Second: Six hundred years before Christ, a prophet of the Lord named Lehi, being warned of the destruction of Jerusalem, departed with his family into the wilderness, traveling southward from the Holy City until he reached the borders of the Red Sea; and while camped on its shores he received direction from the Lord that his sons should return to Jerusalem and obtain a certain record in the hands of one Laban, containing a record of the Jews and also the genealogy of Lehi's forefathers engraven upon plates of brass. Agreeable to the heavenly commandment the sons returned, and after overcoming some difficulties finally succeeded in securing the records and returning with them to the encampment of Lehi. Finally, when Lehi's colony embarked for America, they brought those records with them. These records are thus described by Nephi, son of Lehi, who engraved the description in his record, at least as early as the first quarter of the sixth century B. C.: And after they [Lehi's colony] had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; and also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah; and also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah. And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass, a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine. And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them. And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. (I Nephi 5:10-16.)