3 Nephi as an Example
for Personal Study
Old Testament Passages Quoted by Jesus
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Isaiah 52:8–10
Micah 5:8–9
Micah 4:12–13
Deuteronomy 18:15–19
Genesis 12:3
Isaiah 52:8
Isaiah 52:9–10
Isaiah 52:1–3
Isaiah 52:6–7
Isaiah 52:11–15
Isaiah 52:15
Isaiah 29:14
Habakkuk 1:5
Deuteronomy 18:19
Micah 5:8–15
Deuteronomy 18:19
Isaiah 52:12
Isaiah 54:1–17
Malachi 3:1–4:6
3 Nephi 16:18–20
3 Nephi 20:16–17
3 Nephi 20:18–19
3 Nephi 20:23
3 Nephi 20:25, 27
3 Nephi 20:23
3 Nephi 20:34–35
3 Nephi 20:36–38
3 Nephi 20:39–40
3 Nephi 20:41–45
3 Nephi 21:8
3 Nephi 21:9
3 Nephi 21:9
3 Nephi 21:11 (allusion)
3 Nephi 21:12–18, 21
3 Nephi 21:20 (allusion)
3 Nephi 21:29
3 Nephi 22:1–17
3 Nephi 24:1–25:6
(Charting the Book of Mormon, #50.)
Isaiah
3 Nephi 20:11 – Ye remember that I spake unto you, and
said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled—
behold they are written, ye have them before you,
therefore search them—
3 Nephi 23:1 – And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye
ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give
unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great
are the words of Isaiah.
Mormon 8:23 – Search the prophecies of Isaiah. Behold, I
cannot write them.
Bruce R. McConkie – If our eternal salvation depends upon
our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and
truly as Nephi understood them--and who shall say such is
not the case!-- how shall we fare in that great day when
with Nephi we shall stand before the pleasing bar of Him
who said: "Great are the words of Isaiah"? (Ensign, Oct. 1973,
p. 78.)
Neal A. Maxwell – That "there is none other people that
understand" such writings as Isaiah save it be the Jews (2
Nephi 25:5) should be of some consolation to those of us
who receive gladly the verses of Isaiah we do understand,
but who have the simultaneous feeling that we are often
missing the point. (For the Power Is in Them, p. 41.)
Neal A. Maxwell – As God enlarges our memories, so to
speak, as we "give place" in our lives for the light and
warmth of the holy scriptures, not only the periphery of
our perspective but also the foundations of our faith are
similarly enlarged.
Nephi's trust in God was enlarged by Nephi's study of the
scriptures – including the words of Isaiah, of which he had
surely been aware even before obtaining the plates of
Laban. Jesus Himself said, "Great are the words of Isaiah" (3
Nephi 23:1). Isaiah's faith was great, and it in turn enlarged
the faith of Nephi, as reading of Nephi's faith can enlarge
our faith.
The greater the circumference of our collective spirituality,
the larger the pulpit of memory from which the Holy Ghost
can stir us. We are far more likely to "come off conqueror"
in our holy present if we are truly familiar with mankind's
spiritual past. (Sermons Not Spoken, p. 9.)
Russell M. Nelson – Because Isaiah is quoted so
extensively, he deserves mention as one of the major
contributors to the Book of Mormon. A useful footnote to
2 Nephi 12:2 in the current English edition of the LDS
scriptures indicates that some 433 verses of Isaiah —
roughly a third of the entire book — are quoted in the
Book of Mormon. In the English language edition, more
than half (about 233 verses) differ in some detail from their
biblical counterpart, “while about 200 verses have the
same wording as KJV.” One scholar of Isaiah documents
that no less than 391 of the verses refer to the attributes,
appearance, majesty, and mission of Jesus Christ (see Monte
S. Nyman, Great Are the Words of Isaiah, p. 7, 283–87). (“A Testimony
of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, Nov 1999, p. 69.)
James E. Faust – Nephi quotes Isaiah extensively because
Isaiah was the principal Old Testament prophet who
prophesied of the coming of the Messiah. (“The Keystone of
Our Religion,” Ensign, Jan 2004, p. 2–6.)
Milk vs. Solid Food
Isaiah 28:9 – Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom
shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are
weaned from the milk ...
1 Corinthians 13:11 –
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I
put away childish things. (KJV)
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I
put childish ways behind me. (New International Version)
When I was a babe, as a babe I was speaking, as a babe I
was thinking, as a babe I was reasoning, and when I
have become a man, I have made useless the things of
the babe. (Young's Literal Translation)
1 Corinthians 14:20 –
Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in
malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
(KJV)
Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In
regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
(New International Version)
Brethren, do not be children [immature] in your
thinking; continue to be babes in [matters of] evil, but in
your minds be mature [men]. (Amplified Bible)

childlike – Resembling a child or that which belongs to
children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful;
as childlike obedience.

childish – Belonging to a child; trifling; puerile …
Pertaining to children; ignorant; silly; weak; as childish
fear. (Both are from the 1828 Websters Dictionary.)
D&C 50:40 – Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot
bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the truth.
Simpleness
simple – (one of the definitions) Weak in intellect; not
wise … silly. (1828 Websters Dictionary.)
Proverbs 14:15 – The simple believeth every word; but the
prudent looketh well to his going.
Proverbs 1:22 – How long, ye simple ones, will ye love
simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and
fools hate knowledge?
J. Golden Kimball – I am fearful that some of the Latter-day
Saints simply come to the leaders and listen to the servants
of God, and they never study; they never go to the written
word, and compare it with the servants of God in their
doctrines and teachings, and consequently they are unable
to judge righteously, and they are losing confidence.
Their confidence is being shaken, because they are unable
to judge, because they have not first studied it out in their
minds …because, as a people, we are mentally lazy.
I will say that because I do not expect to preach here again
for a long time. (J. Golden Kimball: The Story of a Unique Personality
by Claude Richards, p. 146-147.)
Hebrews 5:13, New English Bible – Anyone who lives on
milk, being an infant, does not know what is right. But
grown men can take solid food; their perceptions are
trained by long use to discriminate between good and evil.
Learning
2 Nephi 28:30 – … I will give unto the children of men line
upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a
little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my
precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall
learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more;
and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them
shall be taken away even that which they have.
Joseph F. Smith – Not one of the disciples possessed
sufficient light, knowledge nor wisdom, at the time of the
crucifixion, for either exaltation or condemnation; for it
was afterward that their minds were opened to understand
the scriptures, and that they were endowed with power
from on high; without which they were only children in
knowledge, in comparison to what they afterwards became
under the influence of the Spirit. (Gospel Doctrine, p. 433.)
2 Nephi 32:7 – … I am left to mourn because of the
unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the
stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge,
nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto
them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.
Joseph F. Smith – [A testimony] is not to be voiced merely
to "fill up the time" in a public meeting; far less to excuse
or disguise the speaker's poverty of thought or ignorance
of the truth he is called to expound.
… But the voicing of one's testimony, however eloquently
phrased or beautifully expressed, is no fit or acceptable
substitute for the needed discourse of instruction and
counsel expected in a general gathering of the people. The
man who professes a testimony as herein described, and
who assumes that his testimony embraces all the
knowledge he needs, and who therefore lives in indolence
and ignorance shall surely discover his error to his own cost
and loss. A gift from God, if neglected, or unworthily used,
is in time withdrawn; the testimony of the truth will not
remain with one who, having received, uses not the sacred
gift in the cause of individual and general advancement.
… Enrich your minds with the best of knowledge and facts.
Of those who speak in his name, the Lord requires humility,
not ignorance. (Gospel Doctrine, p. 205.)
D&C 98:12 – For he will give unto the faithful line upon
line, precept upon precept ...
Isaiah 28:10 – For precept must be upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
and there a little.
(By Zan and Misty Larsen, www.elarsen.net/lessons.)
Presentation Notes
Quiz
1. Is the gospel simple?
2. Name a prophet in scripture who said the gospel is
simple (in writing).
3. In 3 Nephi the Savior teaches the higher gospel. He
is the author of it and source of all truth. Did he
quote anybody?
4. If yes to #3, name someone he quoted.
5. Name any book from the Old Testament that
Moroni quoted from when he visited Joseph Smith
3 times in a night and once again the next
morning?
Answers to #5: Malachi, Isaiah, Joel.
Activity
Give each person one of the numbered O.T. passages.
Ask to
o
o
look up
why did the Lord use that passage?
Note: This will take a long time. Most students will not
know why the Lord quoted it. This activity needs refining.
Extra Material
Henry B. Eyring – I have worried about the barrier of
Isaiah. In fact, I have pondered this thought: “Why did
Nephi put the barrier there?” … Many are more skilled than
I am at putting scriptures in their historic context. There
are wonderful techniques of understanding metaphor,
simile, and allegory in the scriptures, and I hope you will
learn as much about that as you can. But I hope you will
learn one more thing. As you read Isaiah in the Book of
Mormon, try to believe that Nephi knew Isaiah and he
knew imagery. Nephi said to liken Isaiah directly unto you.
So I tried it … assuming Nephi picked the parts of Isaiah
that I, without worrying about the imagery, could take
directly to my heart as if the Lord were speaking to me.
(Ensign, Feb 2004, p. 9.)
1 Nephi 17:41 – And he did straiten them in the wilderness
with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye
have; and the Lord straitened them because of their
iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and
after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might
be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to
look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the
easiness of it, there were many who perished.