Page:A dictionary of the Book of Mormon.pdf/224

Lehi. to gather tip such things as he could carry and take them into the wilderness with his family, where the Lord would teach him what more He required at his hands.

When Lehi received the command to depart, he immediately set about fulfilling it, and taking with him his family and such goods and food as he could carry, he left the doomed city, where he had so long dwelt, leaving behind him his house and property, his gold, his silver and other precious things, all of which he willingly gave up that he might be obedient to the heavenly message.

Lehi's family consisted of his wife, Sariah, and his four sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. Lehi had also daughters, but whether they were born at this time is not evident from the record. We have no account in the Book of Mormon of the precise road which Lehi and his family took when they left Jerusalem. Undoubtedly they traveled through the wilderness of Judea southward till they reached the eastern arm of the Red Sea. They journeyed along the Arabian shore of that sea for some little distance, till they came to a valley through which a small stream flowed. To the river Lehi gave the name of Laman, after his eldest son; and the valley he called Lemuel. Here they pitched their tents and rested for some time. While tarrying in this valley, Lehi, by Divine direction, twice sent his sons to Jerusalem: the first time to obtain certain most precious records, the second, to bring a family to join them in their journey. The head of this family was named Ishmael. In both undertakings the young men were successful, and the company was strengthened by the addition of Zoram, and Ishmael and his family. Soon after, five marriages took place; Zoram married Ishmael's eldest daughter, and the four sons of Lehi espoused four younger ones.

While Lehi and his party dwelt in the valley of Lemuel, he received many glorious manifestations