from Isaiah 28 = II Nephi 28 Parallel

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II Nephi 28 Parallels Isaiah 28 -- Excerpt
Classic example of parallel structure and polemical result.  Drunkards of Ephraim say 'all is well in Zion,' 'we have enough and we need no more.'

Woe unto them that have become corrupted: the crown of pride; they have all gone out of the way because of pride.

2 And because of false teachers and false doctrines the churches of the drunkards of Ephraim have become corrupted.

3 Their churches are lifted up in glorious beauty because of pride. They are puffed up as a flower, which, because of their pride, is fading.

4 They rob and persecute the poor, the meek, and the poor in heart because of their fine sanctuaries and their fine clothing.

5 Those which are at the head--the high heads--wear stiff necks.

6 Their valleys are fat because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms.

7 Yea, they have all gone astray save it be a few who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, in many instances they are overcome, because they are taught by the precepts of men, who lead them to err with the wine of the wise, and the learned, and the rich.

8 Therefore, wo be unto those that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts; wo be unto all those who preach false doctrines and all those who commit whoredoms; wo be unto those who pervert the right way of the Lord, saith the Lord God Almighty.

9 For behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail shall thrust them down to hell!

10 Wo unto those destroyers that turn aside the just and revile against that which is good, and say That is of no worth! for the storm shall take the revilers for a thing of naught!

11 For day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth as a flood of mighty waters; and in that day that they are overflowing in iniquity, they shall be cast down and perish.

12 But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations, the earth shall help them, and they shall not be destroyed with the hand, saith the Lord of Hosts.

13 Behold, the crown of pride is that great and abominable church; these drunkards of Ephraim are the whore of all the earth; and they must tumble to the earth and be trodden under feet; and great must be the fall thereof.

14 And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the kingdom of the fat valley of the devil shall be shaken.

15 This fading flower, and they which belong to it, as the hasty fruit, must needs be stirred up unto repentance before the summer harvest; or the devil, when he looketh upon it and seeth, will grasps them with his everlasting chains, while they are yet in his hand to be stirred up to anger; and they perish as he eateth it up.

16 For behold, in that day that the devil shall rage in the hearts of the children of men, the Lord of hosts shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people; and for a spirit of judgement, when satan stirs up the children of men to anger against him that sitteth in judgement, giving strength to them that they might repulse the attack at the gates, which is good.

17 But them also will the devil pacify, that they err, and lull them away through wine into carnal security, that through strong drink they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well; but they are out of the way.

18 And thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

19 And behold, the priest and the prophet have erred, being flattered away through strong drink; for the devil saith unto them, whispering in their ears: there is no hell, and I am no devil, for there is none.

20 And when they are swallowed up, he grasps them with the awful chains of his wine, from whence there is no deliverance.

21 Yea, they are grasped out of the way through strong drink with death and hell, that they err in vision.

22 And death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith, must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; for they stumble when they must stand before the throne of God to be judged according to their works.

23 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion, making all tables full of vomit and filthiness!

24 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well; so that there is no place clean!

25 Yea, wo be unto him, who has been weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast, having been taught knowledge and made to understand doctrine, and yet hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, for he denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

26 For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. Therefore, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!

27 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble at the stammering lips; and at another tongue they are angry, because of the truth of God!

28 For behold, he will speak; and he that is built upon the rock, receiveth it with gladness; but this people, that are built upon a sandy foundation, trembleth lest they shall fall.

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the rest of the word of God, not wanting the rest, whereby he causes the weary to rest; and being weary they say, We need no more of the word of God, which is the refreshing.

30 We will not hear for we have enough!

31 For behold, thus saith the Lord God unto them: I will give my word unto the children of men, precept upon precept, line upon line, precept upon precept, line upon line, precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little and there a little;

32a And blessed are those (though there seem to be none) who learn to hearken and lend an ear to the wisdom of my counsel and precepts, and receiveth them, for unto them I will give more.

32b But them that go and say, "We have enough," shall fall backward.

32c They shall be broken, for even that which they have shall be taken away, which shall be a snare to them.

33 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

34 Cursed are ye, because ye have said: By making flesh our arm we have made a covenant with death; and by putting our trust in man, with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through the earth, it shall not come unto us: for we have made the lies of the precepts of men our refuge to which we hearken.

35 But the falsehood of the precepts under which you have hid yourselves, shall be manifest by the power of the Holy Ghost.

36 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I have laid in Zion a foundation, lengthening out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me, the stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.

37 Nevertheless I will be merciful unto them that believe, saith the Lord God, for if they repent and come unto me, they will not do rashly.

38 For by mine arm will I make justice the measure and righteousness the weight.

39 The hail and the waters shall overflow and sweep away the refuge of lies in the hiding place; that your covenantal agreement with death and hell shall not stand, but shall be disannulled when the flooding waters shall pass through, lengthening out.

40 Then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth--morning by morning, all the day long, and by night--it shall pass over and seize you.

41 It shall cause terror merely to hear word of it, saith the Lord God of Hosts.

42 Then shall it come to pass--at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work--that this proverb shall be among many of them: The bed is shorter and the covering narrower than that a man can stretch himself out and wrap himself up in it; and this that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men.

43 For I, the Lord, shall rise up and be wroth, that I may set my hand again as I did in mount Perazim, or as in the valley of Gibeon--now for the second time--that I may recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;

44 That I may do my work, and remember the promises that I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy fathers, that I would remember your seed;

45 And performing my strange work, the words of your seed shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed;

46 And bringing to pass my act, my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel.

47 This is my strange act.

48 Now therefore, because my words shall hiss forth, many of the Gentiles will mock me, saying: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible; and their bands are made strong, as they say, There cannot be any more Bible.

49 But thus saith the Lord God: O Fools, they shall have a Bible by which they may hear my voice, and it shall proceed forth by my hand, from the Jews, the hosts of mine ancient covenant people.

50 And what thank they the Jews that were consumed that a Bible might be received of them?

51 O ye Gentiles, what do you mean? Have ye remembered the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, mine ancient covenant people?

52 Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them; and notwithstanding their diligence unto me in bringing forth salvation unto you, ye have not sought to recover them.

53 But behold, for this have I determined to return all these things upon your own heads, even upon the whole earth; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

54 Give ye ear, thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible; and hearken; for have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

55 Why say ye, We need no more Bible--by which ye might hear my voice? Know ye not that there are more nations than one who have heard my speech?

56 Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, am the plowman; that I have created all men, plowing all day; and that I remember those whom I have sown upon the isles of the sea?

57 I rule in the heavens above, and I open the heavens at will, and break the clods of the earth beneath, preparing my ground.

58 Have I not made plain that I can bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even to all the nations upon the face of the earth?

59 Wherefore murmur ye, because I sprinkle and scatter abroad my word as fennel and cummin, that ye shall receive more? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God?

60 Do I not cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley? Yea, and I plant buckwheat; for I remember one nation like unto another, wherefore I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.

61 And when the two nations shall run together, the testimony of two nations shall run together also, each in their own place.

62 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the Lord your God, the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words to instruct, according to mine own pleasure, unto him having discretion, who does not suppose that because I have spoken one word I cannot speak another.

63 Him I will teach, for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

64 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible, which is my fennel, ye need not suppose that it contains all my words--no more than fennel should be threshed with a sharp-toothed sledge; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written, such as my cummin, which likewise should not have a cart wheel rolled over it.

65 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write.

66 Fennel is beaten out with a staff, yielding the words which I speak unto them; and cummin likewise contains that which is written, and is beaten out with a rod; for out of the books which shall be written, I will judge the world, every man according to their works.

67 For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews, and unto the Nephites, and unto the other tribes of the house of Israel which I have led away, and unto all nations of the earth--those who are my domestic grain, my bread corn--and they shall write it.

68 I will not ever be threshing it, but it shall be ground for good use, for it shall come to pass that the Jews, and the Nephites, and the lost tribes of Israel shall each have the words of one another.

69 And it shall come to pass that I shall be done with breaking and bruising my grains with the wheel of my cart and with my horsemen; and my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions.

70 And my word which cometh forth shall be gathered in one, in me, the Lord thy God.

71 And I will show unto the hosts of them that fight against my word, and against my great and marvelous work, and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, and against my counsels, that I am God, whose workings are excellent and whose inspiration is unsurpassed, that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

by William C. Murdock and Sterling D. Allan June 18,28,29, 1992