The word of Jehovah came to Nephi, and the young prophet received valuable counsel. Nephi learned that the Lord delights in prospering those who keep his commandments, for “he that is righteous is favored of God” (1 Nephi 17:35). Further, the Lord here explained his intentions to direct the travels of the Lehites to a promised land. As Moroni taught a millennium later: “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land [the Americas] that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.” Moroni further testified that the Americas are a “choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.” (Ether 2:9, 12.)