30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hear-ken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. [2 Nephi 28:30]13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. [Isaiah 28:13]
31 Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.
32 Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.
Nephi quotes Isaiah (2 Nephi 28:30; Isaiah 28:13), as a wo or warning to those who say we need no more of the word of God. The King James text does not make sense, sounding as if God will punish those who receive revelation line upon line. The Book of Mormon text, quoting the Lord but not attributing it to Isaiah, is obviously the original text of Isaiah before plain and precious parts were lost. Those who accept revelation will receive more, line upon line. Those who say they have enough will lose even that which they had received. The fulfillment of Isaiah’s words is exemplified in all ages of the world when apostasy sets in, and in our own day when people fall away from the church. Verse 31 may also have once been a part of the Isaiah text, but it is not in present-day Bibles.
The last verse (32) is also quoting the Lord, but the source is not identified. It is probably addressed to the Gentiles because they are the people among whom the Book of Mormon came. The warning is given in preparation for what Nephi says in 2 Nephi 29.