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1 Nephi 6–10
Scripture Central Videos
Watch videos from Gospel scholars and teachers to learn more about these Book of Mormon passages.
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KnoWhys
Evidences
Commentary
Book of Mormon Minute is a commentary series made especially for the free ScripturePlus app, which features insights from Book of Mormon scholar Brant A. Gardner. John W. Welch's notes for Come, Follow Me are also available for free.
John W. Welch, General Editor
Reading Plan
Structure your personal scripture study by following a 15-minute, day-by-day plan. Each day's assignment includes the required scripture passages from the Come, Follow Me curriculum, as well as suggestions for additional resources to bring context and understanding to your study. For the best experience, use our Reading Plan in the free ScripturePlus app! You can track your progress and have access to the best resources.
Monday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 6:1-6
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 7:1-5
- Commentary: How Lehi's Lineage May Explain His Location
- Commentary: A Pattern in the Small Plates
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 6:1-6: Part I
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 6:1-6: Part II
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:1-3
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:4-5
- KnoWhy: Why Did Nephi Work So Hard to Preserve the Wisdom He Had Received?
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Additional Study
- Evidence: Plates and History
Tuesday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 7:6-22
- Commentary: The Meaning Behind the Sacrifice Offered Upon the Safe Return of Lehi's Sons with Ishmael's Family
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:8
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:9-12
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:12-15
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 7:20-22
- KnoWhy: What Sacrifices did Lehi Offer to God in the Wilderness?
- Evidence: Attestation of Sam
- Additional Study
Wednesday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 8:1-16
- Commentary: The Families Gather Seeds
- Commentary: Lehi Follows the Angel
- Commentary: What Does it Mean to Partake of Something?
- Commentary: Other Tree of Life Imagery
- Commentary: Lehi Beckons His Family to Partake of the Fruit of the Tree of Life
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:9-12
- KnoWhy: Why Did Lehi and Jeremiah Find Themselves in a Dark and Dreary Wilderness?
- KnoWhy: What Fruit is White?
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Additional Study
- Evidence: Attestation of Sariah
Thursday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 8:17-28
- Commentary: What is Significant about an Iron Rod?
- Commentary: What Does it Mean to "Press" Forward?
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:19-20
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:21-23
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:24-25
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:26-28
- KnoWhy: Is the Path to Eternal Life “Strait” or “Straight"?
- Evidence: Iron Rod as the Word of God
Friday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 8:29-38
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 8:36-38
- Commentary: Those Who Partake of the Fruit and Stay
- Commentary: Lehi Pleads with Laman and Lemuel
- KnoWhy: Why We Still Have to Cling to the Iron Rod Even Though the Path is Strait
- Chart: A Comparison of Lehi's Dream and Nephi's Vision
- Chart: Interpretation of Lehi's Vision
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Additional Study
- Evidence: Nephi’s Use of Lehi’s Words
Saturday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 9:1-6
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 10:1-6
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 9:3-6
- Commentary: For a Wise Purpose (see also Words of Mormon 1:6–7)
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:1-2
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:2-4
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:4
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:5-7
- KnoWhy: What Was on the Lost 116 Pages?
- KnoWhy: Why Did Nephi Clarify That the Messiah Was the Savior of the World?
Sunday
- Scripture: 1 Nephi 10:7-22
- Commentary: Lehi Prophesies of a Messiah
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:11-12
- Commentary: 1 Nephi 10:17
- Evidence: Lehi’s Prophetic Calling (Mysteries)
- KnoWhy: Did Pre-Christian Prophets Know About Christ?
Additional Resources
Explore art, charts, and more.
Images
Charts
- Writings of Lehi Quoted or Paraphrased by Nephi and Jacob
- Life Spans of Lehi's Lineage
- Key Doctrinal Chapters: 1 Nephi–Omni
- Interpretation of Lehi's Vision
- A Comparison of Lehi's Dream and Nephi's Vision
- 1 Nephi and the Exodus
- Three Trees in the Book of Mormon
- Isaiah Passages Listed by Book of Mormon Reference
- Isaiah Passages Listed by Isaiah Reference
- Outlines of Passages Quoting Isaiah
- Women in the Book of Mormon
- Metals in the Book of Mormon
- The Colors of the Scriptures
- Whose Words Are Found in the Book of Mormon?
- Number of Pages in Books of the Book of Mormon
- Average Number of Pages Covering One Nephite Year
- Nephite Books Compared by Length and Years Covered
- Nephite Books Listed Chronologically
- Names Used for Christ by Major Book of Mormon Authors
- Names and Concepts Associated with Christ by Major Book of Mormon Authors
- Number of Names Used for Christ by Major Book of Mormon Authors
- Number of Names for Christ Used Exclusively by Individual Authors
Bibliography
1 Nephi 6
Taylor Halverson, “Reading 1 Nephi with Wisdom,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 22 (2016): 279–293.
1 Nephi 6:1-6
Reynolds, Noel B.. "Nephi’s Small Plates: A Rhetorical Analysis." Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 99-122.
1 Nephi 7
1 Nephi 7:2
Sperry, Sidney B.. "Did Father Lehi Have Daughters Who Married the Sons of Ishmael?" Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4, no. 1 (1995): 235-238.
Baker, Christine Purves. Ishmael In Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
1 Nephi 7:14
S. Kent Brown, and David Rolph Seely. "Jeremiah's Imprisonment and the Date of Lehi's Departure." 2 1 (2001): 15-32.
1 Nephi 8
Overview
Heather Hardy, “The Double Nature of God’s Saving Work: The Plan of Salvation and Salvation History,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 15–36.
Jared M. Halverson, “Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision as Apocalyptic Literature,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 53–69.
Pike, Dana M. “Lehi Dreamed a Dream: The Report of Lehi’s Dream in Its Biblical Context,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 92–118.
Aaron Schade, “The Strait and Narrow Path: The Covenant Path of Discipleship Leading to the Tree of Life,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 135–60.
Grant Hardy, “Prophetic Perspectives and Prerogative: How Lehi and Nephi Applied the Lessons of Lehi’s Dream,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 199–213.
Daniel L. Belnap, “‘Even as Our Father Lehi Saw’: Lehi’s Dream as Nephite Cultural Narrative,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 214–39.
D. Mick Smith, “Sacrifice and Condescension: Types and Shadows for Latter-day Living,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 330–46.
Mary Jane Woodger and Michelle Vanegas Brodrick, “Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision as Used by Church Leaders,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 374–92.
Swift, Charles. "Lehi’s Vision of the Tree of Life: Understanding the Dream as Visionary Literature." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 2 (2005): 52-63, 74-75.
Welch, John W.. "The Narrative of Zosimus and the Book of Mormon." BYU Studies Quarterly 22, no. 3 (1982): 311-332.
Tvedtnes, John A.. "A New Testament Parallel to Lehi's Tree of Life Vision." In The Most Correct Book: Insights from a Book of Mormon Scholar, 113-115. Salt Lake City: Cornerstone Publishing, 1999.
Calabro, David. "Lehi’s Dream and the Garden of Eden." Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 26 (2017): 269-296.
Griggs, C. Wilfred. "The Book of Mormon as an Ancient Book." BYU Studies Quarterly 22, no. 3 (1982): 259-277.
Atwood, Ryan. "Lehi’s Dream and the Plan of Salvation." Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 37 (2020): 141-162.
Mesoamerican Connections to the Tree of Life
Christenson, Allen J.. "The Sacred Tree of the Ancient Maya." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6, no. 1 (1997): 1-23.
Clark, John E.. "A New Artistic Rendering of Izapa Stela 5: A Step toward Improved Interpretation." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8, no. 1 (1999): 22-33, 77.
Parrish, Alan K.. "Stela 5, Izapa: A Layman's Consideration of the Tree of Life Stone." In The Book of Mormon: First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., 125-150. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1988.
Brewer, Stewart W.. "The History of an Idea: The Scene on Stela 5 from Izapa, Mexico, as a Representation of Lehi’s Vision of the Tree of Life." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8, no. 1 (1999): 12-18, 20-21, 77.
1 Nephi 8:1
LeFevre, David A.. "“We Did Again Take Our Journey”." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15, no. 2 (2006): 58-67, 120-122.
1 Nephi 8:2
Volluz, Corbin T.. "Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life: Springboard to Prophecy." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2, no. 2 (1993): 14-38.
Black, Susan Easton. "'Behold, I Have Dreamed a Dream'." In The Book of Mormon: First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., 113-124. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1988.
1 Nephi 8:4
Seth J. King, “Illuminating a Darkened World,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 300–317.
1 Nephi 8:10
Raish, Martin. Tree of Life In Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
C. Robert Line, “Bitter and Sweet: Dual Dimensions of the Tree of Life,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 318–29.
Miller, Jeanette W.. "The Tree of Life, a Personification of Christ." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2, no. 1 (1993): 93-106.
Baker, LeGrand L.. "The Ancient Temple is Associated with the Tree of Life." In The Book of Mormon as an Ancient Israelite Temple: Nineteen Classic Temple Characteristics of the Book of Mormon, 39-53. Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2012.
Barker, Margaret. "Joseph Smith and Preexilic Israelite Religion." BYU Studies Quarterly 44, no. 4 (2005): 69-82.
1 Nephi 8:12
Charles Swift, “‘It Filled My Soul with Exceedingly Great Joy’: Lehi’s Vision of Teaching and Learning,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 347–73.
1 Nephi 8:15
Russell T. Osguthorpe, “The Power of Inspired Invitations,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 1–14.
Ogletree, Mark D.. ""That My Family Should Partake"." Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel 17, no. 1 (2016): 92-107.
1 Nephi 8:19, 20, 24, 30
Tvedtnes, John A.. "Notes and Communications: Rod and Sword as the Word of God." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5, no. 2 (1996): 148-155.
Tvedtnes, John A.. "Rod and Sword as the Word of God." In Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon: The FARMS Updates of the 1990s, edited by John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne, 32-39. Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999.
Nelson, Zachary. "The Rod of Iron in Lehi's Dream." Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel 10, no. 3 (2009): 49-58.
1 Nephi 8:20
Welch, John W.. "Straight (Not Strait) and Narrow." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 17, no. 1 (2007): 18-25, 83-84.
Reynolds, Noel B., and Royal Skousen. "Was the Path Nephi Saw “Strait and Narrow” or “Straight and Narrow”?" Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10, no. 2 (2001): 30-33, 70.
Hoskisson, Paul Y.. "Straightening Things Out: The Use of Strait and Straight in the Book of Mormon." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12, no. 2 (2003): 58-71, 114-117.
1 Nephi 8:26, 33
"New Light: The Queen of Sheba, Skyscraper Architecture, and Lehi’s Dream." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 11, no. 1 (2002): 102-103, 115.
1 Nephi 8:28
Pearson, Kevin W.. Stay by the Tree In The One-Hundredth and Eighty-Fifth Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2015.
1 Nephi 8:36
Jennifer C. Lane, “The Presence of the Lord,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 119–34.
Matthew L. Bowen, “Not Partaking of the Fruit: Its Generational Consequences and Its Remedy,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (2011 Sperry Symposium), ed. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011).
1 Nephi 9
1 Nephi 9:1-6
Reynolds, Noel B.. "Nephi’s Small Plates: A Rhetorical Analysis." Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 99-122.
1 Nephi 9:2–4
Reeve, Jr., Rex C.. "The Book of Mormon Plates." In The Book of Mormon: First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., 99-111.
Olsen, Steven L.. "Nephi's Literary Endeavor." Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel 4, no. 3 (2003): 133-141.
Parker, Jimmy B.. "A Record of Our Kingdoms." Ensign 6, no. 8 (1976): 22-25.
Noel B. Reynolds, “Nephi’s Political Testament,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City/Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991), 220–229.
Noel B. Reynolds, “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates,” BYU Studies 27, no. 4 (Fall 1987): 20–33.
Val Larsen, “Killing Laban: The Birth of Sovereignty in the Nephite Constitutional Order,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16, no. 1 (2007): 26–41.
1 Nephi 9:5
S. Kent Brown, “Nephi’s Use of Lehi’s Record,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991), 3–14.
S. Kent Brown. "Recovering the Missing Record of Lehi." In From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon, 28-54. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998.
S. Kent Brown. "Recovering the Missing Record of Lehi." In A Book of Mormon Treasury: Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators, 144-172. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2003.
Tvedtnes, John A.. "Contents of the 116 Lost Pages and the Large Plates." In The Most Correct Book: Insights from a Book of Mormon Scholar, 37-52. Salt Lake City: Cornerstone Publishing, 1999.
Don Bradley, “American Proto-Zionism and the ‘Book of Lehi’: Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism,” (M.A. Thesis, Utah State University, 2018).
1 Nephi 10
1 Nephi 10:4
Tvedtnes, John A.. "Notes and Communications: Knowledge of Christ to Come." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5, no. 1 (1996): 159-161.
Draper, Richard D.. "The First Coming of the Lord to the Jews: A Book of Mormon Perspective." In A Book of Mormon Treasury: Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators, 343-356. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2003.
Tvedtnes, John A.. "The Messiah, The Book of Mormon, and the Dead Sea Scrolls." In The Most Correct Book: Insights from a Book of Mormon Scholar, 328-343. Salt Lake City: Cornerstone Publishing, 1999.
James H. Charlesworth, “Messianism in the Pseudepigrapha and the Book of Mormon,” in Reflections on Mormonism: Judaeo-Christian Parallels, ed. Truman G. Madsen (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1978), 99–137.
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Dating the Departure of Lehi from Jerusalem,” BYU Studies 57, no. 2 (2018): 7–51.
S. Kent Brown, and David Rolph Seely. "Jeremiah's Imprisonment and the Date of Lehi's Departure." 2 1 (2001): 15-32.
Spackman, Randall P.. "The Jewish/Nephite Lunar Calendar." Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7, no. 1 (1998): 48-59, 71.
1 Nephi 10:12-14
Reynolds, Noel B.. "Lehi and Nephi as Trained Manassite Scribes." Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 161-216.
1 Nephi 10:12
Reynolds, Noel B.. "Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos." In The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch, 21-49. Provo, UT/Salt Lake City: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies/Deseret Book, 1994.
Seely, David Rolph, and John W. Welch. "Zenos and the Texts of the Old Testament." In The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch, 322-346. Provo, UT/Salt Lake City: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies/Deseret Book, 1994.
1 Nephi 10:13
Hoskisson, Paul Y.. "Additional Janus Parallels in the Book of Mormon." Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 47 (2021): 81-90.