1 Nephi is the opening text of The Book of Mormon, leading a section of books transcribed from the Small Plates of Nephi. This book deals with the earliest chronological events and contains a mixture of historical narrative and prophetic teaching. It tells the story of Nephi and his family, headed by Nephi’s father Lehi, in the early sixth century BCE. God instructs them to flee Jerusalem before it falls to the Babylonians. The first seven chapters narrate the events surrounding God’s call for Lehi to leave Jerusalem and the actions of the family undertaken in obedience to God’s commands. The middle section of the book, in Chapters 8 through 15, is a series of visions and religious teachings—first those related to Lehi’s ministry, then Nephi’s—and the final Chapters, 16-22, return to the historical narrative of the family’s efforts to build a ship, along with continued teachings based around borrowed material from the biblical prophet Isaiah.

Upon God’s revelation to Lehi of the impending fate of Jerusalem, Lehi attempts to warn his fellow residents, but they reject his preaching. Forced to live in a camp in the wilderness, Lehi sends his sons back to the city to collect brass plates upon which are kept some of the records of the Jews, including biblical texts like the Books of Moses and of the prophet Isaiah.