1 Nephi 1:16-20

After sharing his father’s vision, Nephi writes he will not make a full account of everything his father has written, all his dreams and visions, and all his prophesies on these plates.  He will make an account of his father’s record on his other plates.

Nephi would later write that he did not make a full account of his people’s history.  He made one set of plates called the (large) plates of Nephi.  He made a second set that are an account of his people’s history, their wars, etc.  On these plates, he will make an account of his ministry (see 1 Nephi 2-4).

S. Kent Brown discusses how Nephi may have used Lehi’s plates.

Most of Lehi's record must have been completed by the time Nephi made and started writing on the large plates. This would be after arriving in the promised land. Nephi tells us that he recorded on those plates "the [abridged] record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness" (1 Nephi 19:2). Nephi could have obtained the genealogy from the brass plates, where Lehi had learned about it (see 1 Nephi 5:14). But his father's own version of the events in the wilderness (for example, 1 Nephi 5:2-6, which happened in Nephi's absence) would have had to come from another source, most likely Lehi's own. Lehi probably had begun writing his record while still in Jerusalem so that he could include his visions there while they were still vivid (see 1 Nephi 1:16).[1]

Marilyn Arnold further explains Nephi’s use of Lehi’s plates.

[We] have only a tiny fraction of Lehi's words. In my journal I say, referencing verse 16, "Nephi notes that Lehi had written a great deal about his visions, dreams, and prophecies." In fact, Nephi refers to Lehi's writings three times in a single verse, twice explaining that he can't record them all, so vast are they…

Both 16 and 17 are important verses if we are to comprehend just how prolific Lehi was and Nephi's role in dealing with his father's record. We tend to skip over the passages about Lehi's writings, and I think we should not. Nephi is careful to add that he will not write an account of his "proceedings" until after he has abridged the record of his father (see v. 17). This postponement of his own work in order to prepare his father's affirms the importance of Lehi's writings. It also underscores the great respect Nephi shows his father throughout the narrative.[2]

Why did Nephi make a record telling us about his father’s visions?  “In his account of his father's visions, Nephi seems to be responding in some measure to his brothers' accusation that Lehi was a false visionary.”[3]

Having received these visions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, he began to prophesy to the people of Jerusalem, telling them what the Lord had revealed to him.

The Jews reject his message.  He was mocked because of the things he testified to them.  "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy”  (2Chronicles 36:16).

At the time Lehi was preaching, Jeremiah was preaching as well.

THE word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.

Jeremiah 25:1 - 4

They were angered because he testified of their wickedness.  He clearly told them what had been revealed to him by the Lord.  He told them what he read in the book, which testified of the coming of a Messiah to redeem the world.

What might have made them so angry?

Now this man, coming from one of the oldest families and having a most unobjectionable background and education, suddenly found himself in bad with the "people that count." First, there was mockery, then, anger, and finally, plots against his life (1 Nephi 1:19—20) which, since they were serious, must have been supported in high places, for in openly siding with Jeremiah (cf. 1 Nephi 7:14) he had made himself a traitor to his class and his tradition:[4]

Nephi tells us “they also sought his life, that they might take it away” (1 Nephi 1:20).  Was Lehi’s life in immediate danger?  Jeffry Chadwick speculates:

[When discussing the threat to Lehi, we] probably overstate the actual danger to Lehi in Judah. While it is true that some in Jerusalem had sought to take Lehi's life (1 Nephi 1:20; 2:1), these may have been spontaneous attempts of individuals angry with his prophecies, not necessarily a conspiracy in which Zedekiah or the government was involved. Once outside the big city, on the wilderness paths to either Jericho or Ein Gedi, Lehi was probably as secure as anyone else traveling the byways of Judah.[5]

Nephi closes the first chapter by promising us, “I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Nephi 1:20).  “As I read this sentence, it struck me that we might take this to be Nephi's ‘thesis statement’ for the Book of Mormon: Nephi and the other Book of Mormon prophets give us to remember the tender mercies of the Lord so that we can be delivered according to our faith.”[6]

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[1] Nephi's Use of Lehi's Record, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012.

[2] The Book of Mormon: Passport to Discipleship, Marilyn Arnold, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012

[3] Scripture Update: Lehi as a Visionary Man, Matthew Roper, Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012.

[4] The Troubled Orient, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012.

[5] The Wrong Place for Lehi's Trail and the Valley of Lemuel, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012.

[6] Remembrance, James E. Faulconer, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 22, 2012.