Nephi next removed Laban's armor from the dead body and put it on his own person; he also took the sword of Laban and girded it around his waist. Then he went to the dead man's house, and, imitating Laban's voice, he commanded the servant who had the keys of the room where the records were kept to go with him and get them. The servant, whose name was Zoram, obeyed, and brought forth the records, for in the darkness, he thought it was his master who was talking to him.
Nephi, still acting as though he was Laban, had Zoram go with him to where his brothers were hid. When Laman, Lemuel and Sam saw him coming they became greatly afraid, for they did not know him, dressed as he was in the armor of Laban; and he had some little difficulty in making them understand that he was their brother, and that they had no cause for fear. But when Zoram discovered that Nephi was not his master, he also was seized with fear, and would have run away had not Nephi held him. We may be sure Nephi did not want Zoram to return to Jerusalem, lest he should gather a body of men and follow him and his brothers into the wilderness and slay them. So he spake kind and encouraging words to Zoram, who soon consented to make a covenant of friendship with Nephi and go with him to the place where Lehi had pitched his tents. This covenant Zoram most faithfully kept.
THE REJOICING OVER THE RECORDS--NEPHI AND HIS BROTHERS AGAIN RETURN TO JERUSALEM--THEY CONDUCT ISHMAEL AND HIS FAMILY INTO THE WILDERNESS--LEHI's DREAM--THE TREE OF LIFE--THE ROD OF IRON--THE BOTURINI MANUSCRIPT--NEPHI's VISION.
When Nephi and his companions reached their father's tent in the wilderness their parents were exceedingly glad. Sariah had mourned during their absence because she fancied her sons would never return alive; and with those feelings she had upbraided her husband for sending them away. She charged him with being a visionary man, who was always giving heed to dreams in which she had little faith. All this was changed when her boys got back; then she was willing to acknowledge the inspiration of Heaven in her husband's visions.
The first thing Lehi did when his sons arrived was to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, as a token of his gratitude for their safe return. Next he examined the records, and rejoiced greatly to find that they contained the five books of Moses and a history of the Jews to the commencement of the reign of King Zedekiah. These plates also contained many of the prophecies of the holy prophets, and a genealogy of Lehi's fathers. We may be well assured how grateful Lehi felt to the Lord for placing these sacred records in his hands, so that his people could have the Law of the Lord and the history of their ancestors always in their possession. It is a great stay and a help to any people, who, like Lehi's family, are separated from the rest of mankind and who are building up a new civilization to possess the annals of their forefathers. It tends to keep them from sinking into idolatry, and from corrupting the laws of heaven; it preserves the purity of their language, and connects them with those from whom they have sprung.