After fleeing Jerusalem, the elder brothers Laman and Lemuel were angry with Lehi and their younger, more faithful, brothers Sam and Nephi, so they beat their siblings with rods. Suddenly, an angel appeared, commanding the elder duo to desist and all of them to return forthwith to the city, where Laban would fall into their hands. Laman and Lemuel demurred: "Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?" Though Nephi encouraged his brothers by reminding them of God's might, it was only with great reluctance that they agreed to press on. Undaunted, Nephi slipped back into Jerusalem alone that night, where he soon found Laban lying unconscious in a drunken stupor. The Spirit of God told Nephi to kill Laban with his own sword and seize the records, saying "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." After complying, Nephi disguised himself as Laban and headed towards Laban's treasury where the brass plates were kept. On the way there he found one of Laban's servants, Zoram, whom he commanded to retrieve the brass plates and to follow him out of the city. Zoram obeyed, and once outside the city, Nephi revealed that he was not Laban, and he and his brothers convinced Zoram to join them and their family in their journey to the New World. The content of the brass plates Upon returning to his family in the wilderness, Nephi turned over the "Plates of Laban" to Lehi, who made a complete inspection of them. Lehi determined that the plates contained: The Five Books of Moses (the Jewish Torah); A history of the Jewish people, down to the reign of [then current] King Zedekiah; The prophecies of the Israelite prophets down to Jeremiah, seen in the Book of Mormon as a contemporary of Lehi; and A genealogy of all the tribes of Israel including a genealogy of Lehi's own ancestors, revealing him to be a descendant of Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob. After reading the contents of the brass plates, Lehi prophesied that they would "never be dimmed any more by time," and that they would ultimately "go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed." Sword of Laban When Nephi encountered the unconscious Laban, he noticed that Laban was