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The First Book of Nephi
In 600 BC, Lehi is called to preach repentance to his home city of Jerusalem and warn of its coming destruction. However, he is rejected by the Jews, and the Lord instructs him and his friend Ishmael to take their families and leave. They cross what is now Saudi Arabia to the eastern coast, construct a ship, and sail to The Promised Land in the Americas.
During their journey, Lehi's younger sons Sam and Nephi remain supportive, with Nephi receiving many revelations of his own, but the older sons Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, are skeptical and repeatedly rebel, seeking to turn back or take over leadership, and being chastised by Lehi, Nephi, or the voice of the Lord. Nonetheless, they eventually arrive safely and settle in the promised land. Nephi then makes two sets of records, the "large plates" for a more complete secular history, and the "small plates" to focus only on spiritual things; this narrative is drawn from the small plates.
The Second Book of Nephi
After Lehi's eventual death, family tensions escalate, with Laman and Lemuel plotting Nephi's death. To avoid open war, Nephi takes those who support him and leaves to settle in another location, creating the broad division into Nephites and Lamanites. However, the two groups eventually encounter each other again, leading to ongoing skirmishes. The remainder of the book records the preaching of Nephi and his younger brother Jacob (born during the trip across Arabia).
The Book of Jacob
Jacob inherits the role of prophet to the people, along with Nephi's two sets of plates. However, he does not act as a secular leader, with Nephi instead appointing a king at the people's request. Jacob records some of his preaching, and his confrontation with Sherem the anti-Christ (who demands proof of God's power and is struck down).
The Books of Enos, Jarom, and Omni
Enos, Jacob's son, records his experience of praying all day to receive forgiveness of his sins, and his subsequent preaching to the people, before finally handing down the plates to his son, Jarom. Jarom simply records that the people were blessed when righteous and chastised when wicked, then hands the plates down to his son Omni. A succession of writers, over several centuries, then give little more than their names, until Amaleki records the people's departure from the land of Nephi and discovery of the land of Zarahemla, populated by another group who escaped from Jerusalem. A group of Nephites later returns to the land of Nephi, but does not send word of what happened to them. Amaleki closes by saying that the small plates of Nephi are now full and will be handed over to the current king, Benjamin.
The Words of Mormon
In approximately 400 AD, Mormon records that he was making an abridged version of the large plates of Nephi, when he came across the small plates and decided to add them without any changes. He then returns to the narrative, now taken from the large plates.
The Book of Mosiah
King Benjamin preaches to the people and hands down the kingdom to his son Mosiah, who sends an expedition to check on the land of Nephi. They find that the Nephites who returned there, now led by king Limhi, are enslaved by the Lamanites, having rejected the prophets among them and fallen into wickedness for many years, but they are humbled and repentant now. With the news that the land of Zarahemla is still prospering, they escape from Lamanite custody and become king Mosiah's subjects.
After their arrival, a smaller group also comes to Zarahemla, having left the land of Nephi when the people became wicked, to establish a peaceful society led by their last prophet, Alma. The people of Alma were conquered briefly by the Lamanites after the people of Limhi's departure, but the Lord helped them to escape and led them to Zarahemla.
Alma's son, also named Alma, and the four sons of Mosiah, then join with a substantial movement of people who do not believe the teachings of the church, and seek to persuade others to disbelieve. However, an angel appears to the sons and rebukes them, especially Alma; he is shocked at the experience and falls comatose for several days, reflecting with horror on the damage he has done, before repenting and regaining consciousness. He and the sons of Mosiah set out to preach the gospel and undo their previous efforts, before the sons of Mosiah obtain their father's permission to go and preach to the Lamanites. Mosiah is reluctant, but the Lord promises to protect them and give them success.
In the absence of his sons and heirs, Mosiah foresees a succession crisis, and persuades the people to end the monarchy instead, replacing it with a codified law and elected judges. Alma the younger becomes the first chief judge, while his ageing father passes away.
The Book of Alma
The system of judges is tested in its first few years by individuals and groups seeking to reject the central government's control, or reestablish the monarchy with themselves on top. Alma eventually hands over the judgement seat to another man, Nephihah, and goes out to preach the gospel, achieving a measure of stability. The sons of Mosiah also return, having made thousands of converts among the Lamanites; unfortunately, the unconverted Lamanites are angry, and try to exterminate the converts, leading them to flee and seek refuge with the Nephites.
A major war then breaks out when a former Nephite, Amalickiah, is thwarted in his attempts to become a king, and instead takes over the Lamanites through intrigue and assassination. Amalickiah and his brother lead a well managed campaign to conquer the Nephites as well, with considerable success, but are eventually killed and their armies driven out.
The Book of Helaman
Alma's grandson, Helaman, leads the people both as prophet and chief judge, during a time of internal upheaval, with many Nephites scattering to "the land northward", and widespread corruption occurring as a result of "secret combinations", organised criminal rings bound by oaths of secrecy and mutual protection. However, many of the Lamanites are converted to the gospel, an effort spearheaded by Helaman's sons Nephi and Lehi, bringing respite from the endless wars and skirmishes. The people are also told, by the Lamanite prophet Samuel, that Jesus is about to come.
The Third Book of Nephi
The whole land experiences a night with no darkness, as a sign that Jesus has been born, and all are astonished and converted to the gospel. However, after several years, the secret combinations reappear, growing in numbers and influence until they cause multiple civil wars, and culminating in the breakup of the central government into separate tribes.
This strife is then interrupted by the sign of Jesus' death, a tremendous and highly destructive storm followed by three days of darkness, razing many major cities and killing many of the more wicked people. In the aftermath, Jesus visits those who were spared, tells them that He has fulfilled the law of Moses, and preaches His gospel, calling twelve disciples (including Nephi's son Nephi) and establishing the church again. The people all over the land are converted.
The Fourth Book of Nephi
The people live in peace and prosper, united by the gospel, for many decades, with yet another Nephi (son of Nephi the disciple) serving as the prophet, followed by his son Amos. The first sign of trouble occurs around 180 AD, when a small group of self-proclaimed Lamanites reappears, and then in 200 AD, the unity of the people begins to break up, dividing into different social classes and different churches. Over the following century, the people continue to decline, and the Lamanites grow in numbers, reviving their ancient hatreds. By 300 AD, both the Lamanites and Nephites are all wicked, with only a handful of exceptions such as the continuing line of prophets (Amos' son Amos, then his other son Ammaron).
The Book of Mormon
Ammaron, apparently lacking an heir, passes down the plates of Nephi and other scriptures to Mormon, a young man who has impressed him. Mormon witnesses terrible wickedness all around him, but is righteous himself; however, the Lord does not permit him to preach repentance as yet, because the people already know the gospel and know that they are rebelling. He instead takes the plates of Nephi and starts writing a single-volume abridged version.
The conflict with the Lamanites escalates into full scale war, and Mormon is chosen to lead the Nephite armies, but has limited success in holding back the Lamanite advance in the face of vastly superior numbers and the Nephites' descent into bloodthirst and cruelty. After a number of setbacks, the Lord does briefly spare the people and lets Mormon cry repentance, but the Nephites reject him, and the Lord promises their utter destruction; this occurs not long afterward, when the Nephites make a futile Last Stand and are annihilated as a nation. Mormon himself survives the final battle, and laments over their fall, but is hunted down and killed by the Lamanites shortly afterward, and his son Moroni takes over the record that he was keeping.
The Book of Ether
Moroni adds an abridged version of the record of the Jaredites, who came to the promised land much earlier, shortly after the Tower of Babel. Jared and his brother take their families and friends and are led away by the Lord to the promised land, where they establish a great nation, but after many years of righteous and wicked kings, eventually there is a final civil war, which kills everyone except their last king, along with the prophet Ether who stood aside to record their fall. Ether's record was later found by the people of Zarahemla, and Moroni chose to include it in the abridgement, as Mormon had intended to do.
The Book of Moroni
Moroni adds some final thoughts, including notes on church organisation and administration, and some of the letters he received from his father Mormon on doctrinal matters. He closes with an invitation to anyone who receives the book, to ponder its contents and sincerely ask God about its truthfulness.
