- God warns Lehi in a dream to leave Jerusalem, to escape the death threats against him.
- Lehi obeys, leaves Jerusalem with his family, and travels along the Red Sea.
- Lehi and his family settle in a place they call the valley of Lemuel; they make camp, build an altar, and worship God.
- Lehi’s two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, complain, and don’t believe their father’s words.
- Lehi, noticing the landscape, counsels his oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, to stop complaining and trust in God.
- Laman and Lemuel are deeply moved by their father’s words, and obey him.
- Nephi, having heard what his father said, prays about it.
- The truthfulness of Lehi’s words is confirmed in Nephi’s heart.
- Nephi shares his experience with his brother Sam, who believes, and to Laman and Lemuel, who do not believe.
- Nephi receives a revelation assuring him of the blessings that come from obeying God’s commands; he is told that he is part of a larger plan: a pilgrimage to a promised land.
- Nephi then goes into Lehi’s tent.
- Lehi tells Nephi of instructions he received from the Lord that Nephi and his brothers need to return to Jerusalem to retrieve their family’s historical and genealogical records: the brass plates, currently being held by a Jerusalem man named Laban.
- Nephi accepts the Lord’s instructions as delivered by Lehi.