The Plates of Nephi

In 1 Nephi 9, Nephi make two sets of plates. The large plates were later on abridged by Mormon and put at the front of the Gold Plates. The small plates were put at the back. Why? Fast-forward a few thousand year to 1828. Joseph Smith had already translated the first part of the golden plates: the book of Lehi in the Large Plates. That was the account of the kings and wars–the secular history of the people–that took place at the same time as the Small Plates. When Lehi was lost, God told Joseph not to translate it again because a different account of it was at the end.