1 Nephi 20
People in this chapter
Why would Nephi stop his story to copy two whole chapters of Isaiah? He told us in the last chapter. He read Isaiah to his brothers that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, and he read it a particular way: I did liken all scriptures unto us (1 Nephi 19:23). So read this chapter the way Nephi's brothers heard it, as a message to a family of Israel that had just been carried out of Jerusalem and across the sea.
Tap any highlighted phrase to jump to the commentary that unpacks it.
1 Nephi 20:1-2Hearken and Hear This, O House of Jacob
1Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness. 2Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.
Isaiah speaks to people who carry Israel's name and use the Lord's name, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness. They have the label without the loyalty.
The Book of Mormon says these people do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel. To stay on something is to lean your weight on it. They claimed the holy city but did not lean on its God.
1 Nephi 20:3-8Thy Neck Is an Iron Sinew
3Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly. 4And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.
The Lord calls His people obstinate, with a neck like iron. A stiff neck will not bow or turn. Nephi's brothers would have recognized themselves.
The Lord told Israel what would happen before it happened, so they could not say an idol did it. Prophecy is how God shows that He is God.
6Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say—Behold I knew them. 8Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
Now the Lord shows new things... even hidden things. Nephi had just been shown many hidden things about the future. The question is whether ears will open to hear them.
1 Nephi 20:9-11The Furnace of Affliction
9Nevertheless, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off. 10For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.
Israel deserved to be cut off, but the Lord says He will hold back His anger for my name's sake. His patience comes from who He is.
Instead of cutting Israel off, the Lord refines them. Affliction is the furnace where the impurities burn away. Nephi's family had just spent eight years in that furnace.
The Lord will not suffer my name to be polluted. He protects His name, and He will not give His glory to another.
1 Nephi 20:12-17I Am the First, and I Am Also the Last
12Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last. 13Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.
The same Lord laid the foundation of the earth and spanned the heavens. When He calls, creation stands up.
14All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans. 15Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
17And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
The Lord calls Himself thy Redeemer, who teacheth thee to profit and leadeth thee by the way. Nephi's family had been led every step of the way.
1 Nephi 20:18-22Then Had Thy Peace Been as a River
18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. 19Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
O that thou hadst hearkened: if Israel had obeyed, their peace would have been like a river that never stops flowing.
20Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21And they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also and the waters gushed out.
Go ye forth of Babylon, and tell the world, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. Lehi's family had done exactly that.
Even after all the Lord has done, there is no peace... unto the wicked. Peace like a river is offered, but it cannot be forced on anyone.
Research trail
Sources & further study
These references support the historical, linguistic, manuscript, and contextual notes in this chapter. Scripture remains the primary text; external sources are provided so readers can inspect the research directly.
- How Might Isaiah 48-49 Be “Likened” to Lehi’s Family?Lays out the parallels between these chapters and Lehi's family: a stubborn people, a refining wilderness, and a promise of peace like a river that may echo Lehi's words to Laman in 1 Nephi 2:9.
- What Vision Guides Nephi’s Choice of Isaiah Chapters?Argues that Nephi chose his Isaiah passages to fit the outline of his own vision in 1 Nephi 11-14: Christ's coming, Israel's scattering, the day of the Gentiles, and Israel's restoration.
- Robert E. Parsons, “The Prophecies of the Prophets”Treats Nephi's use of Isaiah 48-49 as a message about the covenants with scattered Israel, read alongside Nephi's own explanation in 1 Nephi 22.
Where this echoes in Scripture
Hearken and Hear This, O House of Jacob
- 1 Nephi 19:23-24Hear ye the words of the prophet… and liken them unto yourselves.How Nephi introduced this chapter.
- Isaiah 48:1-2For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel.The Bible wording of verse 2.
- 1 Nephi 2:13Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed.
- Proverbs 3:5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Thy Neck Is an Iron Sinew
- 1 Nephi 17:45Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God.Nephi's own words to his brothers.
- 1 Nephi 15:8-9Have ye inquired of the Lord?… We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.Ears not opened.
- Isaiah 46:9-10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.
- Acts 7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.
The Furnace of Affliction
- Isaiah 48:10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.The Bible wording.
- Deuteronomy 4:20The LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt.
- Malachi 3:3He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
- 2 Nephi 2:2He shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.Lehi's promise to a son born in the wilderness.
- D&C 121:7-8Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.
I Am the First, and I Am Also the Last
- Revelation 1:17-18I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead.The risen Jesus uses the same words.
- D&C 110:4I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain.The Savior in the Kirtland Temple, 1836.
- 3 Nephi 9:15Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth.
- Isaiah 45:1Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus.The one Isaiah names as the Lord's instrument against Babylon.
- 1 Nephi 16:10Within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go.How the Lord led this family by the way.
Then Had Thy Peace Been as a River
- 1 Nephi 2:9O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!Lehi's words to Laman by a river in the wilderness.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
- Exodus 17:6Thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
- D&C 133:14Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.
- John 14:27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth.