As they sit in darkness, the people hear the voice of Jesus Christ. He lists the cities that have been destroyed and explains why: “that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.” Then, He invites the survivors to repent and come unto Him, so that He can heal them.
Chapter Outline
- Jesus lists sixteen cities which were destroyed and explains why (v. 1-12)
- He urges the survivors to repent and come unto Him (v. 13-20)
My Takeaways
- Jesus is the Son of God, as the light and the life of the world, and as Alpha and Omega.
- Even if we’re doing pretty well, we all need to repent, so that we can be healed.
Featured Blog Posts
❖ Sixteen Cities – 3 Nephi 9:1-12
Sixteen Cities
After the destruction which coincided with the death of Jesus Christ, while the survivors sat in darkness and pondered what had happened, they heard the voice of the Savior. He listed sixteen cities that had been destroyed, and explained why this had happened. There is a lot of repetition in this passage, including a refrain…
❖ The Savior’s invitation – 3 Nephi 9:13-20
“Behold, I Am Jesus Christ” – 3 Nephi 9:15-18, 11:10-11
The way you introduce yourself says a lot about what is important to you and about your relationship with your audience. After the Savior’s death in Jerusalem, He introduced Himself twice to a group of people on the American continent: while they sat in darkness and heard His voice, and again when He visited them…
Son of God
It is ironic that we believe in an all-powerful Being called “the Son of God.” Book of Mormon prophets repeatedly emphasize this irony as they discuss the birth of Jesus Christ. Just before describing an expansive vision he experienced, Nephi introduces the term “the Son of God” for the first time, explaining that the term…
“Will Ye Not Now…Repent?” – 3 Nephi 9:13
After listing sixteen cities that had been destroyed over a three-hour period and explaining why they were destroyed, the Savior extended an invitation to those who remained: O all ye that are spared…, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? 3 Nephi 9:13 These people…
How Is Jesus Christ “the Light and the Life of the World?”
Jesus sets an example for us to follow and reveals truths which we cannot learn alone (light). He has also enabled us to overcome physical and spiritual death (life).
Why Is Jesus Called “Alpha and Omega?”
Jesus Christ has supported us from the beginning, and He will continue to be with us to the end.
Old Testament Foundations
A New Covenant
Jeremiah prophesied that God would make a new covenant with us. He wants this covenant to be “written in our hearts.” That’s because covenants are all about relationships. We need to view our covenants as relationships, not merely a set of requirements.
What Is the “Abomination of Desolation?”
Jesus instructed His disciples to stand in holy places when they see “the abomination of desolation.” What does that mean? In this post, I trace that concept from its origins in the Old Testament through modern revelation to better understand its meaning
“Yet Have Ye Not Returned Unto Me”
There’s an interesting refrain in Amos 4. Five times, the Lord describes calamities which the children of Israel have experienced, and five times, he repeats the same words of lamentation: “Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord” (Amos 4:6-11). It’s an interesting pattern, and it says something about the Lord’s motivation in allowing us to…
“I Desired Ḥesed”
A little over a month ago, I wrote a blog post about the Hebrew word ḥesed (חֵסֵד), which appears 250 times in the Old Testament and which has no exact equivalent in English. In that post, I relied heavily on President Russell M. Nelson’s discussion of the term in his article “The Everlasting Covenant” (Liahona,…
“I Am for You”
It’s a good feeling to have someone on your team, someone rooting for you and supporting you. Two years ago, when I ran a marathon, it was incredibly motivating to see my wife and two of my daughters at various points along the race, cheering me on. I thought about that kind of support as…
The Book of Psalms and the Book of Mormon
The brass plates which Lehi and his family carried from Jerusalem contained a lot of content which overlaps with the Old Testament. Nephi describes three categories of writings, which correspond with three of the four groupings of books in the Old Testament: “The five books of Moses” – The Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy) “A record…
A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit – 3 Nephi 9:20
19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. 20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And…
New Testament Parallels
If…
Satan tried to weaken the Savior by questioning His relationship with God, both at the beginning and at the end of His mortal ministry. President Nelson taught that we make better decisions when we remember that we are literally children of God.
Baptized with Fire
John the Baptist described the effect of the Holy Ghost with a striking metaphor: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Matthew 3:11; see also Luke 3:16 As far as I know, that is the only place…
John 1, Doctrine and Covenants 93, and 3 Nephi 9
John 1 teaches important principles about Jesus Christ using poetic language. Many phrases from this chapter are repeated in an 1833 revelation to Joseph Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 93) and in the Savior’s words to the Nephites and Lamanites in 3 Nephi 9. Here is a side-by-side comparison of those passages.
The Gift to Be Healed
When Paul and Moroni listed some of the gifts of the Spirit, they both referred to healing in the same way: “the gifts of healing” (1 Corinthians 12:9, Moroni 10:11). When the Lord reaffirmed those lists in an 1831 revelation, He identified two separate gifts related to healing: To some it is given to have faith to…
Church History Connections
Oblations
In ancient Israel, an essential element of worship was giving gifts to God. Worshippers would bring animals or grain to the temple—the very best they had—to offer as a sacrifice. The King James Version of the Bible most frequently refers to these gifts as “offerings,” but it sometimes calls them “oblations.” An oblation is a…
Invite
The Savior has introduced Himself multiple times with a variation of the following statement: I came unto my own, and my own received me not. 3 Nephi 9:16 (See also Doctrine and Covenants 6:21, 10:57, 11:29, 39:3, 45:8.) He knows what it is like to be rejected by the very people He is trying to help.…
“Thou Hast Been Enlightened”
We may receive an answer to a prayer before we realize that we have received an answer to a prayer. God explained to Oliver Cowdery that he had been enlightened many times by the Spirit of Truth. Jesus declared that a group of Lamanites had been baptized by fire without being aware of it. They…
“His Own Received Him Not”
Jesus “came unto his own, and his own received him not.” It’s tragic to think that we would fail to receive the greatest gift ever offered to us because we failed to greet and welcome the Giver. We receive salvation when we receive the Savior.
All Posts Referencing 3 Nephi 9
- Enoch and Holy Empathy (2/5/2026)
- The Heaven and the Earth (1/12/2026)
- Accepted of the Lord (9/6/2025)
- Infusing the Light of Christ into My Life (8/28/2025)
- From Eternity to Eternity (7/9/2025)
- The Voice of Thunderings (5/3/2025)
- “Behold, I Am Jesus Christ” (4/15/2025)
- Wickedness (2/13/2025)
- “His Own Received Him Not” (2/11/2025)
- “Thou Hast Been Enlightened” (2/4/2025)
- “I Am Jesus Christ” (9/29/2024)
- Promised Light (9/28/2024)
- There Was Silence (9/27/2024)
- What Does Darkness Feel Like? (9/24/2024)
- Jesus Quoting Abinadi (5/15/2024)
- Mercy (3/26/2024)
- Jesus Is the Christ (1/7/2024)
- Faith Halls of Fame (11/11/2023)
- A New Covenant (11/9/2023)
- What Is the “Abomination of Desolation?” (5/25/2023)
- How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law? (2/18/2023)
- If… (2/4/2023)
- Baptized with Fire (1/29/2023)
- John 1, Doctrine and Covenants 93, and 3 Nephi 9 (1/22/2023)
- Bullish (1/20/2023)
- How Did Jesus Use Questions? (12/30/2022)
- “Yet Have Ye Not Returned Unto Me” (11/17/2022)
- “I Desired Ḥesed” (11/8/2022)
- “I Am for You” (10/29/2022)
- A Balm in Gilead (10/11/2022)
- The Book of Psalms and the Book of Mormon (8/27/2022)
- The Lord Is My Light (8/9/2022)
- “I Will Heal Thee” (7/15/2022)
- “A Sign Between Me and You” (4/28/2022)
- The Sons of Jacob (3/5/2022)
- The Living Christ and the Book of Mormon (12/26/2021)
- The Healer (12/22/2021)
- Brokenhearted (12/1/2021)
- Oblations (5/30/2021)
- The Gift to Be Healed (5/7/2021)
- Invite (4/14/2021)
- He Who Liveth (4/4/2021)
- Son of God (12/27/2020)
- “Every Good Gift” – Moroni 10:18 (12/18/2020)
- Book of Mormon References in Moroni 6 (12/5/2020)
- “Behold, I Am Jesus Christ” – 3 Nephi 9:15-18, 11:10-11 (9/18/2020)
- Sixteen Cities (9/17/2020)
- “Will Ye Not Now…Repent?” – 3 Nephi 9:13 (9/16/2020)
- The Arms of Mercy (4/5/2020)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About the Creation of the Earth? (12/8/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach about Sacrifice? (11/17/2019)
- What Does It Mean to “Cast Out Devils?” (10/24/2019)
- How Can I Tell the Difference Between Promptings from the Holy Ghost and My Own Thoughts? (10/1/2019)
- How Can I Be Healed? (8/20/2019)
- Why Did the Nephites Keep the Law of Moses? (8/11/2019)
- What Is the Day of Burning Spoken of by Malachi? (6/8/2019)
- Why Is It Important to Record the Fulfillment of Prophecies? (5/21/2019)
- What Is A Contrite Spirit? (4/30/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About Repentance? (4/25/2019)
- How Is Jesus Christ “the Light and the Life of the World?” (3/17/2019)
- Why Is Jesus Called “Alpha and Omega?” (3/5/2019)
- What Is the Significance of the Names and Titles of Jesus in the Book of Mormon? (3/3/2019)
- What Does It Mean to Be “Baptized with Fire?” (2/23/2019)
- How Does the Savior Invite Us to Come Unto Him? (2/12/2019)
- I Am the Light and the Life of the World – 3 Nephi 9:18, 3 Nephi 11:11 (12/5/2018)
- A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit – 3 Nephi 9:20 (12/11/2017)
- More Righteous – 3 Nephi 9:13 (10/11/2016)
- As Many As Have Received Me – 3 Nephi 9:15-17 (9/24/2016)
- And They Knew It Not – 3 Nephi 9:20 (6/25/2016)
- That I May Heal You – 3 Nephi 9:13-14 (1/14/2016)
- A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit – 3 Nephi 9:19-20 (10/10/2015)
- Whosoever Will Come, Him Will I Receive – 3 Nephi 9:14 (10/8/2015)
- Because Ye Were More Righteous Than They – 3 Nephi 9:13 (10/7/2015)
- 3 Nephi 9:13 Will Ye Not Now Return Unto Me? (12/3/2014)