“My People Are Gone into Captivity”

Brant Gardner

Verse 13 relies not only grammatically (through the "therefore") but poetically on verses 11 and 12. The conjunctive "therefore" creates the conditions of verse 13 as the outcome of the actions of the men of Judah in verses 11 and 12 (specifically the form of worship without correct understanding of the work of the Lord).

Poetically, the hunger and thirst of Israel contrast with the feasting in 11 and 12. Thus the men of Israel drink to excess, yet thirst. They eat in their feasts, yet they hunger. They hunger and thirst for the proper things of the spirit because they substitute for the more spiritually nourishing work of the Lord the pleasures and works of man.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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