portant to know that the scriptures of the western hemisphere are
likewise explicit in the declaration of the great truth that the Son of
God would be born in the flesh. The Book of Mormon contains a history of
a colony of Israelites, of the tribe of Joseph, who left Jerusalem 600
B.C., during the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, on the eve of the
subjugation of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar and the inauguration of the
Babylonian captivity. This colony was led by divine guidance to the
American continent, whereon they developed into a numerous and mighty
people; though, divided by dissension, they formed two opposing nations
known respectively as Nephites and Lamanites. The former cultivated the
arts of industry and refinement, and preserved a record embodying both
history and scripture, while the latter became degenerate and debased.
The Nephites suffered extinction about 400 A.D., but the Lamanites lived
on in their degraded course, and are today extant upon the land as the
American Indians.[135]

The Nephite annals from the beginning thereof down to the time of our
Lord's birth abound in prediction and promise of the Christ; and this
chronicle is followed by a record of the actual visitation of the
resurrected Savior to the Nephites, and the establishment of His Church
among them. Unto Lehi, the leader of the colony, the Lord revealed the
time, place, and manner of Christ's then future advent, together with
many important facts of His ministry, and the preparatory work of John
the forerunner. This revelation was given while the company was
journeying in the wilderness of Arabia, prior to their crossing the
great waters. The prophecy is thus written by Nephi, a son of Lehi and
his successor in the prophetic calling: "Yea, even six hundred years
from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord
God raise up among the Jews; even a Messiah; or, in other words, a
Savior of the world. And he also spake concerning the prophets, how
great a number had testified of these things concerning this Messiah, of
whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world. Wherefore all mankind
were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be, save they
should rely on this Redeemer. And he spake also concerning a prophet who
should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord; yea,
even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth o