he doth nourish them

So, now that they are done mourning Ishmael and not plotting to kill Nephi and Lehi for the moment, they start traveling in the wilderness again. It doesn't describe all the starts and stops, but it does say they wander for 8 years and the women give birth to multiple children in the wilderness. They must be moving around a lot, because it also talks about how they subsist on raw meat sometimes and how despite that, the women can still produce milk for the children. Nephi reiterates his "I will go and do" here, saying it is proof that the lord provides the means to obey if the will is there. They arrive in a beautiful seaside valley they call Bountiful with lots of fruit and honey and they pitch their tents on the beach. That is my kind of end to a journey. I like the beach.
When they arrive, Nephi is called up the mountain side by the Lord. Revalation time again. How would it be to get a note from God to come by for a chat? And what does he want? Nephi gets to build a ship. I love methodical Nephi's mind is. He doesn't ask how big or what it will look like. He asks where to find the ore to make the tools to build the ship. That is a detail oriented thinker. He even describes how he makes the bellows to get a hot enough fire to melt the ore to build the tools.

The lord promises that after Nephi has built the ship and they have gone to the land of promise, they will know that the Lord is their God. Why wouldn't they know that already? They have been ministered and preached to by angels and the Lord himself already, but this is offered up as the proof. hmmmm...

When the brothers figure out that Nephi is about to build a ship they are unhappy again and don't want to help out. Color me shocked. I wonder how long it took them to figure it out. Nephi feels bad for his brothers for being so awful, and they mistake his sadness for doubt, and celebrate that. Nothing like a little schadenfreude. Nephi again tries to get them to understand what they are doing and again calls up the example of Moses. Moses seems to be a personal hero of Nephi who is undoubtedly the hero of this story. Heroes have their heroes too. In relating the story of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, Nephi points out that if the Egyptians had been as righteous as the Israelites, then they would not have been buried at the bottom of the Red Sea because God "esteemeth all flesh in one". But he also points out that these people were blessed because he remembered his covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which implies that it wasn't for their righteousness alone they were blessed, but because of the righteousness and promises to their forebears. And as he is talking to his brothers you can almost feel his righteous anger and exasperation pour off the page. He talks about how he is rent with anquish and sapped of strength. He is so filled with the spirit that when they are about to attack him he warns them that anyone who touches him will literally wither and be smote. He isn't chastising them for having little faith, or little understanding. They know that God has commanded and manifested the things that they rail against. They are directly fighting it. And Nephi tells them to stop- stop complaining about their father, their journey, their trials, their hardships, and to start helping him to build that ship. And while he is filled with the spirit, he stretches forth his hand and the Lord shocks them. And as they often do whenever they get a physical manifestation of the spirit, they shape up. This is a rather tiring pattern for them, but it made me realize what incredible patience the Lord has with all of us. How many patterns do we repeat endlessly when we know better? How many times does the Lord let us go until he has to shock us back into reality?

So, L&L&co. repent, for the moment, and get to work building the ship following the instructions that the Lord gives Nephi. Nephi is continually going up the mountain to converse with God and get further instruction. When they finish the ship, everyone is impressed, and again are humbled and give thanks. (how many is that now?)

Lehi commands everyone to provision the ship with all they would need and want for the crossing. And all the families get on, including two new brothers that Sariah and Lehi had during their journey, Jacob and Joseph. (Think Lehi has been reading the records they have? Me too.) After a few successful days on the ship, L&L&co decide everything is going so well, they start thinking it is because of them. It says they are given to "exceeding rudeness". Nephi tries to tell them to cut it out, and they fall back into old ways. They tie Nephi up and beat him. It sounds like they do this in front of his wife and children and their wives and children. The whole boat is distraught. The liahona isn't working, storms are raging, the women and children are scared and crying, and Lehi is begging them to let Nephi loose. Nephi describes his wrists and ankles were swollen from where he was bound. And L&L&co are surly, angry, and obstinate. Finally when Nephi's wife and children beg for his life and it looks like the whole ship will go down, they relent and unbind Nephi. As soon as that is done, Nephi takes the compass, prays to calm the winds, and guides the boat to the promised land. It sort of skips ahead then and says they planted and harvested and found plenty of wild game and plenty of ores. Sort of wraps it up neatly.