Nephi stood there with the sword of Laban in his hand. Presently the voice of the Spirit urged him to destroy his enemy. But he shrunk from the thought. He had never shed the blood of man. The inner voice came again: "Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands." The commandment was from God.
The indictments against Laban were grave. (1) He had refused to deliver up the records peacefully; (2) he had robbed the sons of Lehi of their property; (3) he had decided to kill the brothers; (4) humanly speaking, there was no possibility of obtaining the records as long as Laban lived. Nephi obeyed the inner voice. "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." This was a Jewish proverb, equivalent to: "Of two evils choose the lesser." And so, after a great deal of hesitation, Nephi destroyed Laban with his own sword (v. 18).