Isaiah 29 as Nephi carries it in 2 Nephi 26–27: what he leaves out, what he adds, and the three times this chapter showed up in Joseph Smith’s life before the Book of Mormon was published
Nephi searched Isaiah’s words and recorded what he understood. We can open Isaiah beside the Book of Mormon and search too. Artistic depiction inspired by 1 Nephi 19:22–23 and 2 Nephi 25:4.
Deep Dive · Catch-up series, chapter 1 of 14 (Isaiah 29, then Isaiah 2–14 in order) · Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 26:15–18; 27
New here? The shallow-end version of this chapter is in the CFM-03 lesson, “A Marvellous Work and a Wonder.” This is the deep end.
The most-quoted chapter in Isaiah
No chapter of Isaiah gets quoted more. The Scripture Citation Index, which counts general conference since 1942, the Journal of Discourses, and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, records 463 citations of Isaiah 29. That’s 46% more than the next chapter, Isaiah 2.
There’s a reason. Latter-day Saints have always read Isaiah 29 as a prophecy about the Book of Mormon. And the Book of Mormon reads it that way too, because Nephi carries the whole chapter and rewrites it around a book.
The first thing to know: Nephi’s version is nearly twice as long
Lay 2 Nephi 27 beside Isaiah 29 and the difference jumps out:
| Isaiah 29 | Nephi’s version | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Isaiah 29:1–24 | 2 Nephi 26:15–18 and 27:1–35 |
| Verses | 24 | 35 in chapter 27 alone |
| Words | 742 | 1,459 in chapter 27 alone |
| The sealed book | 2 verses, 65 words (29:11–12) | 18 verses, 763 words (27:6–23) |
Much of the chapter lines up closely: Isaiah 29:6–10, 13–14 and 18–24 are close to word for word in 2 Nephi 27. Nephi expands a few verses here and there, but the big difference is in one place: the book.
What Nephi leaves out, and where he moves it
He leaves out Ariel. Isaiah 29 opens with “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!” (29:1). Ariel is Jerusalem; the name may mean “lion of God” or “altar hearth.” Nephi doesn’t carry verses 1–2.
He moves “out of the ground” to his own people. Isaiah says Ariel “shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust” (29:4). Nephi takes that line and puts it on his own descendants, after they’re destroyed: “those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust” (2 Nephi 26:16).
So in Nephi’s hands, the voice from the dust isn’t Jerusalem’s. It’s the Nephites’, speaking through a book.
He sets the whole chapter in the last days. Isaiah’s chapter has no date stamp. Nephi gives it one in his opening line: “But, behold, in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles” (2 Nephi 27:1).
What Nephi adds: the book, in eighteen verses
Isaiah says only this: a sealed book is given to someone learned, who can’t read it, and then to someone unlearned, who says “I am not learned” (29:11–12).
Nephi tells the whole story (2 Nephi 27:6–23):
- What’s in it. “In the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof” (27:7).
- Part of it is sealed, and the sealed part won’t come out “in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people” (27:8). One day it “shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ” (27:11).
- It’s delivered to a man, who delivers the unsealed words “unto another” (27:9).
- Witnesses. “Three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered” (27:12). And “a few” others (27:13).
- Why the learned man wants the book: “because of the glory of the world and to get gain” (27:16).
- What the Lord says to the unlearned man: “The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work” (27:20). Nephi has the Lord say “I am able to do mine own work” twice (27:20, 21).
- Seal it up again when the work is done, “that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read” (27:22).
- Why: “For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles… and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith” (27:23).
Isaiah gave the outline. Nephi filled in a book with a sealed part, a man, three witnesses, a scholar who wanted it for the wrong reasons, and a God who does His own work.
Three times this chapter showed up before 1830
1820. The First Vision. When the Lord told fourteen-year-old Joseph not to join any of the churches, He quoted this chapter: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men” (Joseph Smith—History 1:19). That’s Isaiah 29:13, the way the Savior quoted it in Matthew 15:8–9.
1823. Moroni. Among the scriptures Moroni quoted that night, Oliver Cowdery records the sealed book (29:11), “draw near me with their mouth” (29:13), and “a marvellous work and a wonder” (29:14).
1828. Charles Anthon. Martin Harris took a copy of characters from the plates to Professor Charles Anthon in New York. By Martin’s account, Anthon asked to see the plates. Martin said part of them were sealed, and Anthon replied, “I cannot read a sealed book” (Joseph Smith—History 1:65). That’s Isaiah 29:11, nearly to the word, from the mouth of the learned man.
Three times in eight years, before the Book of Mormon was even printed: the Lord, an angel, and a scholar all quoted this chapter to or about Joseph.
The marvellous work
“Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid” (Isaiah 29:14).
When the Lord began giving Joseph revelations, He picked the phrase up: “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1). And again: “A great and marvelous work is about to come forth” (6:1). The same opening appears in sections 11, 12 and 14.
How the chapter ends
Isaiah 29 doesn’t end with the sealing. It ends with what the words of the book do once they’re read:
- “In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity” (29:18).
- “The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD” (29:19).
- “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale” (29:22).
- “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine” (29:24).
Nephi keeps all of it, nearly word for word (2 Nephi 27:29–35). A book comes out of the dust, and people who couldn’t hear begin to hear.
The one thing to take with you
Nephi said Isaiah’s words “are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy” (2 Nephi 25:4). Isaiah 29 is the clearest example. Isaiah wrote two verses about a sealed book. Nephi, writing by that spirit, saw what they meant and wrote eighteen.
Read Isaiah 29:11–12. Then read 2 Nephi 27:6–23. That’s what it looks like when a prophet opens Isaiah.
The Seven Ways People Read Isaiah. Which One Are You?
Ken Krogue is a co-founder of The Covenant Project and has been deeply searching Isaiah for more than ten years. He writes with two AI research partners, Orson (Claude) and Nathan (ChatGPT), and approves every word.
