2 And they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

3 But behold, the righteous hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness, notwithstanding all these persecutions.

4 And the Son of righteousness shall appear unto them; and the words which he shall speak unto them shall be the law which they shall do.

5 And after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall show himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren.

6 For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people;

7 But he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him, until three generations shall have passed away, and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness.

8 And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection, unto which signs the righteous look forward with steadfastness.

9 They are they which shall not perish. But great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish.

10 Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be consumed as stubble; for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them,.even as in the latter-days (according to the prophecy of Malachi), being on a parallel.

11 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions; and the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts;

12 And mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder.

13 Therefore, whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to powder.²

14 Behold, the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.³

15 ⁴Therefore, as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the very Christ, the Eternal God;

16 Behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days; concerning the days when the Lord God shall bring these things forth unto the children of men, for then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul.

17 For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man; and it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Eternal God manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

18 Yea, by the power of the Holy Ghost doth the Lord, Jesus Christ, work mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men, except when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man, for he worketh according to their faith.

19 Therefore, because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light; they must go down to hell, even as my seed and the seed of my brethren have been brought down low in the dust (speaking of these things as though they had already come to pass, for I have seen it);

20 Yea, they have reaped destruction; for the Lord God has camped against them round about, and has laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them,

21 Yea, for the reward of their pride and their foolishness, after dwindling in unbelief, they have been smitten by the Gentiles;

22 And they sell themselves for naught, even that they are not.

23 Nevertheless, thus saith the Lord God: All those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten; and the prayers of the faithful, offered in the pain of their souls, shall be heard;

24 For the words of the righteous shall be written; yea, the righteous shall write the things which shall be done among them.

25 Behold, I have seen that thier words shall be written and sealed up in a book; for those who have been destroyed shall speak unto those who have dwindled in unbelief, even out of the ground;

26 Yea, their speech, even their voice, shall be low out of the dust, as one that hath a familiar spirit.

27 For I know that it shall come to pass that the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even with their speech, as it were out of the ground, whispering out of the dust.

28 But those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not have these words, for they seek to destroy the things of God.

29 Wherefore, as those of my people who have been destroyed have had a speedy destruction come unto them; even so, the multitude of their strangers,⁵ the terrible ones, shall be like small dust⁶ or as chaff that passeth away;

30 For, whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to powder.⁷

31 Yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly.

32 ⁸For behold, when these things have passed away, when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man, then cometh speedy destruction--unto my people and then unto the multitude of their terrible ones--and this grieveth my soul.

33 But notwithstanding the pains of my soul, I have seen it; wherefore, I know that it shall come to pass, even as I have spoken.

34 For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man, thus they sell themselves for naught;

35 Therefore, for the reward of their pride, because they yield unto the devil, and in their foolishness choose works of darkness rather than light, they shall reap destruction; and they must go down to hell.

36 Nevertheless, the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.⁹

37 Therefore, again it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced, even as the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, the Eternal God.

38 ¹⁰For the Lord God will give unto him their voice, which shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit, with power.

39 For those who shall be destroyed shall speak, for he will whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper low out of the dust.

40 And all those things, which have been sealed up in a book, because they have dwindled in unbelief, shall not be forgotten.

41 And they shall be written that the prayers of the faithful shall be heard; for thus saith the Lord God: The righteous shall write the things which shall be done among them.

42 And those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not have them, for they seek to destroy the things of God; but they shall be brought down low in the dust, even that they are not.

43 Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily; so also shall the multitude of their terrible ones be as chaff that passeth away--

44 Yea, the Lord God shall camp against them round about, and shall lay siege against them with a mount, and raise forts against them;

45 Yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly--

46 And this shall come to pass after my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the hand of the Gentiles.

47 Behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days, and the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes: yea, concerning the days when the Lord God shall bring these things forth unto the children of men, and they have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block--notwithstanding his commandment that there shall be no priestcrafts.¹¹

48 Yea they have built up many churches, yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people;

49 Nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, yea, the workings of mighty miracles, signs, and wonders among the children of men according to their faith.

50 For, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, preferring their own wisdom and their own learning to the power of the Holy Ghost.

51 They desire that they may get gain and the praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion--for behold, Jesus Christ, the Eternal God, manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him.

52 Yea, in fine, they grind upon the face of the poor, even though the Lord hath forbidden this thing;

53 Wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love, and except they should have charity they were nothing.

54 Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.

55 But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money, they shall perish--and there are many churches built up after this manner.

56 And these churches cause that men should murder, lie, steal, take the name of the Lord their God in vain, envy, have malice, and contend with strifes one with another, all of which the Lord God hath forbidden.

57 And there are also secret combinations, with which they commit whoredoms, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil;

58 For he is the founder of all these things which the Lord God hath forbidden; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness;

59 And whoso doeth them doth the devil lead by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever, and they perish.

60 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that none of these iniquities come of the Lord, for the Lord God worketh not in darkness.

61 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world, for he doeth that which is good among the children of men;

62 And he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him.

63 Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation, but he inviteth them all.

64 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price; and partake of my goodness.

65 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, he denieth none.

66 Hath he commanded any that they should not come unto him and partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men;

67 And he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men--black and white, bond and free, male and female--to repentance.

68 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he remembereth the heathen;

69 Yea, all men are alike unto God, being privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden, both Jew and Gentile.

. . 1. II Nephi 26:1-9 Chiasm, starting @ omission.

. . 2. Matthew 21:44.

. . 3. Psalms 118:22,23.

. . 4. II Nephi 26:10-18 Chiasm, starting @ focal point.

. . 5. Isaiah 29:5.

. . 6. Isaiah 29:5.

. . 7. Matthew 21:44.

. . 8. II Nephi 26:10-12 Chiasm, beginning @ B-1.

. . 9. Psalms 118:22,23.

. . 10. II Nephi 26:13-20 Chiasm, beginning @ focal point.

. . 11. II Nephi 26:20-28 Parallel beginning.