A being large in stature,
B and also having great desires to know of
the mysteries of
God,
C wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord;
D and behold he did visit me,
and did soften my
heart that
E a I did believe all
the words which had been spoken by my father;
b wherefore, I did not rebel against
him like unto my brothers. And I spake unto Sam making known unto him
F the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit.
E’ a And it came to pass that he believed in my
words.
b But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken
unto my words;
D’ and being grieved because
of the hardness of their hearts
C’ I cried unto the Lord for them.
B’ And it came to pass that the Lord
spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou
hast sought me diligently,
A’ with lowliness of heart.
Notice how the chiasmus contrasts Nephi and Sam vs Laman and Lemuel, believing vs not hearkening and soft hearts vs hardness of hearts and how Nephi is presented as someone large in stature and lowly in heart. This is a special feature of Hebrew poetry called antithetic parallelism. The center of the chiasmus is the Lord's manifestations through his Holy Spirit.
