2 Nephi 25:3-4

Nephi addresses his people and all those who will receive his words.  Here is another indication that Nephi knew his writings would be preserved and go forth to the world in the last days.  His intent is that we “may know the judgments of God, that they come upon all nations, according to the word which he hath spoken” (2 Nephi 25:3).

Nephi realizes that Isaiah’s words are not plain to his people (and those of us today).  Alan Goff explains:

What Nephi wrote for us about his life and his relations with his family is a complex account. Merely reading the text may not be enough to allow us to understand it fully. If the Book of Mormon was written as a sophisticated text, then we must be sophisticated readers to understand it.

This situation in trying to understand Nephi may be similar to the Nephites' situation as they tried to understand Hebrew prophets. The Nephites had difficulty understanding Isaiah, so Nephi gave them two rules: (1) be filled with the spirit of prophecy as they read and (2) try to understand the symbolic meanings of the text "after the manner of the things of the Jews" (2 Nephi 25:4-5).[1]

So, we cannot simply read the words of Isaiah (and, I would contend, almost any scripture) and understand it without the “spirit of prophecy.”  Those who wrote our scripture did so under the inspiration and direction of the Lord.  When we have the “spirit of prophecy,” we can learn that the scriptures are plain and simple to understand.  Nephi prophesied “ according to the plainness which [had] been with [him] from the time I came out from Jerusalem” (2 Nephi 25:4).  Nephi’s soul “delighteth in plainness unto [his] people that they may learn” (2 Nephi 25:4).

Towards the end of his record, Nephi would write:

For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men.  For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.

2 Nephi 31:3

And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people.  And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil.

2 Nephi 33:4 - 5

Nephi’s desire for plainness influenced his brother, Jacob.

Wherefore, I must tell you the truth according to the plainness of the word of God.  For behold, as I inquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying: Jacob, get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people.

Jacob 2:11

Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not.  Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really ^care, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls.  But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.

Jacob 4:13

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[1] Mourning, Consolation, and Repentance at Nahom, Alan Goff, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 7, 2013.