1 Nephi 20: 18

18 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.

Now we get to the meat of the reason Nephi read this chapter to his brothers. After establishing the legitimacy of the prophets, Isaiah (or the Lord) laments to Israel, and for Nephi’s purposes, Laman and Lemuel (see 1 Nephi 19:23). Through this verse Nephi is telling his brothers, “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!” If  you had kept the commandments, you would have a steady stream of peace, and your righteousness would be as constant as the waves of the sea. This is what Nephi was trying to get across. He wanted to persuade his brethren to more fully believe in Christ, and they definitely lacked peace in their lives. It’s not only in their best interest if they have peace, but if they become converted, Nephi won’t have to worry so much about them wanting to kill him all the time. Nephi was apparently the official teacher, and this was a time that his brethren would listen to him. So Nephi tries to strengthen and convert when he can.

1 Nephi 20: 17

17 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.

There’s no question here who the sender is; it’s Jesus Christ. Since this verse begins with “and” it makes me think that the last verse, 16, refers to the Lord sending Isaiah. It seems like a continuation of that thought. The Lord reminds Israel here that He teaches them to profit, or prosper; He leads them in the way they should go. In other words, the Lord, who has always shown himself to have Israel’s best interest at heart, has sent Isaiah (and other prophets) to teach them and lead them in the way they should go. And this is so Israel can continue to prosper. Israel should trust and obey these prophets.

1 Nephi 20: 16

16 Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

I think this verse must have a dual meaning. On the one hand, it tells Israel to come unto Christ (see Matthew 11: 28), that they can trust Him to be true and trustworthy. He has openly preached His gospel from the beginning, and He is acting on the authority of God the Father, who sent Him.

The other interpretation could be the same as above, except instead of talking about the Lord, Isaiah could be referring to himself. He could be saying that the people could come and listen to him; he has not spoken in secret, and that he was sent by the Lord to say the things he said.

Knowing how Isaiah likes dual meanings, it’s very possible that both interpretations are correct at the same time.

1 Nephi 20: 15

15 Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

Here is another verse that seems unclear in its pronouns. I think Isaiah is saying that these prophets who have declared the Lord’s will have been called by the Lord, and his way will be made prosperous, or in other words, his declaring the word will be facilitated. Doors will be opened to enable these prophecies to be declared. Notice that his way will be made prosperous, not him personally.

This interpretation feels good to me, but my edition of the Book of Mormon has a cross reference to the word “him” in the phrase, “I have called him to declare.” That cross-reference changes my thoughts on this completely. It refers to Isaiah 45: 1 (1–4), which is talking about Cyrus and how the Lord will make his way prosperous and help him conquer Babylon, which holds the Jews captive. So now I’m not sure what to make of all this. If we go with this interpretation, then the last phrase in verse 14, “his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans,” probably has to do with the Lord strengthening them against their enemies, instead of punishing them, as I have assumed. In that case, this part of the verse is about the Lord not forgetting His covenant with Israel, and not leaving them captive to Babylon.

• Isaiah 45: 1 (1–4)

1 Nephi 20: 14

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.

This is a verse that is a perfect example of unclear antecedents. In fact, it’s a rare case in which the Bible translation makes more sense to me than what is in the Book of Mormon, simply because it leaves one of the pronouns out that the Book of Mormon includes. The Bible also indicates paragraphs, which in this case is very helpful. I want to break this down phrase by phrase and give it my best attempt at interpretation.

“All ye assemble yourselves, and hear…” Since the whole chapter is addressing Israel, I think it is safe to assume that “ye” and “yourselves” refers to Israel. Even the way the Bible breaks up the paragraphs (vs. 12–15 is a paragraph), the antecedent is Jacob, or Israel.

“who among them hath declared these things unto them?” This is the most confusing phrase to me. Ridges (see reference in verse 13) indicates that the first “them” possibly refers to, Israel’s idols (refers to verse 5), that “these things” refer to prophecies (“see verses 3, 6, etc.”), and that the second “them” refers to Israel. Based on how the Bible divides the thoughts into paragraphs, however, this interpretation doesn’t make sense to me.

At this point I don’t know if I have a better answer, but I have a couple of ideas of what it could be. I think it might be most helpful if I was sure of what “these things” referred to. It could be referring to what is in verses 12 and 13 specifically, or it could be referring to how great the Lord is, as described in the whole chapter. I think that in context of everything else being said, we must be talking about the prophets who have been speaking in behalf of the Lord, and their prophecies have been fulfilled. Prophets are generally called from among the congregations of the Lord. So, it seems reasonable that both “thems” would refer to the Israelites. So if I were to rewrite that phrase, it might be, “who among the people hath declared these prophecies to you, the people?” The confusing thing is the switching between talking directly to Israel, using pronouns like “you” and “ye,” and then using “them” as if he is talking about somebody else. So I don’t know, but I am going with “them” being the people from whom prophets are called.

That being the case, “the Lord hath loved him,” would refer to the one among the congregation that stepped up and declared the prophecies, or in other words, the prophet(s). Then, “he (the Lord) will fulfill his (the Lord’s) word which he hath declared by them (the prophets), and he (the Lord) will do his (the Lord’s) pleasure on Babylon (which could be the actual Babylonians, or the sinful in general), and his arm (the Lord’s arm) shall come upon (punish) the Chaldeans.”

I think that even if I don’t have the details of which pronoun refers to what antecedent, the general intent seems clear: that the Lord is in charge, and he speaks his will through his prophets.

1 Nephi 20: 13

13 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.

I’m beginning to understand that one of the reasons Isaiah is so hard to understand at times is because he uses so many pronouns (or at least it’s that the way in the translations), that you can easily lose track of who or what they are referring to. This and the next verse are a good example of what I mean.

The first part of the verse seems somewhat self-evident. The Lord is creator of heaven and earth. This seems to be continuation of the idea in verse 12. The Lord is the beginning and the end; he created the heavens and the earth. In other words, He is all-powerful, etc. He created all these things with his right hand, which is a symbol of his power, or his covenant hand. Then it gets interesting. “I call unto them and they stand up together” (emphasis added). In a commentary I have been referring to in my studies of these Isaiah chapters, Isaiah Made Easier, David J. Ridges says that these pronouns refer to Israel, and that the last part of verse 13 actually goes with the beginning of 14. However, I think it’s more likely that the verse 13 pronouns refer to the obvious antecedents, the heavens and the earth just mentioned in the same verse. I think the Lord is drawing a distinction between the rebellious Israel and the rest of God’s creations that “stand up together” when He calls. These other creations obey the Lord’s call, or His word. And they all obey together. Israel, on the other hand, “heardest not” because their “ear was not opened” when His prophets called (vs. 8). Isaiah has been telling Israel how rebellious they are, but the Lord has mercy and will not forsake them in the end. Now he is reminding them that the Lord has all this power, and Israel seems to be one of the few of God’s creations that doesn’t obey Him. Helaman, chapter 12 deals with this very subject and expounds on it nicely. The whole chapter is the complete idea, but verses 7 and 8 draw the same distinction between man and God’s other creations that Isaiah draws here. Even the dust obeys God, but men don’t. Therefore dust is greater than man, because it is more obedient than man.

• Helaman 12:8

1 Nephi 20: 12

12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.

This verse establishes, or verifies that Israel’s God is Jesus Christ. Of course, they didn’t know him by that name, but there are enough places throughout the scriptures where Christ is referred to as the “first and the last,” “Alpha and Omega,” etc. that there can be no doubt for us (see Revelation 1: 8; 3 Nephi 9:18; and D&C 19: 1 for an example of this in each of the Standard Works of the Church). Israel has a call to be the Lord’s covenant people. That means that they (we) have the right and responsibility to participate in accomplishing God’s work and glory. This includes the teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation that must be provided under the proper authority. Those not having authority cannot perform these. Of course, in the process of providing the means of salvation for others, we also partake of those ordinances ourselves. That is the calling of God’s people, or at least a big part of it.