1 Nephi 15:21

And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying:

What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream?

What meaneth the tree which he saw?

1 Nephi 15:22

And I said unto them:

It was a representation of the tree of life.

1 Nephi 15:23

And they said unto me:

What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?

1 Nephi 15:24

And I said unto them that it was the word of God;

and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it,

they would never perish;

neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary

overpower them unto blindness,

to lead them away to destruction.

1 Nephi 15:25

Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord;

yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul,

and with all the faculty which I possessed,

that they would give heed to the word of God

and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.

1 Nephi 15:26

And they said unto me:

What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?

1 Nephi 15:27

And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness;

and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things

that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.

1 Nephi 15:28

And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf,

which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.

1 Nephi 15:29

And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell,

which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.

1 Nephi 15:30

And I said unto them that our father also saw

that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous;

and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire,

which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end.

1 Nephi 15:31

And they said unto me:

Doth this thing mean the torment of the body in the days of probation,

or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body,

or doth it speak of the things which are temporal?

1 Nephi 15:32

And it came to pass that I said unto them

that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual;

for the day should come that they must be judged of their works,

yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body

in their days of probation.

1 Nephi 15:33

Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness

they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual,

which are pertaining to righteousness;

wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God,

to be judged of their works;

and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy;

and if they be filthy it must needs be

that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God;

if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.

1 Nephi 15:34

But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy,

and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God;

wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.

1 Nephi 15:35

And there is a place prepared,

yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken,

and the devil is the preparator of it;

wherefore the final state of the souls of men

is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out

because of that justice of which I have spoken.

1 Nephi 15:36

Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous,

and also from that tree of life,

whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits;

yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

And thus I spake unto my brethren.

Amen.