“Wo Is Unto Me! for I Am Undone”

Monte S. Nyman

The only differences between the Book of Mormon and the King James texts in this verse, other than slight punctuation, are the bolded words “unto” which is not in the KJV and the word “wo” which is spelled “woe.” Therefore, only the Book of Mormon text is quoted here.

Isaiah’s awareness of his unworthiness to be in the presence of God is not a unique feeling. Even though the Lord was not attended by glory, “When Simon Peter saw [the miracle of the fish], he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken” (Luke 5:8–9). Following Moses’ vision of the earth and its inhabitants, he acknowledged “that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:9–10). After King Benjamin had taught his subjects of the Savior’s Atonement, they fell “to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them. And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth,” and pleaded for the atoning blood of Christ to cleanse them from their carnal state (Mosiah 4:1–2).

Book of Mormon Commentary: I Nephi Wrote This Record

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