Emphasis Scriptures

The word 'began' occurs 621 times in the standard works.

288 of those occurances are found in the list of scriptures highlighted below. These verses have the highest concentration of the word 'began' in the standard works and contain 46.4% of all occurances. Assuming 30 seconds per verse, it would take about 116 minutes to read the entire list.

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3 Ne. 1:22-2:1 (10 in 10 verses)

Alma 4:4-11 (9 in 8 verses)

1 Ne. 18:9-15 (7 in 7 verses)

Mosiah 24:4-10 (7 in 7 verses)

Ether 9:30-10:1 (7 in 7 verses)

Mosiah 21:1-6 (6 in 6 verses)

Hel. 16:12-17 (6 in 6 verses)

Alma 25:6-8 (5 in 3 verses)

Hel. 11:20-23 (5 in 4 verses)

3 Ne. 1:4-7 (5 in 4 verses)

Alma 1:5-9 (5 in 5 verses)

Mosiah 21:15-16 (4 in 2 verses)

Alma 11:46-12:1 (4 in 2 verses)

Alma 14:6-7 (4 in 2 verses)

Alma 17:36-37 (4 in 2 verses)

Hel. 6:16-17 (4 in 2 verses)

4 Ne. 1:24-26 (4 in 3 verses)


Ether 15:1-3 (4 in 3 verses)

 15:1 And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.

 15:2 He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.

 15:3 He began to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted.




Jacob 5:3-6 (4 in 4 verses)

Mosiah 9:11-14 (4 in 4 verses)

Alma 22:21-24 (4 in 4 verses)

Jacob 5:73 (3 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 10:6 (3 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 27:6 (3 in 1 verse)

Alma 24:21 (3 in 1 verse)

Alma 62:48 (3 in 1 verse)

3 Ne. 4:1 (3 in 1 verse)

Jacob 1:15-16 (3 in 2 verses)

Mosiah 19:2-3 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 2:1-2 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 8:32-9:1 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 21:4-5 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 21:9-10 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 56:29-30 (3 in 2 verses)

Alma 56:51-52 (3 in 2 verses)

Hel. 11:7-8 (3 in 2 verses)

Morm. 2:10-11 (3 in 2 verses)

Moses 1:20-21 (3 in 2 verses)

2 Chr. 34:1-3 (3 in 3 verses)

Mosiah 20:9-11 (3 in 3 verses)

Alma 12:7-9 (3 in 3 verses)

Alma 50:13-15 (3 in 3 verses)

Hel. 6:34-36 (3 in 3 verses)

4 Ne. 1:42-44 (3 in 3 verses)

Moses 5:1-3 (3 in 3 verses)

2 Chr. 29:27 (2 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 6:4 (2 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 10:1 (2 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 23:5 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 1:22 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 8:4 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 15:17 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 17:28 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 27:2 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 35:15 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 43:50 (2 in 1 verse)

Hel. 10:18 (2 in 1 verse)

Hel. 11:36 (2 in 1 verse)

Morm. 3:9 (2 in 1 verse)

Ether 6:28 (2 in 1 verse)

Ether 9:26 (2 in 1 verse)

Ether 14:27 (2 in 1 verse)

Judg. 20:39-40 (2 in 2 verses)

1 Kgs. 22:41-42 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 8:16-17 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 11:21-12:1 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 15:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 15:32-33 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 16:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Kgs. 18:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Chr. 3:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

Matt. 16:21-22 (2 in 2 verses)

Mark 8:31-32 (2 in 2 verses)

1 Ne. 16:20-21 (2 in 2 verses)

Mosiah 9:8-9 (2 in 2 verses)

Mosiah 11:16-17 (2 in 2 verses)

Mosiah 27:22-23 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 1:28-29 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 2:17-18 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 10:16-17 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 15:3-4 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 15:11-12 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 19:14-15 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 19:18-19 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 32:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 35:10-11 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 43:35-36 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 44:17-18 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 49:21-22 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 52:23-24 (2 in 2 verses)

Hel. 1:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

Hel. 3:21-22 (2 in 2 verses)

3 Ne. 1:17-18 (2 in 2 verses)

3 Ne. 8:3-4 (2 in 2 verses)

Ether 6:18-19 (2 in 2 verses)

Ether 11:7-8 (2 in 2 verses)

D&C 101:46-47 (2 in 2 verses)

Exact Word Count

  FULL PART ALL
OT 105 0 105
NT 74 0 74
BM 418 0 418
1 Ne. 22 0 22
2 Ne. 2 0 2
Jacob 14 0 14
Enos 3 0 3
Jarom 1 0 1
Omni 1 0 1
Mosiah 67 0 67
Alma 165 0 165
Hel. 42 0 42
3 Ne. 39 0 39
4 Ne. 8 0 8
Morm. 15 0 15
Ether 38 0 38
Moro. 1 0 1
DC 5 0 5
PGP 19 0 19
TOTAL 621 0 621

Ether 6:13
And it came to pass that they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth.

Ether 6:16
And the friends of Jared and his brother were in number about twenty and two souls; and they also begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land; and therefore they began to be many.

Ether 6:18
And it came to pass that they began to spread upon the face of the land, and to multiply and to till the earth; and they did wax strong in the land.

Ether 6:19
And the brother of Jared began to be old, and saw that he must soon go down to the grave; wherefore he said unto Jared: Let us gather together our people that we may number them, that we may know of them what they will desire of us before we go down to our graves.

Ether 6:28
And he began to reign, and the people began to prosper; and they became exceedingly rich.

Ether 7:10
And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the stead of his father.

Ether 7:26
And because the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the land. And it came to pass that Shule begat sons and daughters in his old age.

Ether 9:7
And it came to pass that Akish began to be jealous of his son, therefore he shut him up in prison, and kept him upon little or no food until he had suffered death.

Ether 9:12
And there began to be a war between the sons of Akish and Akish, which lasted for the space of many years, yea, unto the destruction of nearly all the people of the kingdom, yea, even all, save it were thirty souls, and they who fled with the house of Omer.

Ether 9:14
And it came to pass that Omer began to be old; nevertheless, in his old age he begat Emer; and he anointed Emer to be king to reign in his stead.

Ether 9:16
And the Lord began again to take the curse from off the land, and the house of Emer did prosper exceedingly under the reign of Emer; and in the space of sixty and two years they had become exceedingly strong, insomuch that they became exceedingly rich--

Ether 9:26
And the people had spread again over all the face of the land, and there began again to be an exceedingly great wickedness upon the face of the land, and Heth began to embrace the secret plans again of old, to destroy his father.

Ether 9:30
And it came to pass that there began to be a great dearth upon the land, and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth, for there was no rain upon the face of the earth.

Ether 9:31
And there came forth poisonous serpents also upon the face of the land, and did poison many people. And it came to pass that their flocks began to flee before the poisonous serpents, towards the land southward, which was called by the Nephites Zarahemla.

Ether 9:34
And it came to pass that the people did follow the course of the beasts, and did devour the carcasses of them which fell by the way, until they had devoured them all. Now when the people saw that they must perish they began to repent of their iniquities and cry unto the Lord.

Ether 9:35
And it came to pass that when they had humbled themselves sufficiently before the Lord he did send rain upon the face of the earth; and the people began to revive again, and there began to be fruit in the north countries, and in all the countries round about. And the Lord did show forth his power unto them in preserving them from famine.

Ether 10:1
And it came to pass that Shez, who was a descendant of Heth-- for Heth had perished by the famine, and all his household save it were Shez-- wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people.

Ether 10:4
And it came to pass that his father did build up many cities upon the face of the land, and the people began again to spread over all the face of the land. And Shez did live to an exceedingly old age; and he begat Riplakish. And he died, and Riplakish reigned in his stead.

Ether 10:8
And when he had reigned for the space of forty and two years the people did rise up in rebellion against him; and there began to be war again in the land, insomuch that Riplakish was killed, and his descendants were driven out of the land.

Ether 10:33
And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom.

Ether 11:4
And he lived to a good old age, and begat Shiblom; and Shiblom reigned in his stead. And the brother of Shiblom rebelled against him, and there began to be an exceedingly great war in all the land.

Ether 11:7
And they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, because of their wicked combinations; wherefore, there began to be wars and contentions in all the land, and also many famines and pestilences, insomuch that there was a great destruction, such an one as never had been known upon the face of the earth; and all this came to pass in the days of Shiblom.

Ether 11:8
And the people began to repent of their iniquity; and inasmuch as they did the Lord did have mercy on them.

Ether 12:2
And Ether was a prophet of the Lord; wherefore Ether came forth in the days of Coriantumr, and began to prophesy unto the people, for he could not be restrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him.

Ether 13:15
And it came to pass that in that same year in which he was cast out from among the people there began to be a great war among the people, for there were many who rose up, who were mighty men, and sought to destroy Coriantumr by their secret plans of wickedness, of which hath been spoken.

Ether 13:25
Now there began to be a war upon all the face of the land, every man with his band fighting for that which he desired.

Ether 14:1
And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land.

Ether 14:19
And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies, throughout all the face of the land.

Ether 14:27
And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz that the people began to be frightened, and began to flee before the armies of Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor, and swept off the inhabitants before them, all them that would not join them.

Ether 15:1
And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.

Ether 15:2
He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.

Ether 15:3
He began to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted.