The Book of Enos is the fourth book in the Book of Mormon and is a portion of the small plates of Nephi. According to the text it was written by Enos, a Nephite prophet.
The First Book of Nephi: His Reign and Ministry, usually referred to as First Nephi or 1 Nephi, is the first book of the Book of Mormon, the sacred text of churches within the Latter Day Saint Movement, and one of four books with the name Nephi. First Nephi tells the story of his family's escape from Jerusalem prior to the exile to Babylon, struggle to survive in the wilderness, and building a ship and sailing to the "promised land", commonly interpreted by Mormons as the Americas. The book is composed of two intermingled genres; one a historical narrative describing the events and conversations that occurred and the other a recounting of visions, sermons, poetry, and doctrinal discourses as shared by either Nephi or Lehi to members of the family.
The Second Book of Nephi, usually referred to as Second Nephi or 2 Nephi, is the second book of the Book of Mormon, the primary religious text of the Latter-day Saint Movement. Narrated by Nephi, son of Lehi, unlike the first Book of Nephi, 2 Nephi contains little history of the Nephite people and focuses predominately on visions and prophecies of Nephi himself and other prophets, particularly Isaiah.
In the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites are one of the four peoples described as having settled in the ancient Americas in the Book of Mormon. The Lamanites also play a role in the prophecies and revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants, another sacred text in the Latter Day Saint movement.
According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah. In First Nephi, Lehi is rejected for preaching repentance and he leads his family, including Sariah, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi, into the wilderness. He sends his sons back to recover the plates of brass and once more for the family of Ishmael. As they travel, Lehi has a vision of the tree of life in which most of his family, excepting Laman and Lemuel, accepts God. He also prophesies Christ's coming 600 years in the future.
Nephi is one of the central figures described in the Book of Mormon. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is described as the son of Lehi, a prophet, and the founder of the Nephite people. The Book of Mormon also describes him as the author of its first two books, First and Second Nephi.
In the Book of Mormon, Laman and Lemuel are the two eldest sons of Lehi and the older brothers of Sam, Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph. According to the text, they lived around 600 BC. They were notable for their rebellion against Lehi and Nephi, becoming the primary antagonists of the First and Second Books of Nephi. Their descendants became known as the Lamanites and Lemuelites, while the descendants of Nephi and their other brothers became the Nephites. Disputes over the proper order of succession fueled disputes between the two peoples over the course of the Book of Mormon's narrative.
Sam is a minor character in the early part of the Book of Mormon narrative. He is the third son of Lehi and the older brother of Nephi, the narrator of the Book of Mormon's first two books. Sam is almost always allied with Nephi in conflicts with their older brothers, Laman and Lemuel. In the later books of the Book of Mormon, Sam's descendants are combined with Nephi's descendants and simply called "Nephites."
In the Book of Mormon, Ishmael1 is the righteous friend of the prophet Lehi in Jerusalem. When Lehi takes his family into the wilderness, Lehi brings Ishmael and his family too. The daughters of Ishmael marry the sons of Lehi, but the sons of Ishmael join Laman and Lemuel in their rebellion against Nephi. Ishmael dies in the wilderness, and is buried at Nahom. After their arrival in the Americas, the children of Ishmael side with the Lamanites, except for those daughters who married Sam, Nephi, and Zoram1.
According to the Book of Mormon, Sariah was the wife of Lehi, and the mother of Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. She traveled with her husband from Jerusalem, into the wilderness, and eventually, across the ocean to the "promised land". She is noted for the story in First Nephi where she complains to Lehi for sending her sons back to Jerusalem thinking that they may have died. Once they return, Sariah testifies that her husband is truly a prophet. In Lehi's vision of the tree of life, Sariah chooses to eat the fruit representing God's love. She has two more sons, Jacob and Joseph, while traveling in the wilderness and almost dies of grief while crossing the ocean when Laman and Lemuel try to kill Nephi.
In the Book of Mormon, Jacob is a younger brother of the prophet Nephi, the keeper of the small plates of Nephi after Nephi's death, and narrates the Book of Jacob, which in the frame narrative of the overall Book of Mormon he authors.
The House of Joseph is a designation which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apply to the ancient "birthright" tribe of the house of Israel (Jacob) as it is described in the Old Testament, made up of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The tribes' namesakes — the two sons of Joseph of Egypt — are first mentioned in Genesis 41:50-52.
Laban is a figure in the First Book of Nephi, near the start of the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement. Although he only makes a brief appearance in the Book of Mormon, his brass plates play an important role when they are taken by Laman and Nephi and are used by the Nephites.
In the Book of Mormon, chapters 9 through 22 of the Book of Mosiah are identified as the Record of Zeniff. These chapters contain the story of a group of Nephites, led by Zeniff, who leave the land of Zarahemla and return to their former land, known as the land of Nephi, which was then occupied by the Lamanites, their traditional enemies. Although the attempt to establish themselves among the Lamanites is successful for a short time, the people of Zeniff are ultimately enslaved and forced to pay tribute to the Lamanite king. They are later rescued by an expedition from Zarahemla sent to discover their fate. The Record of Zeniff records the reigns of Zeniff, his son Noah and grandson Limhi. The timespan is approximately 75 years.
This chronology outlines the major events in the history of the Book of Mormon, according to the text. Dates given correspond to dates in the footnotes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints edition of the Book of Mormon and to a Jaredite timeline proposed by Latter-Day Saint scholar John L. Sorenson.
The tree of life vision is, according to the Book of Mormon, a vision received in a dream by the prophet Lehi, and later in vision by his son Nephi, who wrote about it in the First Book of Nephi. The vision includes a path leading to a tree symbolizing salvation, with an iron rod along the path whereby followers of Jesus may hold to the rod and avoid wandering off the path into pits or waters, symbolizing the ways of sin. The vision also includes a large building where the wicked look down on the righteous and mock them.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Book of Mormon:
The story of the Killing of Laban, in which Nephi kills Laban, is found near the beginning of the Book of Mormon.
