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1 And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord. | 1 1 This verse contains several parallels from verses within the KJV John chapter 1. Compare this verse with "And as many as believed on his word" to John 1:12 with "But as many as received him". Also compare this verse with "they confessed unto him their sins and denied not" to John 1:20 with "And he confessed, and denied not". Note that "denied not" is a unique phrase within the KJV bible. Lastly compare this verse with "when they had come forth and found him" to John 1:45 with "We have found him". |
2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows. | 2 |
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5 Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins. | Textual Parallels 51 The phrase "must shortly come" is unique in the KJV bible, in Revelation 1:1 which contains an exact match of "things which must shortly come". The phrase "to the intent" is found 8 times, but only once in relation to “believe,” “belief,” or “faith,” which is John 11:15. With the verse in Helaman containing "to the intent that they might believe" and the verse in John containing "to the intent ye may believe". The phrase "as many as" occurs 31 times in the bible. Some of these have to do with people obeying, hearing words, being chosen by God, but John 1:12 is probably the closest match as it states that they “received him” and “believe on” his name. It is strange that the prophet Mormon could not come up with more creative ways to express himself, and instead had to closely imitate phrases from the New Testament. |
6 But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him. | 6 |
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10 1 Compare this verse with "the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God" to Ephesians 5:15 with "See then that ye walk circumspectly". Note that there are only 2 instance of the words "circumpspectly" or "circumspect" within the KJV bible, each word being unique in use (circumspect+circumspectly). It's strange that Helaman 15:5 has Samuel the Lamanite speaking this rare phrase and in the very next chapter Helaman 16:10 Mormon uses the same rare phrase in his narration. | |
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20 But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true. | 20 |
21 And they will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives. | 21 |
22 And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come. | 22 |
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