Nephi takes the ore and begins to make more plates to record the history and prophecies and again explains what he will be writing on which plates. He says he will only write what he considers sacred and apologizes up front for any mistakes he makes in choosing what to record. I actually identify with this a little. When you go to write something, you don't want to overdo it, but it is hard to edit when you are in the middle of it. I don't imagine editing writing engraven in brass was too easy a feat either.

He then begins to speak about the Savior, and how he will come in 600 years, and people won't recognize him, and beyond that they will scourge and kill him, and on that day, the earth itself will grieve. And the people of the earth will seem to perish until they remember their covenants with God and recognize the Savior.

I have to say, Nephi has a flair for the poetic phrase and he is completely unintimidated by the grandiosity of what he is saying. He has to be a man in his late 20's or early 30's as he writes and preaches all of this, and it reads with an absolute authority. But he mentions again and again how fatigued and weary he is to his bones. The weight of the spirit, his duties to lead and protect, and the constant and ongoing emotional frustration that he feels with his brothers seems to age him. He mourns just at the thought of people suffering because of their own hardness and the vision of the world he had seems ever fresh as he writes each word.

He begins to preach from the scriptures to his bretheren (which I am assuming includes all the descendents of Lehi and Ishmael, not just L&L) and as he does, he breaks out Isaiah speaking messianically and calling for all the house of Jacob to repent for being idolotrous and reminds them that he is the first and the last and he only preserves them for his own purpose. As he is doing this he exhorts him with a phrase I have always found a little confusing "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Is a river truly peaceful? And the waves of the sea seem inconstant, continually in ebb and flow. Maybe I am not truly understanding peace in this context. It also talks about how Jacob has been redeemed, which is a theme of Nephi's as he explained the parable of the olive tree to his brothers. I think he is infering that they are part of the fulfillment of this prophecy. Anyone know?

Now this is where it starts to get tough because we are not following a story in these chapters. Nephi is quoting from what we would now recognize as Isaiah, and Isaiah flips back and forth from speaking as himself and speaking as the Lord. So we are 2 to 3 deep in narration here which is a little bit to entangle. I don't think I could do justice to Nephi 21, but I want to mention one idea I had. It says that the Savior will be sent as a light to the gentiles: "It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." When he says "it is a light thing" to be a servant of the Lord, it seems in direct contrast to Nephi's experience. Nephi mentions more than once that it weary's him, and he isn't some arthritic old man. So, it can't mean light as in not heavy. And it can't infer it is frivolous as light in light-minded does. It must mean light as in truth. The "light thing" and the "light to the Gentiles" must both refer to the Savior. So, maybe he is saying it is the salvation that thou shouldst be my servant... I am afraid that is the kind of disection you need for Isaiah, which should make 2 Nephi a stroll through the park, huh?

This chapter comes across as very good for the good, and VERY bad for the bad. If you are good, you are royalty and everything that entails. If you aren't, well, I believe in a loving God, but when it says things like "I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh" it does give one second thoughts about ticking him off.

Lucky for us, we are not the only ones confused by Isaiah, because when Nephi gets done quoting this passage, his family is just as confused as we are, so he begins to explain it to them. He says it refers to things both temporal and spiritual and that they are in the middle of these prophecies already. They are part of the scattering of Israel and that there are others like them on the isles of the sea and across the whole earth and even their own seed will be scattered. But they are not to worry, because there will be a gathering started by the Gentiles. And that as the gathering takes place there will be many wars (remember, both temporal and spiritual) to thwart it, but in the end he will gather all his people to him from all quarters of the earth. And they will live for a time in perfect peace.

I feel a chorus of "All You Need is Love" coming on, which means I have too many pop culture references in my head.

The chapter basically ends with a promise that if you keep the commandments, there is no need to fear. Although it doesn't say you will have no need to cry.