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The Book of Mormon attributes a number of visions to Lehi -- a pillar of fire; God sitting on his throne, surrounded by angels -- which resemble the experiences of Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah and John. Lehi also saw a being descend from heaven, followed by twelve others, who gave Lehi a book, commanding him to read: "And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem -- that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof" (1 Nephi 1:13). Lehi said that the luster of the first messenger from heaven "was above that of the sun at noon-day," while the brightness of the other twelve "did exceed that of the stars in the firmament" (1 Nephi 1:9-10). John wrote that he saw "one like unto the Son of man . . . . and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (Rev. 1:13, 16). Lehi's book recalls Ezekiel's vision: "And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, mourning, and woe" (Ezek. 2:9-10). John also beheld a vision of an angel with a book: "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open . . . . And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel . . . . And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples" (Rev. 10:1-11).

After receiving his visions, Lehi began to prophesy among the people, chastening them for their wickedness and telling them of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. When the people became angry and sought to take away his life, the Lord spoke to Lehi in a dream, commanding him to take his family and go into the wilderness.

Lehi departed from Jerusalem with his wife and four sons -- Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. After traveling for three days, they camped in a valley near a river. In a dream, the Lord told Lehi that his sons must return to Jerusalem to procure a set of brass plates, which contained a record of the Jews and a genealogy of Lehi's ancestors. These plates were in the possession of a man named Laban, who Lehi later learned was his kinsman. This story recalls the mission of the servant of Abraham to obtain Rebekah, as a wife for Isaac, from her brother Laban, as well as the attempts by Jacob to win Rachel from Laban. When Jacob left Laban, Rachel took her father's household gods, just as Nephi made off with Laban's brass plates. Laban and his kinsmen pursued Jacob and Rachel, as Laban's servants chased after Nephi and his brothers, after their second attempt to get the plates.

Laban was apparently a military man, but he also had control of a treasury, where he kept the brass plates. The treasury of Laban may have been suggested by 1 Chronicles 26:20-21, which refers to the sons of "Laadan" and a treasury of spoils of war dedicated to God. Nephi slew Laban in a scene which resembles the slaying of Holofernes by Judith. Nephi then persuaded Zoram, the servant of Laban, to accompany him back to Lehi's camp with the brass plates. This story may owe something to a tale concerning the Irish hero Finn mac Cumhal. Finn's father was chief of the Clan Bascna, but was killed by the Clan Morna. T. W. Rolleston relates: "Among the Clan Morna was a man named Lia, the lord of Luachar in Connacht, who was Treasurer of the Fianna, and who kept the Treasure Bag, a bag made of crane's skin and having in it magic weapons and jewels of great price that had come down from the days of the Danaans. And he became Treasurer to the Clan Morna, and still kept the bag at Rath Luachar" (Rolleston 1986, 255). When Finn grew up, he slew Lia and gave the treasure bag to his uncle and some other men, who had fled from the Clan Morna and were dwelling in the forests of Connacht. Seven years later, Conan, the son of Lia, entered into a covenant of service and fealty with Finn. In the same way, Nephi slew Laban, carrying the brass plates to his father's camp in the wilderness, and Zoram, Laban's servant, made an oath with Nephi that he would remain with him and his brothers.

Zoram also parallels Hobab, the son of Moses' father-in-law, who was a Midianite. As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, Moses said to Hobab: "We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good" (Num. 10:29). Similarly, Nephi said to Zoram: "if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us" (1 Nephi 4:34). The descendants of Moses' father-in-law were called the Kenites, who lived with the tribe of Judah. Zoram also traveled to the New World with Nephi, and his descendants lived among the Nephites.

After Nephi, his brothers, and Zoram had reassembled at the camp in the wilderness, the Lord spoke again to Lehi, saying that he must send his sons to Jerusalem one more time to persuade a man named Ishmael to join his party. Ishmael had five daughters and two sons; the daughters were to provide wives for Lehi's four sons and Zoram. Here again there are parallels with the Genesis account, not only the trips back to Haran to obtain wives for Isaac and Jacob, but also the fact that Ishmael was the name of Abraham's first son by Hagar.

The five daughters of Ishmael are certainly the five daughters of Zelophehad, who belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. When Zelophehad died, his five daughters approached Moses, seeking an inheritance along with other members of their tribe. After consulting the lord, Moses declared that they should marry within their father's family (Num. 27:1-4; 36:1-12). Like Zelophehad, the Ishmael of our story dies before reaching the promised land.

It is not difficult to see a likeness between Nephi and Joseph, the son of Jacob. Like Joseph, Nephi was a younger brother and not well treated by his older siblings. Joseph related two dreams to his brothers, which seemed to place him in a position superior to them: "And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us?" (Gen. 37:8). Joseph's brothers cast him into a pit, where they intended to leave him, but then decided to sell him to a passing caravan headed for Egypt. Similarly, after the second attempt to get the brass plates from Laban had failed, Laman and Lemuel became angry with Nephi and beat him with a rod. An angel appeared to them and said, "know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you?" (1 Nephi 3:29). Again when Nephi and his brothers were returning from Jerusalem with Ishmael and his family, Laman and Lemuel bound Nephi with cords, intending to leave him to be devoured by wild beasts. However, after several members of the group pleaded with them, they repented and bowed down before Nephi and asked for his forgiveness. Joseph's brothers also bowed down to him as Pharaoh's administrator.

After the return of Nephi and Ishmael to Lehi's camp in the wilderness, the narrative in the Book of Mormon is interrupted by accounts of visions, which occupy chapters 8 through 15 of First Nephi. Lehi begins his dream, known as the vision of the tree of life, by saying:

methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness. And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me. And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him. And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste. And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me . . . . And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field. And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. (1 Nephi 8:4-10)

Lehi partook of the sweet, white fruit of the tree, and then looking to the head of a river which ran near the tree, he saw his wife Sariah with Sam and Nephi, "and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go" (1 Nephi 8:14). Lehi called to them, and they came and ate of the fruit of the tree. Looking to the head of the river again, Lehi saw Laman and Lemuel, but they would not come and partake of the fruit.

Along the bank of the river, Lehi beheld a rod of iron and a straight and narrow path, which passed by the head of the river to a large and spacious field. There he saw "numberless concourses of people," who sought the path which led to the tree, but a great mist of darkness arose and caused them to lose their way. Some, however, caught hold of the rod of iron and made their way to the tree.

And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. (1 Nephi 8:25-27)

Nephi breaks off Lehi's account of his dream and ends by saying: "And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building. And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads" (1 Nephi 8:31-32).

Lehi's vision seems to draw inspiration from Bede's account of the experience of a man who died and returned to life. Bede (A.D. 673-735), who was a monk at the monastery of St. Paul, relates in his A History of the English Church and People:

This was the account he used to give of his experience: 'A handsome man in a shining robe was my guide, and we walked in silence in what appeared to be a north-easterly direction. As we traveled onwards, we came to a very broad and deep valley of infinite length. . . .

'When he had led me gradually to the further end, . . . I saw the place suddenly begin to grow dim, and darkness concealed everything. As we entered it, this darkness gradually grew so dense that I could see nothing except it and the outline and robes of my guide. . . . When my guide had brought me to this place, he suddenly disappeared and left me alone in the midst of the darkness . . . .

'When I had stood there a long time terrified, not knowing what to do, where to turn, or what would happen to me, I suddenly heard behind me the sound of a most hideous and desperate lamentation, accompanied by harsh laughter, as though a rough mob were mocking captured enemies. As the noise increased and drew nearer, I saw a throng of wicked spirits dragging with them five human souls howling and lamenting into the depths of the darkness while the devils laughed and exulted. . . .

'The newcomer whose approach put them to flight was my former guide, who took a road to the right and began to lead me towards the south-east. He soon brought me out of darkness into an atmosphere of clear light, and as he led me forwards in bright light, I saw before us a tremendous wall which seemed to be of infinite length and height in all directions . . . . Within lay a very broad and pleasant meadow, so filled with the scent of spring flowers . . . . Such was the light flooding all this place that it seemed greater than the brightness of daylight or of the sun's rays at noon. In this meadow were innumerable companies of men in white robes, and many parties of happy people were sitting together.' (Bede 1968, 289-92)

Just as Bede's account contrasts the dense darkness of the valley with the brightly lit meadow where many happy people congregate, Lehi's vision leads from a dark and dreary waste to a large and spacious field, containing a tree "whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." In his dream, Lehi also had a guide, a man dressed in a white robe. In Bede's account, the man's guide left him, and he stood there "not knowing what to do, where to turn." Similarly, in Lehi's vision, Sariah, Sam, and Nephi "stood as if they knew not whither they should go." The man in Bede's account heard the harsh, mocking laughter of devils who were dragging souls into the depths of the darkness, as Lehi heard people mocking those who were eating of the fruit of the tree, causing some to fall into forbidden paths.

Lehi said that the great and spacious building filled with people mocking and pointing their fingers, "stood as it were in the air, high above the earth." This seems to be drawn from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. After Gulliver had been set adrift by pirates and had landed on an island, he was astonished to behold another inhabited island floating above him in the air. He described this island: "I could see the sides of it, encompassed with several gradations of galleries and stairs . . . . I beheld a crowd gathered to that side which was most in my view. I found by their pointing towards me, and to each other, that they plainly discovered me" (Swift 1985, 147-48).

There are, of course, some biblical references which figure in Lehi's dream. Genesis 2:9-10 describes the Garden of Eden, which contained the tree of life and a river which flowed out of Eden and parted into four streams. John was shown in a vision "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits" (Rev. 22:1-2).

Nephi also relates his own visions, which draw heavily upon John's Revelation. The Lord then spoke to Lehi, telling him that he and his party should be on their way. On the following morning, Lehi found on the ground in front of his tent "a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness" (1 Nephi 16:10). This brass ball is referred to in the Book of Mormon both as a "director" and as a "compass," and it was given the name Liahona. Critics have wondered how it was possible to see the spindles or pointers inside the ball, if the ball itself was made of brass. We may be able to clear up the mystery by again consulting Gulliver's Travels. When Gulliver found himself in the land of Lilliput, the Emperor of the tiny inhabitants sent two men to inventory the contents of Gulliver's pockets. Part of their report to the Emperor reads:

Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was fastened to that chain; which appeared to be a globe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal: for on the transparent side, we saw certain strange figures, circularly drawn, and thought we could touch them, till we found our fingers stopped by that lucid substance. . . . he seldom did anything without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action of his life. (Swift 1985, 18-19)

The object which they were describing was, of course, a pocket watch, and the "transparent metal" was glass. A watch can be described as having "spindles" or pointers, as well as other strange figures around the circumference. Characters appeared on the pointers of Lehi's brass ball: "And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it" (1 Nephi 16:29). Just as Gulliver's silver globe acted as an oracle, pointing out the time for every action of his life, the brass ball acted as an oracle for Lehi's group, pointing out the way that they should go in the wilderness.

There is also a passage in Gulliver's Travels which probably served as inspiration for making the Liahona act as a compass. Gulliver later learned that the movement of the floating island was produced by a loadstone: "But the greatest curiosity, upon which the fate of the island depends, is a loadstone of a prodigious size, in shape resembling a weaver's shuttle. . . . This magnet is sustained by a very strong axle of adamant passing through its middle, upon which it plays, and is poised so exactly that the weakest hand can turn it. It is hooped round with a hollow cylinder of adamant" (Swift 1985, 158). The island would move up or down, depending upon whether the repulsive or attractive end of the loadstone was place towards the earth, and if the stone was placed in an oblique position, the island would move slant-wise. Swift borrowed his description from Plato's account of the Spindle of Necessity in Book X of the Republic, but it also sounds like a compass. When Lehi's group set sail for the New World, the Liahona was used to steer the ship on a correct course.

The Liahona, the brass plates, and the sword of Laban (which Nephi used to slay Laban) were revered and became national treasures, being transferred from one generation to another. The possession of these objects seemed to indicate the legitimacy of rulership. According to legend, the Tuatha de Daanan, who were one of the races which conquered Ireland, brought with them four treasures from four cities. These were the sword of Lugh, a magic spear, the cauldron of Dagda, and a stone called the Lia Fail. The Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, has an interesting history. It was discovered at Tara by Conn, the chief King of Ireland. When he stepped on it, the stone shrieked, and after consulting Druids, it was determined that the number of shrieks indicated the number of rightful kings who would rule after Conn. The High Kings of Ireland were crowned standing on this stone, which would confirm their right to rule by crying out. The Lia Fail was supposedly sent to Scotland in the sixth century for the coronation of Fergus the Great, but it never returned to Ireland. It became the Stone of Scone, which was carried to England by Edward I in 1297 and became a part of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, upon which the rulers of Great Britain are crowned.

There were various theories about the origins of the Lia Fail. One of the more popular tales was that it was the very same stone which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel, when he had a dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder which reached to heaven. In this dream, the Lord covenanted with Jacob that his posterity would inherit the land. When he awoke, Jacob set the stone up as a pillar and anointed it with oil (Gen. 28). James Bonwick quoted a version of the legend linking the Lia Fail with Jacob's pillow:

"whereof history relates that it is the stone whereon Jacob is said to have lain his head in the Plain of Luga; and that it was brought to Brigantia (Corunna) in the Kingdom of Spain, in which place Gathol, King of Scots, sat on it as his throne. Thence it was brought into Ireland by Simon Brec, first King of Scots, about 700 years before Christ's time, and from thence into Scotland about 300 years before Christ, and in A.D. 850 was placed in the Abbey Scone." (Bonwick [1894] 1986, 318)

It certainly seems to be more than coincidence that Lehi's brass ball is called "Liahona," while Jacob's stone pillow became known as the "Lia Fail." The Liahona was carried from Palestine to the New World, as the Lia Fail traveled from Bethel to Ireland. The appearance of writing on the Liahona recalls the Arthurian romances, in which inscriptions frequently and miraculously appear on all sorts of objects, including stones, swords, ships, and the Siege Perilous. In addition, the sword of Laban seems to be of the same type as the mighty swords of Arthurian legends, and it of course parallels the sword of Goliath, which David used to cut off Goliath's head.

A few years after the departure of Lehi and his family, another group of people left Jerusalem and eventually arrived in the New World, where they were discovered by descendants of Nephi. The Book of Mormon gives us only fragments of information about the people of Zarahemla, as they are called. Most of our information comes from Amaleki's small record, which says: "Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon" (Omni 1:15). This does not tell us who either Zarahemla or his people were, but later the Book of Mosiah states: "Now there were not so many . . . of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness" (Mosiah 25:2). From this we learn that Zarahemla was a descendant of Mulek, but who was Mulek? The answer to this question is given much later in a very offhanded manner in the book of Helaman, and we are greatly surprised to find that Mulek was one of the sons of king Zedekiah: "And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem?" (Helaman 8:21). The Old Testament tells us that Zedekiah witnessed the slaying of his sons by Nebuchadnezzar's men at Riblah, before he was carried captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:7). However, the Book of Mormon claims that Mulek, one of Zedekiah's sons, managed to escape.

Amaleki tells us further that when Mosiah discovered the people of Zarahemla, "their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them" (Omni 1:17).

Although the Bible states that the sons of Zedekiah were slain, the story of Mulek seems to draw upon Jeremiah. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Lord said to Jeremiah, "Verily it shall be well with thy remnant . . . . And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not" (Jer. 15:11, 14). After Nebuchadnezzar carried off many of the inhabitants of Judah, he made Gedaliah governor over those who remained. But Gedaliah was killed by Ishmael, who carried away the remnant of the people, among whom were Jeremiah, Baruch and "the king's daughters" (Jer. 41:10). Presumably, the king's daughters were the daughters of Zedekiah. After Johanan came to the rescue of the captives and drove off Ishmael, he asked Jeremiah to seek the Lord's advice on what they should do next. The Lord specifically told them to remain where they were, for if they went to Egypt, they would be destroyed. But Johanan and his men would not listen and they carried the remnant of Judah to Egypt. It is easy to speculate that if Zedekiah's daughters had escaped from Nebuchadnezzar, along with Jeremiah and Baruch, that possibly one of Zedekiah's sons had also survived. In fact, the Bible seems almost to demand that this be true, for when Jacob blessed Judah, he declared, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come" (Gen. 49:10). Therefore, the reign of the kings of Judah could not end with Zedekiah; it had to continue through one of Zedekiah's sons, at least until the time of Christ. Thus Mulek and his people represent that remnant designated by the Lord, which would pass "into a land which thou knowest not."

Another biblical story suggests the fate of Mulek. Joab, the captain of David's army, slew every male in Edom, except Hadad, who was the son of the king of Edom: ". . . Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child. And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen" (1 Kings 11:17-19). The history of Mulek probably followed similar lines: as a child, he and others fled from Nebuchadnezzar, he was received by the ruler of another land, he grew up and married and then migrated to the New World.

There are two other tales that we should take note of in connection with Mulek. One concerns the Moors, who inhabited northern Africa. Moorish tribes trace their ancestry to Meleck Yarfrick, king of Arabia Felix, who led the Sabians to Libya and gave it the name of Africa. The name Meleck suggests that of Mulek, and there was also a city in the land of Zarahemla named Melek. The second story concerns a Jewish tribe called the Falasha of Ethiopia: "The opinion of the Abyssinians, which is partly shared also by the Falashas, is that these Jews came from Palestine to Ethiopia in the time of King Solomon and his alleged son Menilek I. The Ethiopian chronicle relates that the queen of Sheba, during her visit to him at Jerusalem, conceived a son whose father was Solomon; that the son was named Menilek or Ibn al-Hakim, that is to say, the son of the sage, and that he became the founder of the royal dynasty of Abyssinia" (Ausubel 1948, 535). According to the legend, Menilek was raised and educated at the court of Solomon, but was later sent to Ethiopia with a number of other people, where he was crowned as king. If a son named Menilek could be attributed to Solomon, certainly the Book of Mormon could also produce an unknown son of Zedekiah named Mulek.

Compared with the people of Zarahemla, the Book of Mormon provides a greater amount of information about the Jaredites, but the record is still greatly abbreviated. The Jaredites were a race of people who lived in Babylon long before Lehi and Mulek. Although the Book of Ether, which relates their history, never calls the Jaredites giants, it refers to the large stature of a number of men (Ether 1:34; 14:10; 13:15; 15:26). These passages suggest that the Jaredites were a race of giants. Genesis 6:4 says: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." When Moses sent men to spy out the land around Hebron, they reported: "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants" (Num. 13:33). According to Deuteronomy 2, the land of the Moabites had been the possession in times past of another race of giants called Emim, while the Horim had lived in Seir and the Zamzummim had occupied the territory of the Ammonites. David and his men also fought four men in Philistine territory who are described as descendants of the giants (2 Sam. 21:16-22). Josephus says that when the Israelites took possession of the land of Canaan, "There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any creditable relations of other men" (Josephus 1974, 2:307).

After leaving the tower of Babel, the Jaredites traveled a great distance to the sea, where they built eight small, light barges, in which they set sail for the promised land. Their voyage lasted 344 days. The Jaredite civilization flourished in the New World for many centuries, but after a long period of civil warfare, the opposing forces gathered at the hill Ramah, where the Jaredites perished in a great battle. The sole survivor of the Jaredites, a man named Coriantumr, was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, who had apparently only recently arrived in the New World.

The people of Zarahemla were later joined by a group of Nephites, descendants of Lehi's party, who were fleeing from the murderous Lamanites. The Nephites established their capital at the city of Zarahemla, and the nation prospered for hundreds of years, until it was extinguished by the Lamanites. The demise of the Nephites followed the same pattern as that of the Jaredites. The Nephites were pursued by the Lamanites, until they were granted their request to gather at the hill Cumorah, where the last great struggle took place. Cumorah was, in fact, the very same hill Ramah where the Jaredites perished.

The Book of Mormon resembles Irish legends, which tell of the conquest of Ireland by a succession of invaders. The first inhabitants of Ireland after the Flood were the Formorians. Later, a group of twenty-four males and twenty-four females led by Partholan arrived from the west. They fought against the Formorians and drove them out. The Partholanians, however, were struck by an epidemic, and after gathering on a plain, they all perished. But there was one survivor, Tuan mac Carell.

After Ireland lay uninhabited for thirty years, "the Nemedians sailed for Ireland in a fleet of thirty-two barks, in each bark thirty persons. They went astray on the seas for a year and a half, and most of them perished of hunger and thirst or of shipwreck. Nine only escaped - Nemed himself, with four men and four women" (Rolleston 1986, 99). Again, the Nemedians fought against the Formorians, who had returned, and again an epidemic wiped out a large part of the population, including Nemed. The Nemedians then became vassals of the Fomorians, until they rose in revolt and killed Conann, a Formorian chief. The Formorians, however, routed the Nemedians and slew all but thirty, who left Ireland.

The next group to arrive in Ireland were the Fir Bolg. According to one legend, they sailed from Greece, after making boats or coracles out of leather bags. The Fir Bolg were soon challenged by another group, the Tuatha de Danaan. After joining in battle on the plain of Moytura, it was agreed that the Fir Bolg would take the province of Connacht, while the Tuatha became rulers of the rest of Ireland, building their capital at Tara. But once again, the Formorians oppressed the island until, after seven years of preparation, they fought the Tuatha in a second battle at Moytura and were defeated.

The last race to invade Ireland was the Milesians, named after Miled or Mil. It is said that Ith, the grandfather of Mil, sighted Ireland from a tower and sailed there, but was killed by the Tuatha. The Milesians decided to attack Ireland in revenge and set out in thirty-six ships, defeating the Tuatha in a great battle.

Some of the accounts of the invaders of Ireland ascribed their origins to Noah. Ignatius Donnelly wrote: "According to the ancient books of Ireland the race known as 'Partholan's people,' the Nemedians, the Firbolgs, the Tuatha-de-Danaans, and the Milesians were all descended from two brothers, sons of Magog, son of Japheth, son of Noah" (Donnelly [1882] 1949, 253).

It is easy to find similarities between the Irish annals and the Book of Mormon. The Formorians arrived in Ireland after the time of Noah; the Jaredites set out at the time of the tower of Babel. After gathering on a plain, the Partholanians all perished, with the exception of one survivor; after gathering to the hill Ramah, all of the Jaredites were killed, except Coriantumr. The Nemedians sailed to Ireland in thirty-two barks, sailing for a year and a half; the Jaredites built eight barges, and their voyage lasted nearly a year. Ireland was divided between the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha, and the Tuatha later defeated the Formorians in a battle on the plain of Moytura; the Nephites, along with the descendants of Mulek, occupied the land of Zarahemla, while the Lamanites inhabited the land of Nephi, but the Nephites were later killed by the Lamanites at the hill Cumorah. The Milesians lived first in Egypt, then settled in Africa for 250 years, before migrating to Ireland; Mulek apparently went first to Egypt, then perhaps traveled across north Africa, before sailing to the New World.