God hath been my support

After his father's death, Nephi again preaches to his brothers, and they again got angry. (is this the definition of insanity?) The specifics of what he says are on the larger plates, so Nephi continues on the smaller plates about how his "soul delighteth in the scriptures" and what a blessing they are to him and his children.
He then exits the story to talk about what a "wretched" man he is and how "sorroweth because of his flesh" which would make anyone ponder, how is it that Nephi, the hero of the story, whose faith never faulters, expresses such regret? Does Nephi have a hard time forgiving his brothers? He carries anger because of his "enemies" and what enemies has he encountered besides his older brothers? He finds comfort in that he has always put his trust in God and that he has been comforted in his afflictions. But it is sort of interesting that his afflictions still seem so present to him. One of the few times Nephi's wife is mentioned in the BOM, she is crying and pleading with his brothers. Could it be this image that makes Nephi feel "wretched"? At the end of this he tells his soul to awake from the anger, and promises to continue to trust only in the word and providence of the Lord.

When he reenters the story, his brothers are furious with him and plotting to take his life. Nephi is intructed to get out of dodge with all his family and those that would follow him. They leave L&L's families and they travel into this new wilderness until they reach a spot they decide to call "Nephi", where they build a city. They build a temple like Solomon's. They forge new swords modeled after Laban's. They ask Nephi to be king, but he demures. Jacob and Joseph are made priests (which I think indicates political as well as eclesiastical authority in the land of Nephi). They work hard and prosper for the next 30 years. In the following 10 years they have "wars" and contentions with L&L's people. And Nephi continues to make plates and record all these things.

The next thing Nephi records is the preaching of Jacob. This sounds something like a general conference talk. He is preaching to a large group of people who are professedly like believers and he is explaining the Isaiahic prophesy about kings being their nursing fathers and queens being their nursing mothers... Jacob has been given a vision about Jerusalem and the Saviors ministry on earth. He sees that Jerusalem was conquered and scattered. He also sees a regathering to Jerusalem before Christ is born. He witnesses that when the Savior comes, they scourge and crucify him and that they once again are scattered, but that eventually, those that believe will be returned to Jerusalem, "the land of their inheritence". And he goes on to explain that this will happen because of the gentiles. There is a lot of harsh imagery in this chapter- people being fed on their own flesh and whatnot- that is very apocolyptic. It makes me think Jacob has been granted many of the same visions as Nephi and Lehi had and as John the Revelator would. Jacob continues quoting Isaiah who says the Lord hasn't forgotten his covenant, but that many of the people have forgotten theirs and have sold themselves with their own iniquities. He reminds us that the Lord has the power to exalt, and warns us not to walk in our own light because it will fail eventually. The gist is "For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up."