, and heaped up as dung upon the face
of the land..” Not beautiful but perhaps sublime…Mormon’s
account comes into its own here when he becomes eyewitness.
Did anyone say, “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings…”? A lot of the beautiful scriptures in the Book of Mormon are from the writings of Isaiah.
Notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor dilegently. . . for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all rightwousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.
“The spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.” – Alma 40:12
“Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.
“For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” – 1 Nephi 21:14-16 (Isaiah)
“we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes” – Mosiah 1:5
“O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you! Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.” -Mormon 6:17-18
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” – Moroni 7:48
“And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
“And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
“And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
“And when he had done this he wept again;
“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.” – 3 Nephi 17:19-23
I guess this comment got kinda long…sorry, I got carried away! Thanks for the post and great comments.
“And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.” – Moroni 10:34. The last last words in the book, and they hit me every time I finish reading it.
Thank you all. I’ve appreciated each one.
Jason, that scripture helped me through a few of the weary patches on my mission.
Stella, that last sentence always gets me too.
Isn’t it interesting how there’s a scripture for everyone? Everything that’s been quoted here is beautiful and true, yet Russell Arben Fox’s Jacob 1:8 has hit me the hardest. We have similar temperaments, I guess that’s why.
and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.