Alma - Amplifying Brains

This book, from the summary, appears more general. We will again look for ways that keeping the commandments brings security and prosperity, and how to become like Jesus Christ.

1 Now it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, from this time forward, king Mosiah having agone the way of all the earth, having warred a good warfare, walking uprightly before God, leaving none to reign in his stead; nevertheless he had established blaws, and they were acknowledged by the people; therefore they were obliged to abide by the claws which he had made.

Maybe war does have some positive value. Now we’re being ruled by laws and not a king, so we can see better how they affect people and how people work with and affect them.

2 And it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of Alma in the judgment-seat, there was a aman brought before him to be judged, a man who was large, and was noted for his much strength.

And immediately we get to our first case. The man had physical qualities like Nephi.

3 And he had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he atermed to be the word of God, bearing down bagainst the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become cpopular; and they ought dnot to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.

Which he must have wanted himself. See how personal problems can wreck others?

4 And he also testified unto the people that aall mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they bneed not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had ccreated all men, and had also dredeemed eall men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.

Also, he wanted to make it easy and for people not to need to improve.

5 And it came to pass that he did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him amoney.

Repetition spreads.

6 And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly aapparel, yea, and even began to bestablish a cchurch after the manner of his preaching.

He was prideful, and pride comes before the fall.

7 And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their ateachers; and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people of the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the bwords of God.

He started his “bad” mission.

8 Now the name of the man was aGideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage.

He went for the lion’s share.

9 Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being astricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was bslain by the sword.

The unrighteous often set an obvious bad example, sometimes not as obvious.

10 And the man who slew him was taken by the people of the church, and was brought before Alma, to be ajudged according to the crimes which he had committed.

He had to answer to the law for what he did.

11 And it came to pass that he stood before Alma and pled for himself with much boldness.

He still had his skill; he used it on himself.

12 But Alma said unto him: Behold, this is the first time that apriestcraft has been introduced among this people. And behold, thou art not only guilty of priestcraft, but hast endeavored to enforce it by the sword; and were bpriestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction.

The law was sufficient to prevent the destruction of the people.

13 And thou hast shed the ablood of a righteous man, yea, a man who has done much good among this people; and were we to spare thee his blood would come upon us for bvengeance.

Exercising the law built based on belief.

14 Therefore thou art condemned to adie, according to the blaw which has been given us by Mosiah, our last king; and it has been cacknowledged by this people; therefore this people must dabide by the law.

Either he dies or the law becomes null.

15 And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was aNehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious bdeath.

He told the truth and that was it.

16 Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching afalse doctrines; and this they did for the sake of briches and honor.

But a bad example spreads.

17 Nevertheless, they durst not alie, if it were known, for fear of the law, for liars were punished; therefore they pretended to preach according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for bhis belief.

The law worked somewhat against people who somewhat had their hearts in the right place.

18 And they durst not asteal, for fear of the law, for such were punished; neither durst they rob, nor murder, for he that bmurdered was punished unto cdeath.

The harder crimes worked the same way.

19 But it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the church of God began to persecute those that did belong to the church of God, and had taken upon them the name of Christ.

This is the great and spacious building we discussed.

20 Yea, they did persecute them, and afflict them with all manner of words, and this because of their humility; because they were not proud in their own eyes, and because they did impart the word of God, one with another, without amoney and without price.

It has its own kind of power.

21 Now there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should anot any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves.

The law was there and it was strict.

22 Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows; yea, they would smite one another with their afists.

Some broke the law I guess.

23 Now this was in the second year of the reign of Alma, and it was a cause of much affliction to the church; yea, it was the cause of much trial with the church.

It’s sad that sometimes great things meet up immediately with sad things.

24 For the hearts of many were hardened, and their names were ablotted out, that they were remembered no more among the people of God. And also many bwithdrew themselves from among them.

Many went away from the Church.

25 Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were asteadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with bpatience the persecution which was heaped upon them.

The great and spacious building pulls people down by each other. The tree of life keeps people upright and helping themselves and others.

26 And when the priests left their alabor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man baccording to his strength.

Thus there was no inequity at the leadership level.

27 And they did aimpart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the bpoor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly capparel, yet they were neat and comely.

They provided for each other in humility.

28 And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions.

Thus the Church grew back. Good can grow too.

29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly arich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of bsilk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely ccloth.

“Steadiness…” great things come about by gradually improving.

30 And thus, in their aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were bnaked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon criches; therefore they were dliberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.

Everyone was helped with wealth, so there was richness but not poverty.

31 And thus they did aprosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.

The Church still got wealthier than those outside it.

32 For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in asorceries, and in bidolatry or cidleness, and in dbabblings, and in eenvyings and fstrife; wearing costly apparel; being glifted up in the pride of their own eyes; persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible.

Those not in the church did destructive acts, although the law tried to prevent as much as possible.

33 And it came to pass that by thus exercising the law upon them, every man suffering according to that which he had done, they became more still, and durst not commit any wickedness if it were known; therefore, there was much peace among the people of Nephi until the fifth year of the reign of the judges.

A formula for success.

Ch. 2

1 And it came to pass in the commencement of the fifth year of their reign there began to be a contention among the people; for a certain aman, being called Amlici, he being a very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world, he being after the order of the man that slew bGideon by the sword, who was executed according to the law—

continued… a smart man who was capable and willing to rise rebellion against the people.

2 Now this Amlici had, by his cunning, adrawn away much people after him; even so much that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish Amlici to be a king over the people.

This became a serious threat.

3 Now this was alarming to the people of the church, and also to all those who had not been drawn away after the persuasions of Amlici; for they knew that according to their law that such things must be established by the avoice of the people.

They were afraid wickedness would destroy the government.

4 Therefore, if it were possible that Amlici should gain the voice of the people, he, being a wicked man, would adeprive them of their rights and privileges of the church; for it was his intent to destroy the church of God.

It would destroy the church of God, and priestcraft is the number one way to destroy civilization. Priestcraft is the worst thing you can do and still be good I think.

5 And it came to pass that the people assembled themselves together throughout all the land, every man according to his mind, whether it were for or against Amlici, in separate bodies, having much dispute and wonderful acontentions one with another.

It was an election. Even an election like this was wonderful with its dialogue.

6 And thus they did assemble themselves together to cast in their avoices concerning the matter; and they were laid before the judges.

They voted.

7 And it came to pass that the avoice of the people came against Amlici, that he was not made king over the people.

The system worked.

8 Now this did cause much joy in the hearts of those who were against him; but Amlici did stir up those who were in his favor to anger against those who were not in his favor.

He used negative emotions.

9 And it came to pass that they gathered themselves together, and did aconsecrate Amlici to be their king.

This was civil insurrection.

10 Now when Amlici was made king over them he commanded them that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he did that he might subject them to him.

He wanted to take over it was so much.

11 Now the people of Amlici were distinguished by the name of Amlici, being called aAmlicites; and the remainder were bcalled Nephites, or the people of God.

Suggesting that a division can be over believing or following in God.

12 Therefore the people of the Nephites were aware of the intent of the Amlicites, and therefore they did prepare to meet them; yea, they did arm themselves with swords, and with cimeters, and with bows, and with arrows, and with stones, and with slings, and with all manner of aweapons of war, of every kind.

The Nephites were prudent like Nephi 1 was. They probably felt they were preserving religion to preserve humanity.

13 And thus they were prepared to meet the Amlicites at the time of their coming. And there were appointed acaptains, and higher captains, and chief captains, according to their numbers.

They acted rationally.

14 And it came to pass that Amlici did arm his men with all manner of weapons of war of every kind; and he also appointed rulers and leaders over his people, to lead them to war against their brethren.

However, bad people can be rational too… brains come from God.

15 And it came to pass that the Amlicites came upon the hill Amnihu, which was east of the ariver Sidon, which ran by the bland of Zarahemla, and there they began to make war with the Nephites.

War was initiated, which is bad in itself.

16 Now Alma, being the achief judge and the bgovernor of the people of Nephi, therefore he went up with his people, yea, with his captains, and chief captains, yea, at the head of his armies, against the Amlicites to battle.

Alma led the fight as many leaders in history have.

17 And they began to slay the Amlicites upon the hill east of Sidon. And the Amlicites did contend with the Nephites with great strength, insomuch that many of the Nephites did fall before the Amlicites.

The Amlicites might have been focused on evil.

18 Nevertheless the Lord did strengthen the hand of the Nephites, that they slew the Amlicites with great slaughter, that they began to flee before them.

Good prevails because evil destroys evil, but the Lord helped them out a bit.

19 And it came to pass that the Nephites did pursue the Amlicites all that day, and did slay them with much slaughter, insomuch that there were aslain of the Amlicites twelve thousand five hundred thirty and two souls; and there were slain of the Nephites six thousand five hundred sixty and two souls.

Was this defensive?

20 And it came to pass that when Alma could pursue the Amlicites no longer he caused that his people should pitch their tents in the avalley of Gideon, the valley being called after that Gideon who was slain by the hand of bNehor with the sword; and in this valley the Nephites did pitch their tents for the night.

They had to sleep, but could they go a night without sleep? Actually, they may not have had enough lighting.

21 And Alma sent spies to follow the remnant of the Amlicites, that he might know of their plans and their plots, whereby he might guard himself against them, that he might preserve his people from being destroyed.

A small and simple thing.

22 Now those whom he had sent out to watch the camp of the Amlicites were called Zeram, and Amnor, and Manti, and Limher; these were they who went out with their men to watch the camp of the Amlicites.

4 was all it took.

23 And it came to pass that on the morrow they returned into the camp of the Nephites in great haste, being greatly astonished, and struck with much fear, saying:

Reminder of Jews getting 40 years in desert.

24 Behold, we followed the acamp of the bAmlicites, and to our great astonishment, in the land of Minon, above the land of Zarahemla, in the course of the land of cNephi, we saw a numerous host of the Lamanites; and behold, the Amlicites have joined them;

Something seemed unsolveable.

25 And they are upon our brethren in that land; and they are fleeing before them with their flocks, and their wives, and their children, towards our city; and except we make haste they obtain possession of our city, and our fathers, and our wives, and our children be slain.

Time for decisive action.

26 And it came to pass that the people of Nephi took their tents, and departed out of the valley of Gideon towards their acity, which was the city of bZarahemla.

They took that action.

27 And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites, being as anumerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them.

Behold.

28 Nevertheless, the Nephites being astrengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, therefore the Lord did hear their cries, and did strengthen them, and the Lamanites and the Amlicites did fall before them.

The hand of the Lord was revealed in a decisive moment.

29 And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another.

The Lord would have to decide how it would end.

30 And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much afaith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and bspare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.

Alma prayed to his God.

31 Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.

The Lord excepted it.

32 And he also contended with the king of the Lamanites; but the king of the Lamanites fled back from before Alma and sent his guards to contend with Alma.

He scared away the king of the Lamanites, but not his guards.

33 But Alma, with his guards, contended with the guards of the king of the Lamanites until he slew and drove them back.

Guards met with guards.

34 And thus he cleared the ground, or rather the bank, which was on the west of the river Sidon, throwing the bodies of the Lamanites who had been slain into the waters of Sidon, that thereby his people might have room to cross and contend with the Lamanites and the Amlicites on the west side of the river Sidon.

A tactical victory.

35 And it came to pass that when they had all crossed the river Sidon that the Lamanites and the Amlicites began to flee before them, notwithstanding they were so numerous that they could not be numbered.

A victory of life.

36 And they fled before the Nephites towards the wilderness which was west and north, away beyond the borders of the land; and the Nephites did pursue them with their might, and did slay them.

Hopefully a necessity.

37 Yea, they were met on every hand, and slain and driven, until they were scattered on the west, and on the north, until they had reached the wilderness, which was called Hermounts; and it was that part of the wilderness which was infested by wild and ravenous beasts.

How hard it must have been between the two parties.

38 And it came to pass that many died in the wilderness of their wounds, and were devoured by those beasts and also the vultures of the air; and their bones have been found, and have been heaped up on the earth.

Many died from tough living conditions that were forced upon them; because they attacked the Nephites?

Ch. 3

1 And it came to pass that the Nephites who were not aslain by the weapons of war, after having buried those who had been slain—now the number of the slain were not numbered, because of the greatness of their number—after they had finished burying their dead they all returned to their lands, and to their houses, and their wives, and their children.

I thought burying the dead was something Nostradomus discovered. But according to Google it started 130,000 years ago.

2 Now many women and children had been slain with the sword, and also many of their flocks and their herds; and also many of their fields of grain were destroyed, for they were trodden down by the hosts of men.

There is great loss from evil conflicts.

3 And now as many of the Lamanites and the Amlicites who had been slain upon the bank of the river Sidon were cast into the awaters of Sidon; and behold their bones are in the depths of the bsea, and they are many.

Are the bones still there? This is supposed to be a witness for some reason.

4 And the aAmlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had bmarked themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites; nevertheless they had not shorn their heads like unto the Lamanites.

The three groups could be told apart, of the two “bad one’s” own doing. The Lamanites may have done something else bad.

5 Now the heads of the Lamanites were shorn; and they were anaked, save it were skin which was girded about their loins, and also their armor, which was girded about them, and their bows, and their arrows, and their stones, and their slings, and so forth.

They were not defended well.

6 And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a acurse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.

They were cursed and identifiable.

7 And their brethren sought to destroy them, therefore they were cursed; and the Lord God set a amark upon them, yea, upon Laman and Lemuel, and also the sons of Ishmael, and Ishmaelitish women.

How founders can effect whole civilizations. The Lord handled making them cursed and their relationship with the Nephites.

8 And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not amix and believe in incorrect btraditions which would prove their destruction.

To preserve righteousness, the Lord did something great just by changing skin color. Similar to the Jews in the Old Testament not mixing with other seed to not go after idols.

9 And it came to pass that whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed.

Because they knew that they shouldn’t. It affected their progeny as well.

10 Therefore, whosoever suffered himself to be led away by the Lamanites was called under that head, and there was a mark set upon him.

They got the same mark. Head as in his output, including children.

11 And it came to pass that whosoever would not believe in the atradition of the Lamanites, but believed those records which were brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and also in the tradition of their fathers, which were correct, who believed in the commandments of God and kept them, were bcalled the Nephites, or the people of Nephi, from that time forth—

Being a Nephite was a belief. Those who were on the right side morally… seeming to be fair or not…

12 And it is they who have kept the records which are atrue of their people, and also of the people of the Lamanites.

They kept a true record of both them and those who were not them. They followed true records…

13 Now we will return again to the Amlicites, for they also had a amark set upon them; yea, they set the mark upon themselves, yea, even a mark of red upon their foreheads.

OK, so back to the red mark of distinguishment and the Amlicites for now…

14 Thus the word of God is fulfilled, for these are the words which he said to Nephi: Behold, the Lamanites have I cursed, and I will set a mark on them that they and their seed may be aseparated from thee and thy seed, from this time henceforth and forever, except they repent of their wickedness and bturn to me that I may have mercy upon them.

Making it fair. So this is a fulfillment of prophecy.

15 And again: I will set a mark upon him that mingleth his seed with thy brethren, that they may be cursed also.

Fair, since they tempt themselves with it.

16 And again: I will set a mark upon him that fighteth against thee and thy seed.

Fair for the other side.

17 And again, I say he that departeth from thee shall no more be called thy seed; and I will bless thee, and whomsoever shall be called thy seed, henceforth and forever; and these were the promises of the Lord unto Nephi and to his seed.

This was a permanent condition, yet where are the Nephites today? OK the good guys were blessed the bad guys were cursed and the good guys needed to try to keep it that way.

18 Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open arebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them.

The Amlicites didn’t even know they were cursed yet they knew they were bad. We don’t always realize the consequences of bad things, or good things.

19 Now I would that ye should see that they brought upon themselves the acurse; and even so doth every man that is cursed bring upon himself his own condemnation.

This generalizes to everyone. This must be an important theme.

20 Now it came to pass that not many days after the battle which was fought in the land of Zarahemla, by the Lamanites and the Amlicites, that there was another army of the Lamanites came in upon the people of Nephi, in the asame place where the first army met the Amlicites.

Another army came; let’s try to compare what happens. Now to test the theme immediately.

21 And it came to pass that there was an army sent to drive them out of their land.

OK so the Nephite army went against them.

22 Now Alma himself being afflicted with a awound did not go up to battle at this time against the Lamanites;

Alma had an excuse, and it might have saved his life.

23 But he sent up a numerous army against them; and they went up and slew many of the Lamanites, and drove the remainder of them out of the borders of their land.

Numbers matter; and goodness has numbers.

24 And then they returned again and began to establish peace in the land, being troubled no more for a time with their enemies.

Being good, they were peaceful.

25 Now all these things were done, yea, all these wars and contentions were commenced and ended in the fifth year of the reign of the judges.

Just five years into the new government.

26 And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their arewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.

Many people would be judged.

27 For every man receiveth awages of him whom he listeth to bobey, and this according to the words of the spirit of prophecy; therefore let it be according to the truth. And thus endeth the fifth year of the reign of the judges.

Everyone is judged by whom he is a follower of.

Ch. 4

Back to peace

But difficulty maintaining it.

3 And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abominations; therefore they were aawakened to a remembrance of their duty.

Suffering helps to repent.

4 And they began to establish the achurch more fully; yea, and many were bbaptized in the cwaters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the dhigh priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma.

The church is rebuilt.

5 And it came to pass in the seventh year of the reign of the judges there were about three thousand five hundred souls that united themselves to the achurch of God and were baptized. And thus ended the seventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and there was continual peace in all that time.

Peace is good and a result of things working properly.

6 And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding ariches, and their bfine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their cindustry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly dapparel.

Pride is the Universal sin and the desire to get rich is the root of all evil.

7 Now this was the cause of much affliction to Alma, yea, and to many of the people whom Alma had consecrated to be ateachers, and bpriests, and celders over the church; yea, many of them were sorely grieved for the wickedness which they saw had begun to be among their people.

Even if you’re good being hard makes it cause pain.

8 For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their ahearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did bnot believe according to their own will and pleasure.

Because they wanted what’s best for the bad people, not just themselves.

9 And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great acontentions among the people of the church; yea, there were benvyings, and cstrife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God.

So there was a lot of downward descent.

10 And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great astumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.

Even the Church would not progress.

11 And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the aexample of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people.

The church itself was destructive, negating its central purpose.

12 Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the aneedy and the naked and those who were bhungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.

Pride is the Universal sin. Turning on the poor is the desire to get rich or the root of all evil.

13 Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the apoor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of bafflictions, for Christ’s csake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy;

some were helping everyone anyway.

14 Looking forward to that day, thus aretaining a bremission of their sins; being filled with great cjoy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and ddeliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

believing in themselves…

15 And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their ainequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him.

Alma was even hurt but he kept the faith of what he knew would keep things going good.

16 And he selected a wise man who was among the aelders of the church, and gave him power according to the bvoice of the people, that he might have power to enact claws according to the laws which had been given, and to put them in force according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people.

Alma took legal action.

17 Now this man’s name was aNephihah, and he was appointed bchief judge; and he sat in the judgment-seat to judge and to govern the people.

A judge was appointed by the good guys.

18 Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being ahigh priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto bNephihah.

He still had separation of church and state.

19 And this he did that he ahimself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might bpreach the cword of God unto them, to dstir them up in eremembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure ftestimony against them.

The truth was the only redemption.

20 And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to aNephihah, and confined himself wholly to the bhigh priesthood of the holy order of God, to the ctestimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.

Revelation and prophecy.

Ch. 5

1 Now it came to pass that Alma began to adeliver the word of bGod unto the people, first in the land of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land.

Triage.

2 And these are the words which he spake to the people in the church which was established in the city of Zarahemla, according to his own record, saying:

Introduction to his words.

3 I, Alma, having been aconsecrated by my father, Alma, to be a bhigh priest over the church of God, he having power and cauthority from God to do these things, behold, I say unto you that he began to establish a church in the dland which was in the borders of Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of Mormon; yea, and he did baptize his brethren in the waters of Mormon.

Giving hope that the Lord’s kingdom can be built up from weakness.

4 And behold, I say unto you, they were adelivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by the mercy and power of God.

God helped them having all these cases of it in mind.

5 And behold, after that, they were brought into abondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bbondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also.

The Lord delivered people from bondage.

6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in aremembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has bdelivered their souls from hell?

It should serve as reminder, like the Jews out of Egypt.

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the abands of death, and the bchains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

A beautiful verse about light penetrating darkness and the word of God penetrating hell.

8 And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.

Even though they had done wrong, they were not destroyed. They must have been able to correct their behavior.

9 And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the achains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did bsing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved.

This life is available to get on the right path.

10 And now I ask of you on what conditions are they asaved? Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell?

What causes them to get back on the right path?

11 Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the amouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them?

To me this means, did not one man start things?

12 And according to his faith there was a mighty achange wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

A mighty change of one person’s heart can cause a mighty change in people.

13 And behold, he apreached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their btrust in the true and cliving God. And behold, they were faithful until the dend; therefore they were saved.

Good is contagious.

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye aspiritually been bborn of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty cchange in your hearts?

Three ways of expressing commitment to God.

15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who acreated you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption braised in incorruption, to stand before God to be cjudged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

Do you accept this doctrine to make you good?

16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye ablessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

Would you like to know that you were good?

17 Or do ye aimagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and bsay—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?

It is a givent that people believe this, so they have to own up for their actions.

18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect aremembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?

If they have rebelled it obviously should be very bad for them.

19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the aimage of God engraven upon your countenances?

Are you worthy of being in His presence?

20 I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become asubjects to the devil?

If you gave up, what then?

21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be asaved; for there can no man be saved except his bgarments are washed white; yea, his garments must be cpurified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

Filthiness cannot inherit a clean kingdom. The blood of Christ is cleansing. In the Old Testament, blood is the life thereof for a living thing.

22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with ablood and all manner of bfilthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

How do you think you’ll get past this?

Sin is compared to dirtiness and therefore shame.

23 Behold will they not atestify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are bguilty of all manner of wickedness?

Murdering is a serious sin. So is wickedness or any sin.

24 Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with aAbraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white?

It is important to do good.

25 I say unto you, Nay; except ye make our Creator a liar from the beginning, or suppose that he is a liar from the beginning, ye cannot suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of heaven; but they shall be cast out for they are the achildren of the kingdom of the devil.

That is not what Christ said.

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a achange of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the bsong of redeeming love, I would ask, ccan ye feel so now?

If you’ve had hope before can you have hope now?

27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves ablameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently bhumble? That your garments have been ccleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to dredeem his people from their sins?

Shouldn’t you be ready now, like you have been before?

28 Behold, are ye stripped of apride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.

Pride can lead to trying to do things yourself but also disobedience of the things you were doing.

29 Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of aenvy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare bquickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.

Envy causes negative emotions.

30 And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a amock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?

Do you not respect that God created everyone and loves no one less?

31 Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the atime is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!

If you don’t treat your neighbor well, how will Christ treat you?

32 Yea, even wo unto all ye aworkers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord God hath spoken it!

People know guilt from worthiness.

33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto aall men, for the barms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

People can all come back.

34 Yea, he saith: aCome unto me and ye shall partake of the bfruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the cbread and the waters of life dfreely;

God cares about everyone, worthy of emulation.

35 Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire

God cares enough to care whether we do some good or not.

36 For behold, the time is at hand that whosoever abringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn.

Your supposed to cause the world to be better by being good.

37 O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are apuffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone bastray, as csheep having no dshepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath ecalled after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not fhearken unto his voice!

Beware of people pretending to believe because they are vain.

38 Behold, I say unto you, that the good ashepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not bhearken unto the voice of the cgood shepherd, to the dname by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.

You would do better at being His by letting Him lead you.

39 And now if ye are not the asheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the bdevil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a cliar and a dchild of the devil.

Then otherwise you are not letting Him lead you, which is good, so you’re bad and wicked as described.

40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is agood cometh from God, and whatsoever is bevil cometh from the devil.

It is a binary choice.

41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth agood works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a bchild of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.

A man listens to where His choice comes from.

42 And whosoever doeth this must receive his awages of him; therefore, for his bwages he receiveth cdeath, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works.

You reap what you sow?

43 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should hear me, for I speak in the aenergy of my soul; for behold, I have spoken unto you plainly that ye cannot err, or have spoken according to the commandments of God.

This is obvious to them, but maybe they’re still not doing it.

44 For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the aholy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come.

He claimed divinity to justify his preaching.

45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I aknow of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

He asks them how they think he knows.

46 Behold, I say unto you they are made aknown unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have bfasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of crevelation which is in me.

Keeping the commandments brings absolute knowledge.

47 And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God.

This includes scripture.

48 I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.

God will get involved.

49 And now I say unto you that this is the aorder after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be bborn again.

That is why he wants people to repent and be born again.

50 Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his aglory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the bKing of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men.

This will be a very huge thing, engulfing the whole earth.

51 And also the Spirit saith unto me, yea, crieth unto me with a mighty voice, saying: Go forth and say unto this people—Repent, for except ye repent ye can in nowise inherit the akingdom of bheaven.

There is also an afterlife.

52 And again I say unto you, the Spirit saith: Behold, the aax is laid at the root of the tree; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be bhewn down and cast into the fire, yea, a fire which cannot be consumed, even an unquenchable fire. Behold, and remember, the Holy One hath spoken it.

The time is always immediately.

53 And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and atrample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be bpuffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of ccostly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your driches?

Can you think anything for yourself when you should be thinking about God and others?

It is clear to be good instead of looking vainly good.

54 Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church, having been asanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance

It is clear to be good instead of making yourself look better than others.

55 Yea, and will you persist in turning your backs upon the apoor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them?

It is clear to be good and help others literally.

56 And finally, all ye that will persist in your wickedness, I say unto you that these are they who shall be hewn down and cast into the fire except they speedily repent.

The Lord intends to have a successful people, doing what He must.

57 And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the agood shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye bseparate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be cblotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people;

Separate yourselves.

58 For the names of the righteous shall be written in the abook of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand. And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this? I say unto you, if ye speak against it, it matters not, for the word of God must be fulfilled.

God will actually make everything fair.

59 For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his aflock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him.

God will seek natural ways to stop those who try to stop Him.

60 And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.

The Lord separates the good from the bad to protect them.

61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of ahim who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

Alma commands them in His name to do these things.

62 I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the atree of life.

Obey, and if you aren’t yet be baptized to repent.

Ch. 6

1 And now it came to pass that after Alma had made an end of speaking unto the people of the church, which was established in the city of Zarahemla, he aordained bpriests and elders, by laying on his chands according to the order of God, to preside and dwatch over the church.

According to the doctrine of the church.

2 And it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the church who arepented of their sins were baptized unto repentance, and were received into the church.

They forgave anyone and welcomed in those who repented.

3 And it also came to pass that whosoever did belong to the church that did not arepent of their wickedness and humble themselves before God—I mean those who were lifted up in the bpride of their hearts—the same were rejected, and their names were cblotted out, that their names were not numbered among those of the righteous.

They also cancelled membership of those who wouldn’t.

4 And thus they began to establish the order of the church in the acity of Zarahemla.

It was a good system.

5 Now I would that ye should understand that the word of God was liberal unto all, that none were deprived of the privilege of assembling themselves together to hear the word of God.

Anyone could be good.

6 Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in afasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.

And those who were in the group tried very hard to help the rest be in it.

7 And now it came to pass that when Alma had made these regulations he departed from them, yea, from the church which was in the city of Zarahemla, and went over upon the east of the ariver Sidon, into the bvalley of Gideon, there having been a city built, which was called the city of Gideon, which was in the valley that was called Gideon, being called after the man who was cslain by the hand of Nehor with the sword.

Why did Alma go there?

8 And Alma went and began to declare the word of God unto the church which was established in the valley of Gideon, according to the revelation of the truth of the word which had been spoken by his fathers, and according to the spirit of prophecy which was in him, according to the atestimony of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who should come to redeem his people from their sins, and the holy order by which he was called. And thus it is written. Amen.

He wanted to make a mighty spread of the gospel.

Ch. 7 (words of Alma to Gideon)

1 Behold my beloved brethren, seeing that I have been permitted to come unto you, therefore I attempt to address you in my language; yea, by my aown mouth, seeing that it is the first time that I have spoken unto you by the words of my mouth, I having been wholly confined to the bjudgment-seat, having had much business that I could not come unto you.

Saying this is his first opportunity.

2 And even I could not have come now at this time were it not that the judgment-seat hath been agiven to another, to reign in my stead; and the Lord in much mercy hath granted that I should come unto you.

Saying he had to have someone good to fill the judgement seat.

3 And behold, I have come having great hopes and much desire that I should find that ye had humbled yourselves before God, and that ye had continued in the supplicating of his grace, that I should find that ye were blameless before him, that I should find that ye were not in the awful adilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla.

He hoped they were humble and relying on Jesus Christ and that they had not rebelled.

4 But blessed be the name of God, that he hath given me to know, yea, hath given unto me the exceedingly great joy of knowing that they are established again in the way of his righteousness.

God showed them that they were which brought happiness.

5 And I trust, according to the Spirit of God which is in me, that I shall also have joy over you; nevertheless I do not desire that my joy over you should come by the cause of so much afflictions and sorrow which I have had for the brethren at Zarahemla, for behold, my joy cometh over them after wading through much affliction and sorrow.

He hopes to have joy in them, but not do to afflictions.

6 But behold, I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren; I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts; yea, I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world; yea, I trust that you do not worship aidols, but that ye do worship the true and the bliving God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come.

He trusts they believe, they are humble, non-materialistic, and seek the true and living God.

7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the atime is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.

Jesus Christ is the most important thing, a redeemer to save the world.

8 Behold, I do not say that he will come among us at the atime of his dwelling in his mortal tabernacle; for behold, the Spirit hath not said unto me that this should be the case. Now as to this thing I do not know; but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to his word.

Alma doesn’t know when.

9 But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—aRepent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God bcometh upon the face of the earth.

Repentance is what to say.

10 And behold, he shall be aborn of Mary, at bJerusalem which is the cland of our forefathers, she being a dvirgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and econceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

Uncanny insight, and how does it help them? Yet it helps us.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and aafflictions and btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

He would represent everyone in their afflictions.

12 And he will take upon him adeath, that he may bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

Including death, just because we experience death.

13 Now the Spirit aknoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the bflesh that he might ctake upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

Even thought he Spirit knows everything, it was still necessary for Christ to suffer for our sins and problems.

14 Now I say unto you that ye must arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

We must identify with this.

15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth abeset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

Repent and be baptized.

16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will aremember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

You will get eternal life if you keep the commandments after that.

17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy.

He’s very happy because he knows they believe him.

18 For as I said unto you from the beginning, that I had much desire that ye were not in the state of adilemma like your brethren, even so I have found that my desires have been gratified.

He is happy for who he can be happy.

19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his apaths straight.

Making His path’s straight… setting up everyone else’s opportunities.

20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot awalk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.

That’s what God does.

21 And he doth not dwell in aunholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is bfilthy shall remain in his filthiness.

Filthiness must eventually be uprooted.

22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.

This will awaken you to do what is right.

23 And now I would that ye should be ahumble, and be bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

A list of virtues, probably gotten from the Bible.

24 And see that ye have afaith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

A list of much more “important” virtues.

25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with aAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments bspotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.

No blood or impurity.

26 And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word.

He washes his hands of it.

27 And now, may the apeace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.

May things work out.

Ch. 8

1 And now it came to pass that Alma returned from the aland of Gideon, after having taught the people of Gideon many things which cannot be written, having established the border of the church, according as he had before done in the land of Zarahemla, yea, he returned to his own house at Zarahemla to rest himself from the labors which he had performed.

Rest is appropriate after a lot of work.

2 And thus ended the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

9 years is how long that took with a new system of government.

3 And it came to pass in the commencement of the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma departed from thence and took his journey over into the land of aMelek, on the west of the briver Sidon, on the west by the borders of the wilderness.

Then after a year he went to Melek also.

4 And he began to teach the people in the land of Melek according to the aholy order of God, by which he had been called; and he began to teach the people throughout all the land of Melek.

Narrative.

5 And it came to pass that the people came to him throughout all the borders of the land which was by the wilderness side. And they were baptized throughout all the land;

It worked great; experience helps.

6 So that when he had finished his work at Melek he departed thence, and traveled three days’ journey on the north of the land of Melek; and he came to a city which was called aAmmonihah.

So he went somewhere else.

7 Now it was the custom of the people of Nephi to call their lands, and their cities, and their villages, yea, even all their small villages, after the aname of him who first possessed them; and thus it was with the land of Ammonihah.

Amonihah was founded by Amonihah. This often works with streets and cities too in America today.

8 And it came to pass that when Alma had come to the city of Ammonihah he began to preach the word of God unto them.

Narrative

9 Now Satan had gotten great ahold upon the hearts of the people of the city of Ammonihah; therefore they would not hearken unto the words of Alma.

Their hearts were in the wrong place; that’s how Satan got them.

10 Nevertheless Alma alabored much in the spirit, bwrestling with God in cmighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.

Alma fought spiritually to find a way.

11 Nevertheless, they hardened their hearts, saying unto him: Behold, we know that thou art Alma; and we know that thou art high priest over the church which thou hast established in many parts of the land, according to your tradition; and we are not of thy church, and we do not believe in such foolish traditions.

They trivialized his views as being just another thing.

12 And now we know that because we are not of thy church we know that thou hast no power over us; and thou hast delivered up the judgment-seat unto aNephihah; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.

They said he had no legal authority over them either.

13 Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words, and areviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be bcast out of their city, he departed thence and took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.

He felt thoroughly rejected.

14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much atribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an bangel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

But an angel would tell him something.

15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that adelivered it unto you.

The angel congratulated him on what he had done.

16 And behold, I am sent to acommand thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them. Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will bdestroy them.

They are not excused from knowing they need to repent.

17 For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the astatutes, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people.

They are wrecking their communities for chances for people to be good.

18 Now it came to pass that after Alma had received his message from the angel of the Lord he returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah. And he entered the city by another way, yea, by the way which is on the south of the city of Ammonihah.

He used strategy.

19 And as ahe entered the city he was an hungered, and he said to a man: Will ye give to an humble servant of God something to eat?

The Lord had prepared something for that.

20 And the man said unto him: I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an aangel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my bfood; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house.

There were two who had been prepared.

21 And it came to pass that the man received him into his house; and the man was called Amulek; and he brought forth bread and meat and set before Alma.

Bread and meat is like a nice gesture instead of a slave.

22 And it came to pass that Alma ate bread and was filled; and he ablessed Amulek and his house, and he gave thanks unto God.

Alma returned the favor with spiritual authority.

23 And after he had eaten and was filled he said unto Amulek: I am Alma, and am the ahigh priest over the church of God throughout the land.

Alma told who he was.

24 And behold, I have been called to preach the word of God among all this people, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy; and I was in this land and they would not receive me, but they acast me out and I was about to set my back towards this land forever.

Narrative.

25 But behold, I have been commanded that I should turn again and prophesy unto this people, yea, and to testify against them concerning their iniquities.

Narrative.

26 And now, Amulek, because thou hast fed me and taken me in, thou art blessed; for I was an hungered, for I had fasted many days.

Amulek already helped.

27 And Alma atarried many days with Amulek before he began to preach unto the people.

He wanted to go as a pair, which even psychologically helps to convince.

28 And it came to pass that the people did wax more gross in their iniquities.

The people had gotten even worse, making for a showdown.

29 And the word came to Alma, saying: Go; and also say unto my servant aAmulek, go forth and prophesy unto this people, saying—Repent ye, for thus saith the Lord, except ye repent I will visit this people in mine anger; yea, and I will not turn my bfierce anger away.

He used imagery of God being angry.

30 And Alma went forth, and also Amulek, among the people, to declare the words of God unto them; and they were filled with the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost helped them to be convincing.

31 And they had apower given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them; nevertheless they did not exercise their bpower until they were bound in bands and cast into prison. Now, this was done that the Lord might show forth his power in them.

The people couldn’t physically block the messages.

32 And it came to pass that they went forth and began to preach and to prophesy unto the people, according to the spirit and power which the Lord had given them.

So they were right and powerful.

Ch. 9

1 And again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that I should take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this people, or the people who were in the city of aAmmonihah, it came to pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me, saying:

The initial conflict that emerged:

2 Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of aone man, although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?

In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall my word be established.

3 Now they understood not the words which they spake; for they knew not that the earth should pass away.

That is sad to think; I hope it’s not true.

4 And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in aone day.

That is actually true. They are misled.

5 Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous aworks, for they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people.

They did not believe in a God or anything out of the ordinary because they didn’t want it so they would rebel against it if they had it.

6 And they said: aWho is God, that sendeth bno more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?

And they repeated that why would God only send one man and how harsh is that?

7 And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold, they did not. And I stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:

He was in control despite their anger.

8 Behold, O ye wicked and perverse ageneration, how have ye forgotten the btradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.

He tried to appeal deeply to their conscience.

9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the ahand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?

A deep reminder of a deep Jewish remembrance.

10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he adelivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

There were many instances of being delivered.

11 Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his along-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of bendless misery and woe.

If not for Him, they would have been wiped out.

12 Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to repent; and except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. But behold, this is not all—he has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly adestroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his banger, and in his cfierce anger he will not turn away.

Because they know their heritage, they must live up to it.

13 Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Reminding them more specifically about their own heritage.

14 Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been acut off from the presence of the Lord. Now we see that the word of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off from his presence, from the beginning of their transgressions in the land.

The very thing about the Lamanites; a visible miracle.

15 Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more atolerable for them in the day of judgment than for you, if ye remain in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life than for you, except ye repent.

You’re worse off if you have more light and do less, depending I guess on the amounts.

16 For there are many promises which are aextended to the Lamanites; for it is because of the btraditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of cignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and dprolong their existence in the land.

The Lamanites have much promised and have been taught poorly.

17 And at some period of time they will be abrought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who bcall on his name.

At some point they will be taught correctly and many will be saved.

18 But behold, I say unto you that if ye persist in your wickedness that your days shall not be aprolonged in the land, for the bLamanites shall be sent upon you; and if ye repent not they shall come in a time when you know not, and ye shall be visited with cutter destruction; and it shall be according to the fierce danger of the Lord.

Yet the Nephites would not, who would have more light and do less with it.

19 For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities, to adestroy his people. I say unto you, Nay; he would rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy all his people who are called the people of Nephi, if it were possible that they could bfall into sins and transgressions, after having had so much light and so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their God;

God is jealous.

20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord; yea, after having been favored above every other anation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things bmade known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come;

Where much is given, much is required.

21 Having been avisited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of btranslation;

They had many gifts.

22 Yea, and after having been adelivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been bsaved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of cbondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—

They had many blessings.

23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress acontrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more btolerable for the Lamanites than for them.

That means that they have further to fall, and if they fall it’s worse than the Lamanites.

24 For behold, the apromises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites, but they are not unto you if ye transgress; for has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye will rebel against him that ye shall butterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth?

The Lord had even said in the small plates of Nephi that they cannot even survive this way.

25 And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: aRepent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;

Angels revealed God’s hand because it needed to happen.

26 And anot many days hence the Son of God shall come in his bglory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of cgrace, equity, and truth, full of patience, dmercy, and long-suffering, quick to ehear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.

Jesus is coming.

27 And behold, he cometh to aredeem those who will be bbaptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.

The principles of the gospel; many verses in the Bible that seem to say “just faith” in context require baptism and repentance too.

28 Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a areward of their bworks, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall creap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the ddamnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil.

Reap what you sow.

29 Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people.

This is what an angel said; see for yourself.

30 And now, my abeloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye ought to be beloved, and ye ought to bring forth works which are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been grossly hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a blost and a fallen people.

Straight up trying to help.

31 Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken these words, behold, the people were wroth with me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a astiffnecked people.

People do not like to be criticized.

32 And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people they were angry with me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.

Their condition was even deleterious.

33 But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that they should take me aat that time and cast me into prison.

The Lord chose what happened.

34 And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth, and began to preach unto them also. And now the awords of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are written in this book.

Amulek did some preaching to back Alma up then.

Ch. 10

1 Now these are the awords which bAmulek preached unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah, saying:

Narrative

2 I am Amulek; I am the son of Giddonah, who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi; and it was that same Aminadi who interpreted the awriting which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God.

His heritage

3 And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of aManasseh, who was the son of bJoseph who was csold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren.

I am confused.

4 And behold, I am also a man of no small areputation among all those who know me; yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and bfriends, and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of my cindustry.

He has achieved a lot.

5 Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his amysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.

His testimony is that he sees God helping his people.

6 Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was acalled many times and I would not bhear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling cagainst God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges.

He understands the people because he hardened his heart also.

7 And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold, they did not. And I stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:

They were too afraid from their own problems.

8 Behold, O ye wicked and perverse ageneration, how have ye forgotten the btradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.

How have they forgotten tradition and God?

9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the ahand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?

The journey through the wilderness was rercorded.

10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he adelivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

Many times was it recorded that they were delivered.

The Savior was very patient.

He reminds them they must repent to prosper and be secure in the land verses getting wiped off.

The reminder.

Evidence.

Sinning against the greater light is worse.

Not the Lamanites fault when they are corrupted and blinded through tradition.

Yet they will come to the truth someday.

Verily, you will be completely destroyed and they will prosper if you sin against that light.

God is just and merciful, He has to judge based on how much light they have.

They were totally favored and in the light.

They had all types of gifts.

They had been shown favor in many saving miracles.

Yet if they rebel, that would be bad.

The Lamanites have a promise based on where they are at.

An angel is present to help.

26 For behold, have I testified against your law? Ye do not understand; ye say that I have spoken against your law; but I have not, but I have spoken in favor of your law, to your condemnation.

The law doesn’t make them good; the law helps people to be good.

27 And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the adestruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the bunrighteousness of your clawyers and your judges.

The destruction is by the upper class.

28 And now it came to pass that when Amulek had spoken these words the people cried out against him, saying: Now we know that this man is a achild of the devil, for he hath blied unto us; for he hath spoken against our law. And now he says that he has not spoken against it.

They said he committed perjury.

29 And again, he has reviled against our lawyers, and our judges.

They said he spoke against their lawyers and judges; actually he wanted to help them.

30 And it came to pass that the lawyers put it into their hearts that they should remember these things against him.

The lawyers manipulated the people to remember such.

31 And there was one among them whose name was Zeezrom. Now he was the foremost to aaccuse Amulek and Alma, he being one of the most expert among them, having much business to do among the people.

Zeezrom, an expert comes along.

32 Now the object of these lawyers was to get gain; and they got gain aaccording to their employ.

Zeezrom wanted money like these lawyers did.

Ch. 11

1 Now it was in the law of Mosiah that every man who was a judge of the law, or those who were appointed to be judges, should receive awages baccording to the time which they labored to judge those who were brought before them to be judged.

Judges were paid

2 Now if a man owed another, and he would not apay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber.

Judges decided between payment disputes.

3 And the judge received for his wages aaccording to his time—a bsenine of gold for a day, or a senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold; and this is according to the law which was given.

One judge made a senine per day.

4 Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. And the names are given by the Nephites, for they did not reckon after the amanner of the Jews who were at Jerusalem; neither did they measure after the manner of the Jews; but they altered their reckoning and their measure, according to the minds and the circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the judges, they having been bestablished by king Mosiah.

They had their own monetary system.

5 Now the reckoning is thus—a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold.

6 A senum of silver, an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver.

Huh?

7 A senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, and also for a measure of every kind of grain.

8 Now the amount of a seon of gold was twice the value of a senine.

9 And a shum of gold was twice the value of a seon.

10 And a limnah of gold was the value of them all.

11 And an amnor of silver was as great as two senums.

12 And an ezrom of silver was as great as four senums.

Huh?

13 And an onti was as great as them all.

14 Now this is the value of the lesser numbers of their reckoning—

15 A shiblon is half of a senum; therefore, a shiblon for half a measure of barley.

16 And a shiblum is a half of a shiblon.

17 And a leah is the half of a shiblum.

18 Now this is their number, according to their reckoning.

19 Now an antion of gold is equal to three shiblons.

Huh?

20 Now, it was for the sole purpose to get again, because they received their wages according to their bemploy, therefore, they did cstir up the people to driotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might eget fmoney according to the suits which were brought before them; therefore they did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek.

Dividing people got them money.

21 And this Zeezrom began to question Amulek, saying: Will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? Now Zeezrom was a man who was aexpert in the bdevices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good; therefore, he said unto Amulek: Will ye answer the questions which I shall put unto you?

Zeezrom was like the Devil to Amulek.

22 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, if it be according to the aSpirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I bgive thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being.

Amulek wasn’t buying it; he would only say what the Holy Ghost told him so he wouldn’t lose. Zeezrom offered a large amount of money for denying a supreme being.

23 Now Amulek said: O thou achild of hell, why btempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?

But Amulek had to not yield to temptation.

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that alucre more than him.

Amulek said the love of money was what was causing Zeezrom to deny God.

25 And now thou hast lied before God unto me. Thou saidst unto me—Behold these six onties, which are of great worth, I will give unto thee—when thou hadst it in thy heart to retain them from me; and it was only thy desire that I should deny the true and living God, that thou mightest have cause to destroy me. And now behold, for this great evil thou shalt have thy reward.

Amulek detects his evil. To keep his money and destroy a soul.

26 And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God?

Zeezrom keeps trying.

27 And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God.

Amulek says not only is there a God, but God is true and living. True means the current state of understanding of true. Living means God is like a being that chooses things. At least those two things to me.

28 Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?

Zeezrom continues.

29 And he answered, No.

Amulek is monotheistic, the best for not having to give up losing Gods for new ones. It gives you a God you have to stick with, so it’s better.

30 Now Zeezrom said unto him again: How knowest thou these things?

Zeezrom continues.

31 And he said: An aangel hath made them known unto me.

Amulek was direct.

32 And Zeezrom said again: Who is he that shall come? Is it the Son of God?

A setup.

33 And he said unto him, Yea.

An answer, still.

34 And Zeezrom said again: Shall he save his people ain their sins? And Amulek answered and said unto him: I say unto you he shall not, for it is impossible for him to deny his word.

No dirty thing can dwell with God.

35 Now Zeezrom said unto the people: See that ye remember these things; for he said there is but one God; yet he saith that the Son of God shall come, but he shall anot save his people—as though he had authority to command God.

Zeezrom said Amulek was commanding God, since God can do what He wants, and also in an unpleasant way to the people around Zeezrom.

36 Now Amulek saith again unto him: Behold thou hast alied, for thou sayest that I spake as though I had authority to command God because I said he shall not save his people in their sins.

Amulek said it was a lie…

37 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their asins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that bno unclean thing can inherit the ckingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins.

No unclean thing can dwell in the clean kingdom of God is clear.

38 Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father?

Zeezrom asked if the two Gods were the same.

39 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very aEternal Father of heaven and of earth, and ball things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;

Amulek emphasized that He made all things and that He was the beginning and end and first and last.

40 And he shall come into the aworld to bredeem his people; and he shall ctake upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.

Those who believe will have their transgressions taken on One who is sinless.

41 Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been ano redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that ball shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be cjudged according to their works.

Everyone is ressurected, however judged.

42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the abands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

Christ solved the death problem for everyone.

43 The spirit and the body shall be areunited again in its bperfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, cknowing even as we know now, and have a bright drecollection of all our eguilt.

Guilt is inescapable if you are counted as bad.

44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be arestored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the bFather, and the Holy Spirit, which is cone Eternal God, to be djudged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Whether they themselves are good or evil.

45 Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the adeath of the mortal body, and also concerning the bresurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is craised to an dimmortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can edie no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming fspiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.

They will be free from corruption after the reuniting however. Interesting.

46 Now, when Amulek had finished these words the people began again to be astonished, and also Zeezrom began to tremble. And thus ended the words of Amulek, or this is all that I have written.

The people were shocked, as was Zeezrom.

Ch. 12

1 Now Alma, seeing that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, for he beheld that Amulek had caught him in his alying and deceiving to destroy him, and seeing that he began to tremble under a bconsciousness of his guilt, he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him, and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done.

Now that things were righted Alma wanted to help.

2 Now the words that Alma spake unto Zeezrom were heard by the people round about; for the multitude was great, and he spake on this wise:

Everyone heard what he said to Zeezrom round about him.

3 Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy athoughts, and thou seest that thy bthoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit;

Zeezrom, you lied to us and to God.

4 And thou seest that we know that thy plan was a very asubtle plan, as to the subtlety of the devil, for to lie and to deceive this people that thou mightest set them against us, to brevile us and to cast us out—

Zeezrom, your subtlety was like the devil.

5 Now this was a plan of thine aadversary, and he hath exercised his power in thee. Now I would that ye should remember that what I say unto thee I say unto all.

Everyone had allowed the adversary to work in them.

6 And behold I say unto you all that this was a asnare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his bchains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.

This was a trap.

7 Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they aknew the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy.

They knew his thoughts, had power, and Zeezrom trembled because he was abased.

8 And Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God. And he said unto Alma: What does this mean which Amulek hath spoken concerning the resurrection of the dead, that all shall rise from the dead, both the ajust and the unjust, and are brought to stand before God to be bjudged according to their works?

He wanted to know about the ressurection, probably because he was worried about himself.

9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to aknow the bmysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart conly according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.

Alma said not everything can be shared. Indeed, we must not share dangerous stuff.

10 And therefore, he that will aharden his heart, the same receiveth the blesser portion of the word; and he that will cnot harden his heart, to him is dgiven the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

But by gradually opening up to it you can know everything.

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser aportion of the word until they bknow nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the cchains of dhell.

Hell is not knowing and being led to destruction.

12 And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning adeath, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be bjudged according to our works.

Death, ressurection, and judgement.

13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

If you heardened your heart you will be condemned; interesting.

14 For our awords will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the bmountains to fall upon us to chide us from his presence.

What we did will condemn us then.

15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting ashame that all his bjudgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

We have to own up to God’s righteousness and our bad choices if this happens.

16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second adeath, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal bdeath, shall also cdie a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

Then they die in spirit as well.

17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a alake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.

They suffer.

18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been ano redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot bdie, seeing there is no more corruption.

They are stuck.

19 Now it came to pass that when Alma had made an end of speaking these words, the people began to be more astonished;

The people were stuck believing though.

20 But there was one Antionah, who was a chief ruler among them, came forth and said unto him: What is this that thou hast said, that man should rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal to an aimmortal state, that the soul can never die?

Not everyone is the same, and one man wanted them back the same way.

21 What does the scripture mean, which saith that God placed acherubim and a flaming sword on the east of the garden of bEden, lest our first parents should enter and partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and live forever? And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever.

The soul can never die, but they cannot live forever?

22 Now Alma said unto him: This is the thing which I was about to explain. Now we see that Adam did afall by the partaking of the forbidden bfruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a clost and fallen people.

Alma was about to explain it. Everyone became fallen.

23 And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have apartaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: bIf thou eat thou shalt surely die.

Therefore he couldn’t partake of the tree of life then, logically.

24 And we see that adeath comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto bman in which he might repent; therefore this life became a cprobationary state; a time to dprepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.

Life was to help them get ready for the next stage of life, the afterlife.

25 Now, if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no aresurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of bredemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken.

The dead can still make it… how?

26 And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have gone forth and partaken of the atree of life they would have been forever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the bplan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect.

Again, not the way it should work, logically.

27 But behold, it was not so; but it was aappointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to bjudgment, even that same judgment of which we have spoken, which is the end.

The judgement is the end of the decision of how they live forever.

28 And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them;

God wanted men to know about his plan.

29 Therefore he sent aangels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory.

Angels talked to men.

30 And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God aconversed with men, and made known unto them the bplan of redemption, which had been prepared from the cfoundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their dholy works.

So men were able to know about the plan of redemption.

31 Wherefore, he gave acommandments unto men, they having first transgressed the bfirst commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as gods, cknowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to dact, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

So they had choices to decide good or evil.

32 Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made aknown unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second bdeath, which was an everlasting cdeath as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of djustice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme egoodness of God.

God had to command them to not do evil.

33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the aplan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will brepent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

However they were allowed to repent through Jesus Christ.

34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on amercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a bremission of his sins; and these shall enter into my crest.

Repenting of sin and hardening not of the heart would help them be restored.

35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do ainiquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.

But you can’t harden your heart and do iniquity.

36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity aprovoketh him that he sendeth down his bwrath upon you as in the cfirst provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting ddestruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

They must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit?

37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we aprovoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the brest of God, which is prepared according to his word.

Therefore repent.

Alma 13

1 And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God aordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.

God ordained priests to have the responsibility to teach things.

2 And those priests were ordained after the aorder of his Son, in a bmanner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.

They were ordained after the order of the Son, so that they could teach properly.

3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being acalled and bprepared from the cfoundation of the world according to the dforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to echoose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great ffaith, are gcalled with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

This was set up from the foundation of the world, and on account of their doing good.

4 And thus they have been acalled to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and bblindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great cprivilege as their brethren.

The good have the office to teach the bad.

5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the asame standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared—

They started off equal.

6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his arest

By helping others, they could enter rest through God.

7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being awithout beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from beternity to all eternity, according to his cforeknowledge of all things—

This has to do with the entire span of time and eternity.

8 Now they were aordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—

They got the priesthood that way.

9 Thus they become ahigh priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of bgrace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

They became that way forever then.

10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this ahigh priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding bfaith and crepentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;

They got it by faith, repentance, and righteousness. Righteousness was part of it.

11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were asanctified, and their bgarments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

They were cleansed through Jesus Christ.

12 Now they, after being asanctified by the bHoly Ghost, having their garments made white, being cpure and spotless before God, could not look upon dsin save it were with eabhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

They couldn’t sin.

13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth afruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.

But they could still do it.

14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of aMelchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever.

Do it greatly!

15 And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid atithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.

Including payment of tithes; money might have been a problem.

16 Now these aordinances were given after this bmanner, that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a ctype of his order, or it being his order, and this that they might look forward to him for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord.

The Son of God is central.

17 Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;

Melchizedek and his people were like Alma and these people.

18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the aholy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.

Melchizedek did a great thing, exercising mighty faith.

19 Now, there were amany before him, and also there were many afterwards, but bnone were greater; therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention.

Since he was the greatest they named the priesthood after him.

20 Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold, the ascriptures are before you; if ye will bwrest them it shall be to your own destruction.

They know it; they shouldn’t give up on it.

21 And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: aNow is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh;

Alma cries repentance.

22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the amouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us.

Crying repentance is universal.

23 And they are made known unto us in aplain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being bwanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.

The terms are plain.

24 For behold, aangels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

Angels are establishing it.

25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we aknow not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice.

Jesus is coming; angels are telling it.

26 And it shall be made known unto ajust and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of his coming, that the words of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they have spoken concerning him, which was according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them.

John the baptist?

27 And now, my brethren, I awish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great banxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not cprocrastinate the day of your repentance;

He wants them to do it and do it now while they are willing.

28 But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and awatch and pray continually, that ye may not be btempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be cled by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, dmeek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

Be humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and suffer long.

29 aHaving faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the blove of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his crest.

They can have a hope of eternal life.

30 And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that ye may not bring down his wrath upon you, that ye may not be abound down by the chains of bhell, that ye may not suffer the second cdeath.

What repentance saves from, again.

31 And Alma spake many more words unto the people, which are not written in athis book.

Alma preached a lot more.

Ch. 14

1 And it came to pass after he had made an end of speaking unto the people many of them did believe on his words, and began to repent, and to search the ascriptures.

Many sought after the truth.

2 But the more part of them were desirous that they might destroy Alma and Amulek; for they were angry with Alma, because of the aplainness of his words unto Zeezrom; and they also said that Amulek had blied unto them, and had reviled against their law and also against their lawyers and judges.

Many couldn’t stand it.

3 And they were also angry with Alma and Amulek; and because they had atestified so plainly against their wickedness, they sought to bput them away privily.

They wanted to act against their consciouses to get rid of them.

4 But it came to pass that they did not; but they took them and bound them with strong cords, and took them before the chief judge of the land.

Still, they obeyed the law and took them to the chief judge.

5 And the people went forth and witnessed against them—testifying that they had reviled against the law, and their lawyers and judges of the land, and also of all the people that were in the land; and also testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his Son among the people, but he should anot save them; and many such things did the people testify against Alma and Amulek. Now this was done before the chief judge of the land.

The chief judge heard their cries.

6 And it came to pass that Zeezrom was astonished at the words which had been spoken; and he also knew concerning the ablindness of the minds, which he had caused among the people by his blying words; and his soul began to be charrowed up under a dconsciousness of his own guilt; yea, he began to be encircled about by the pains of hell.

Zeezrom knew how they were deceived.

7 And it came to pass that he began to cry unto the people, saying: Behold, I am aguilty, and these men are spotless before God. And he began to plead for them from that time forth; but they reviled him, saying: Art thou also possessed with the devil? And they spit upon him, and bcast him out from among them, and also all those who believed in the words which had been spoken by Alma and Amulek; and they cast them out, and sent men to cast stones at them.

He tries to help them but they just group him with the other messengers.

8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be acast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be bburned and destroyed by fire.

They burned the people and their history, like the holocaust!

9 And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of amartyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire.

They carried Alma and Amulek to witness it.

10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the apower of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

Amulek wawnted to have God save them.

11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in aglory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the bjudgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the cblood of the dinnocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

But Alma said they were saved, even though they had just converted a few seconds ago.

12 Now Amulek said unto Alma: Behold, perhaps they will burn us also.

Amulek brought up his and Alma’s own safety.

13 And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not.

Alma understood that they wouldn’t burn him and Amulek.

14 Now it came to pass that when the bodies of those who had been cast into the fire were consumed, and also the records which were cast in with them, the chief judge of the land came and stood before Alma and Amulek, as they were bound; and he smote them with his hand upon their acheeks, and said unto them: After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people, that they shall be cast into a blake of fire and brimstone?

The chief judge said, now we have burned you. Are we going to burn?

15 Behold, ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith. And the judge smote them again upon their cheeks, and asked: What say ye for yourselves?

The chief judge said, you had no power to save them.

16 Now this judge was after the order and faith of aNehor, who slew Gideon.

The judge was a follower of Nehor.

17 And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek answered him anothing; and he smote them again, and delivered them to the officers to be bcast into prison.

Like Jesus, they had already spoken.

18 And when they had been cast into prison three days, there came many alawyers, and judges, and priests, and teachers, who were of the profession of Nehor; and they came in unto the prison to see them, and they questioned them about many words; but they answered them nothing.

They were questioned for three days.

19 And it came to pass that the judge stood before them, and said: Why do ye not answer the words of this people? Know ye not that I have apower to deliver you up unto the flames? And he bcommanded them to speak; but they answered nothing.

He threatened to burn them if they spoke, but they already knew the Lord was on their side.

20 And it came to pass that they departed and went their ways, but came again on the morrow; and the judge also smote them again on their cheeks. And many came forth also, and smote them, saying: Will ye stand again and judge this people, and condemn our law? If ye have such great power why do ye not adeliver yourselves?

They did it the next day.

21 And many such things did they say unto them, gnashing their teeth upon them, and spitting upon them, and saying: How shall we look when we are damned?

“How shall we look when we are damned?” – trying to make them look vain.

22 And many such things, yea, all manner of such things did they say unto them; and thus they did amock them for many days. And they did withhold food from them that they might hunger, and water that they might thirst; and they also did take from them their clothes that they were naked; and thus they were bbound with strong cords, and confined in cprison.

They were deprived of essentials.

23 And it came to pass after they had thus suffered for many days, (and it was on the twelfth day, in the tenth month, in the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) that the chief judge over the land of aAmmonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords.

10 10. Anyway they went in after many days.

24 And the chief judge stood before them, and smote them again, and said unto them: If ye have the apower of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words.

The judge said he would believe if they delivered themselves. It would happen!

25 And it came to pass that they all went forth and smote them, saying the same words, even until the last; and when the last had spoken unto them the apower of God was upon Alma and Amulek, and they rose and stood upon their feet.

The very last person doubled down.

26 And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great aafflictions, O Lord? O Lord, bgive us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto cdeliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them.

Then they prayed and it happened; the cords broke.

27 And it came to pass that so great was their fear that they fell to the earth, and did not obtain the outer door of the aprison; and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain, so that they fell to the earth; and the chief judge, and the lawyers, and priests, and teachers, who smote upon Alma and Amulek, were slain by the fall thereof.

But they didn’t get a chance to repent; the walls fell on them. Thus we see what happens when you harden your heart.

28 And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them apower, according to their faith which was in Christ. And they straightway came forth out of the prison; and they were bloosed from their cbands; and the prison had fallen to the earth, and every soul within the walls thereof, save it were Alma and Amulek, was slain; and they straightway came forth into the city.

But there was still the city.

29 Now the people having heard a great noise came running together by multitudes to know the cause of it; and when they saw Alma and Amulek coming forth out of the prison, and the walls thereof had fallen to the earth, they were struck with great fear, and fled from the presence of Alma and Amulek even as a goat fleeth with her young from two lions; and thus they did flee from the presence of Alma and Amulek.

The people ran to see and then ran away in fear.

Ch. 15

1 And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek were commanded to depart out of that city; and they departed, and came out even into the land of Sidom; and behold, there they found all the people who had departed out of the land of aAmmonihah, who had been bcast out and stoned, because they believed in the words of Alma.

They went to people who had been ostracized.

2 And they related unto them all that had happened unto their awives and children, and also concerning themselves, and of their bpower of deliverance.

They related their experience.

3 And also Zeezrom lay sick at Sidom, with a burning fever, which was caused by the great tribulations of his mind on account of his awickedness, for he supposed that Alma and Amulek were no more; and he supposed that they had been slain because of his iniquity. And this great sin, and his many other sins, did harrow up his mind until it did become exceedingly sore, having no deliverance; therefore he began to be scorched with a burning heat.

Zeezrom was spared because he was deceived, but still was sick.

4 Now, when he heard that Alma and Amulek were in the land of Sidom, his heart began to take courage; and he sent a message immediately unto them, desiring them to come unto him.

Zeezrom sent for them. He wanted to be in the face of the truth.

5 And it came to pass that they went immediately, obeying the message which he had sent unto them; and they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom; and they found him upon his bed, sick, being very low with a burning fever; and his mind also was aexceedingly sore because of his iniquities; and when he saw them he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him.

He wanted them to heal him.

6 And it came to pass that Alma said unto him, taking him by the hand: aBelievest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?

Healing comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

7 And he answered and said: Yea, I believe all the words that thou hast taught.

He believed everything.

8 And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be ahealed.

Alma said he had the gift of being healed.

9 And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.

Zeezrom says so.

10 And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have amercy on this man, and bheal him according to his faith which is in Christ.

Alma did it for him!

11 And when Alma had said these words, aZeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk; and this was done to the great astonishment of all the people; and the knowledge of this went forth throughout all the land of Sidom.

Zeezrom was healed. People were astonished.

12 And Alma baptized Zeezrom unto the Lord; and he began from that time forth to preach unto the people.

He was baptized and began to be a positive missionary.

13 And Alma established a church in the land of Sidom, and consecrated apriests and bteachers in the land, to baptize unto the Lord whosoever were desirous to be baptized.

The church was unhindered.

14 And it came to pass that they were many; for they did flock in from all the region round about Sidom, and were baptized.

It grew a great deal.

15 But as to the people that were in the land of Ammonihah, they yet remained a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people; and they repented not of their sins, aascribing all the power of Alma and Amulek to the devil; for they were of the profession of bNehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins.

Different areas can react differently.

16 And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek, Amulek having aforsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things, which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God, he being brejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred;

Alma and Amulek lost friends and family.

17 Therefore, after Alma having established the church at Sidom, seeing a great acheck, yea, seeing that the people were checked as to the pride of their hearts, and began to bhumble themselves before God, and began to assemble themselves together at their csanctuaries to dworship God before the ealtar, fwatching and praying continually, that they might be delivered from Satan, and from gdeath, and from destruction—

The people had a great resource to stay good.

18 Now as I said, Alma having seen all these things, therefore he took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his aown house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and bstrengthened him in the Lord.

Alma helped Amulek.

19 And thus ended the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

This all happened in a year?

Ch. 16

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, on the fifth day of the second month, there having been much peace in the land of Zarahemla, there having been no wars nor contentions for a certain number of years, even until the fifth day of the second month in the eleventh year, there was a cry of war heard throughout the land.

Things can be forgotten until they happen again.

2 For behold, the armies of the Lamanites had come in upon the wilderness side, into the borders of the land, even into the city of aAmmonihah, and began to slay the people and destroy the city.

The less righteous people got ambushed.

3 And now it came to pass, before the Nephites could raise a sufficient army to drive them out of the land, they had adestroyed the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, and also some around the borders of Noah, and taken others captive into the wilderness.

They did not have sufficient military.

4 Now it came to pass that the Nephites were desirous to obtain those who had been carried away captive into the wilderness.

The Nephites wanted the captive people.

5 Therefore, he that had been appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites, (and his name was Zoram, and he had two sons, Lehi and Aha)—now Zoram and his two sons, knowing that Alma was high priest over the church, and having heard that he had the spirit of prophecy, therefore they went unto him and desired of him to know whither the Lord would that they should go into the wilderness in search of their brethren, who had been taken captive by the Lamanites.

They went to the high priest and asked where to find them.

6 And it came to pass that Alma ainquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And Alma returned and said unto them: Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of bManti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites.

He told them where.

7 And it came to pass that Zoram and his sons crossed over the river Sidon, with their armies, and marched away beyond the borders of Manti into the south wilderness, which was on the east side of the river Sidon.

They went there.

8 And they came upon the armies of the Lamanites, and the Lamanites were scattered and driven into the wilderness; and they took their brethren who had been taken captive by the Lamanites, and there was not one soul of them had been lost that were taken captive. And they were brought by their brethren to possess their own lands.

It was a perfect battle for the Nephites. (Because they were righteous?)

9 And thus ended the eleventh year of the judges, the Lamanites having been driven out of the land, and the people of Ammonihah were adestroyed; yea, bevery living soul of the Ammonihahites was cdestroyed, and also their dgreat city, which they said God could not destroy, because of its greatness.

The year ended peacefully.

10 But behold, in aone day it was left desolate; and the bcarcasses were mangled by dogs and wild beasts of the wilderness.

Ammonihah was destroyed like this in a day thought. (Because they were wicked?)

11 Nevertheless, after many days their adead bodies were heaped up upon the face of the earth, and they were covered with a shallow covering. And now so great was the scent thereof that the people did not go in to possess the land of Ammonihah for many years. And it was called Desolation of bNehors; for they were of the profession of Nehor, who were slain; and their lands remained desolate.

They were barely buried.

12 And the Lamanites did not come again to war against the Nephites until the fourteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus for three years did the people of Nephi have continual peace in all the land.

They had 3 years of peace.

13 And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their atemples, and in their bsanctuaries, and also in their csynagogues, which were built after the manner of the Jews.

They preached in church; a suggestion.

14 And as many as would hear their words, unto them they did impart the word of God, without any arespect of persons, continually.

Anyone was welcome to the word of God, no matter what.

15 And thus did Alma and Amulek go forth, and also many more who had been chosen for the work, to preach the word throughout all the land. And the establishment of the church became general throughout the land, in all the region round about, among all the people of the Nephites.

The whole Nephites were in the church!

16 And there was ano inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their bhearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming—

They were equal.

17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a abranch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the brest of the Lord their God.

That helps people to not be hardened.

18 Now those apriests who did go forth among the people did preach against all blyings, and cdeceivings, and denvyings, and estrifes, and malice, and revilings, and stealing, robbing, plundering, murdering, committing adultery, and all manner of lasciviousness, crying that these things ought not so to be

Specific sins.

19 Holding forth things which must shortly come; yea, holding forth the acoming of the Son of God, his sufferings and death, and also the resurrection of the dead.

They were reminded of hte soon coming of Jesus Christ and what He would do.

20 And many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the Son of God should come; and they were taught that he would aappear unto them bafter his resurrection; and this the people did hear with great joy and gladness.

They were glad to hear He would visit them.

21 And now after the church had been established throughout all the land—having got the avictory over the devil, and the word of God being preached in its purity in all the land, and the Lord pouring out his blessings upon the people—thus ended the fourteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

It was a victory for good.

Ch. 17

1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of aManti, behold, to his astonishment, he bmet with the csons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

Alma met with his old friends.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel afirst appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had bsearched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

He was glad they were good and very knowledgeable in the truth of God. They were sound and had read diligently.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and afasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with bpower and authority of God.

They prayed and fasted, so they had the spirit of prophecy.

4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much asuccess in bringing many to the bknowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and cconfess their sins before him.

They had had 14 years of success.

5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much alabor in the spirit.

They had suffered much in the ways of the flesh. They had labored much in spirit.

6 Now these were their journeyings: Having ataken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the bfirst year of the judges; having crefused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people;

They had refused the kingdom!

7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might aprovide food for themselves while in the wilderness.

Weapons are needed for some people to hunt currently.

8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had aselected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.

They wanted to spread their joy to the Lamanites.

9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and aprayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an binstrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the ctraditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

They were extremely humble and dependant on the Lord.

10 And it came to pass that the Lord did avisit them with his bSpirit, and said unto them: Be ccomforted. And they were comforted.

The Lord can comfort us even if we aren’t perfect.

11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be apatient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good bexamples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

You will be patient in long-suffering and afflictions to set an example.

12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

They took courage because of these things.

13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they aseparated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their bharvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

They split up, trusting that it would have more effect, a sign of confidence.

14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a awild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.

The people stole and set themselves on riches, making this a worthy task.

15 Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the acurse of God had fallen upon them because of the btraditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.

They worshipped idols too, but anyway this was because of tradition and not themselves. That was how the Lord saw things.

16 Therefore, this was the acause for which the sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of redemption.

That was a hope of the sons of Mosiah.

17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.

Narrative.

18 Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having ablessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.

They did ministering first.

19 And Ammon went to the land of aIshmael, the land being called after the sons of bIshmael, who also became Lamanites.

Ishmael’s sons had become lamanites, a sad and happy thing. Sad because they were lamanites, happy because they would be preserved and receive the truth at some later date.

20 And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and abound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.

So what they did was to capture Nephites, like they did here.

21 And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

The king was descendant of Ishmael, reminder of hope.

22 And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

So the king asked if Ammon wanted to stay.

23 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to adwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

So Ammon had patience like before mentioned (long-suffering and affliction), immediately consecrating the rest of his life to serving the king and his people.

24 And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.

The king was already happy, and offered Ammon a wife.

25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a aservant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

Ammon insisted on being nice by just being a servant.

26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of awater, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—

They all did this for the flocks to have water.

27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and ascattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

Bad behavior damaged Ammon’s potential reputation.

28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.

They murmured about their lives.

29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to abelieve in my words.

But Ammon looked for a miracle.

30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.

Ammon believed it too.

31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.

He made them an offer not to refuse.

32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.

They tried very hard and it worked.

33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.

Alma would deal with the scatterers.

34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.

There were many of them.

35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would adeliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.

They just wanted to and thought they could slay him.

36 But aAmmon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a bcertain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they ccould not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.

Ammon took care of them as they were ambushing him, since his life was in danger.

37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.

Ammon was quick.

38 Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he aslew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.

Only the leader was killed.

39 And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.

The king would see it legally.

Ch. 18

1 And it came to pass that king Lamoni caused that his aservants should stand forth and testify to all the things which they had seen concerning the matter.

They had legal infrastrucutre.

2 And when they had all testified to the things which they had seen, and he had learned of the faithfulness of Ammon in preserving his flocks, and also of his agreat power in contending against those who sought to slay him, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Surely, this is more than a man. Behold, is not this the Great Spirit who doth send such great punishments upon this people, because of their murders?

King Lamoni thought he was God because he had the power of God.

3 And they answered the king, and said: Whether he be the Great Spirit or a man, we know not; but this much we do know, that he acannot be slain by the enemies of the king; neither can they bscatter the king’s flocks when he is with us, because of his expertness and cgreat strength; therefore, we know that he is a friend to the king. And now, O king, we do not believe that a man has such great power, for we know he cannot be slain.

They told them they believed so, and that we was a friend to the king, and that he was skilled.

4 And now, when the king heard these words, he said unto them: Now I know that it is the Great Spirit; and he has come down at this time to preserve your lives, that I might not aslay you as I did your brethren. Now this is the Great Spirit of whom our fathers have spoken.

King Lamoni thought it was the coming of Christ?

5 Now this was the atradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that there was a bGreat Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit, they supposed that cwhatsoever they did was right; nevertheless, Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants;

They believed in a great spirit, but only now worried about it.

6 For he had slain many of them because their brethren had scattered their flocks at the place of water; and thus, because they had had their flocks scattered they were slain.

Because of the power over the flocks.

7 Now it was the practice of these Lamanites to stand by the awaters of Sebus to scatter the flocks of the people, that thereby they might drive away many that were scattered unto their own land, it being a practice of plunder among them.

They fought each other, weakening themselves.

8 And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants, saying: Where is this man that has such great power?

The king sent for the man.

9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy ahorses. Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a bgreat cfeast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.

He was serving the king.

10 Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his achariots he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all my commandments to execute them.

The king was impressed by service.

11 Now I surely know that this is the Great Spirit, and I would desire him that he come in unto me, but I durst not.

The king was afraid or something.

12 And it came to pass that when Ammon had made ready the horses and the chariots for the king and his servants, he went in unto the king, and he saw that the acountenance of the king was changed; therefore he was about to return out of his presence.

Ammon thought the king didn’t want to see him.

13 And one of the king’s servants said unto him, aRabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king, considering their kings to be powerful; and thus he said unto him: Rabbanah, the king desireth thee to stay.

It was explained that he wanted to stay. I believe he refered to Ammon as the great king.

14 Therefore Ammon turned himself unto the king, and said unto him: What wilt thou that I should do for thee, O king? And the king answered him not for the space of an ahour, according to their time, for he knew not what he should say unto him.

The king thought for an hour what he wanted Ammon to do.

15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto him again: What desirest thou of me? But the king answered him not.

The king still couldn’t answer when pressed.

16 And it came to pass that Ammon, being filled with the aSpirit of God, therefore he perceived the bthoughts of the king. And he said unto him: Is it because thou hast heard that I defended thy servants and thy flocks, and slew cseven of their brethren with the sling and with the sword, and smote off the arms of others, in order to defend thy flocks and thy servants; behold, is it this that causeth thy marvelings?

Ammon read his mind then. He was stunned by his ability to defend the king’s flocks.

17 I say unto you, what is it, that thy marvelings are so great? Behold, I am a aman, and am thy servant; therefore, whatsoever thou desirest which is right, that will I do.

Ammon says he was just a man, but maintained he was servant of the king.

18 Now when the king had heard these words, he marveled again, for he beheld that Ammon could adiscern his thoughts; but notwithstanding this, king Lamoni did open his mouth, and said unto him: Who art thou? Art thou that Great Spirit, who bknows all things?

King Lamoni inquired about Ammon’s spiritual abilities, thinking he might be God.

19 Ammon answered and said unto him: I am not.

Ammon honestly said he wasn’t God.

20 And the king said: How knowest thou the thoughts of my heart? Thou mayest speak boldly, and tell me concerning these things; and also tell me by what power ye slew and smote off the arms of my brethren that scattered my flocks—

The king wanted to know how Ammon could rerad his thoughts and save the sheep.

21 And now, aif thou wilt tell me concerning these things, whatsoever thou desirest I will give unto thee; and if it were needed, I would guard thee with my armies; but I know that thou art more powerful than all they; nevertheless, whatsoever thou desirest of me I will grant it unto thee.

The king said he would do whatever he could for Ammon, even guard him but it was unnecessary.

22 Now Ammon being awise, yet harmless, he said unto Lamoni: Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee.

Ammon just wanted him to consider his message.

23 And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I awill believe all thy words. And thus he was caught with bguile.

The king said yes, that was that.

24 And Ammon began to speak unto him with aboldness, and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?

Ammon started with faith in God.

25 And he answered, and said unto him: I do not know what that meaneth.

King Lamoni didn’t know that much.

26 And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a aGreat Spirit?

Ammon related.

27 And he said, Yea.

King Lamoni understood this way.

28 And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?

Ammon asked who created all things which are in the heaven and the earth (all things is aleph-tav in Hebrew Genesis 1:1).

29 And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth; but I do not know the heavens.

Lamoni agreed about earth but didn’t know about the heavens.

30 And Ammon said unto him: The heavens is a place where God dwells and all his holy angels.

Ammon defined the heavens.

31 And king Lamoni said: Is it above the earth?

King Lamoni probably thought the earth was flat.

32 And Ammon said: Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he aknows all the thoughts and bintents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.

Ammon may have too, but he got right that He watches us and knows all about us and has kept track of us from the start.

33 And king Lamoni said: I believe all these things which thou hast spoken. Art thou asent from God?

Then he asked if he was sent from God.

34 Ammon said unto him: I am a aman; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his bHoly Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true;

Ammon said he was following the Holy Spirit.

35 And a portion of that aSpirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me bknowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.

Some of that Spirit helps Ammon intelectually.

36 Now when Ammon had said these words, he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man, and arehearsed and laid before him the brecords and the holy scriptures of the people, which had been spoken by the cprophets, even down to the time that their father, Lehi, left Jerusalem.

Ammon then rehearsed everything.

37 And he also rehearsed unto them (for it was unto the king and to his servants) all the journeyings of their fathers in the wilderness, and all their sufferings with hunger and thirst, and their travail, and so forth.

Also recent history.

38 And he also rehearsed unto them concerning the arebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, yea, all their rebellions did he relate unto them; and he expounded unto them all the brecords and scriptures from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem down to the present time.

Explained how the Nephites and Lamanites got started.

39 But this is not all; for he aexpounded unto them the bplan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world; and he also made known unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and all the works of the Lord did he make known unto them.

Also the plan of salvation.

40 And it came to pass that after he had said all these things, and expounded them to the king, that the king abelieved all his words.

The king believed everything.

41 And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant amercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people.

He pleaded to the Lord for the Lord to have mercy.

42 And now, when he had said this, he afell unto the earth, bas if he were dead.

Then he passed out.

43 And it came to pass that his aservants took him and carried him in unto his wife, and laid him upon a bed; and he lay as if he were dead for the space of two days and two nights; and his wife, and his sons, and his daughters mourned over him, after the manner of the Lamanites, greatly lamenting his loss.

His family mourned his catatonic state.

Ch. 19

1 And it came to pass that after two days and two nights they were about to take his abody and lay it in a sepulchre, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead.

He was catatonic for a long time.

2 Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her.

The Queen wanted to see if Ammon could help, since he had power given from God.

3 And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do.

So she asked him what she could do.

4 And she said unto him: The aservants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a bprophet of a holy God, and that thou hast cpower to do many mighty works in his name;

She recognized he was a prophet with priesthood authority.

5 Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he astinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulchre; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink.

Spouses like each other’s smell, but she was worried nonetheless.

6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark aveil of bunbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the clight which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had dovercome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God

Ammon knew the king was experiencing a Holy-initiation.

7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead.

Ammon was in a perfect place.

8 And he said unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not.

Ammon gave the queen a test.

9 And Ammon said unto her: aBelievest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I bbelieve that it shall be according as thou hast said.

He asked if she believed and she said yes.

10 And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the aNephites.

Similar to New Testament.

11 And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise.

So the queen watched over him that night.

12 And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.

King Lamoni seemed to be full of grace.

13 For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have aseen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be bborn of a cwoman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.

It was an amazing occurence.

14 Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his aprayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their btraditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with cjoy; and thus they all three had dsunk to the earth.

It extended to everyone.

15 Now, when the servants of the king had seen that they had fallen, they also began to cry unto God, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them also, for it was athey who had stood before the king and testified unto him concerning the great power of Ammon.

Including the king’s servants.

16 And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of the Lamanitish awomen, whose name was Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father—

They were all astonished, but Abish a member was OK.

17 Thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it aknown, therefore, when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had bfallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay cprostrate upon the earth, she knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would dcause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.

Abish sought to convert all the people.

18 And they began to assemble themselves together unto the house of the king. And there came a multitude, and to their astonishment, they beheld the king, and the queen, and their servants prostrate upon the earth, and they all lay there as though they were dead; and they also saw Ammon, and behold, he was a Nephite.

Uh-oh.

19 And now the people began to murmur among themselves; some saying that it was a great evil that had come upon them, or upon the king and his house, because he had suffered that the Nephite should aremain in the land.

They thought the wrong thing.

20 But others rebuked them, saying: The king hath brought this evil upon his house, because he slew his servants who had had their flocks scattered at the awaters of Sebus.

Some said it was the king, but not realizing it was good still.

21 And they were also rebuked by those men who had stood at the waters of Sebus and ascattered the flocks which belonged to the king, for they were angry with Ammon because of the number which he had slain of their brethren at the waters of Sebus, while defending the flocks of the king.

The people that had been attacked at the waters of Sebus were angry also.

22 Now, one of them, whose brother had been aslain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead.

So one went to attack Ammon, and an even more amazing thing happened.

23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the aLord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah btrusted him unto the Lord.

Mosiah had been promised Ammon would last.

24 And it came to pass that when the multitude beheld that the man had fallen dead, who lifted the sword to slay Ammon, afear came upon them all, and they durst not put forth their hands to touch him or any of those who had fallen; and they began to marvel again among themselves what could be the cause of this great power, or what all these things could mean.

They all began to wonder what was going on.

25 And it came to pass that there were many among them who said that Ammon was the aGreat Spirit, and others said he was sent by the Great Spirit;

They tried to guess what was going on.

26 But others rebuked them all, saying that he was a amonster, who had been sent from the Nephites to torment them.

Some thought evil.

27 And there were some who said that Ammon was sent by the Great Spirit to afflict them because of their iniquities; and that it was the Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who had ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it was this Great Spirit who had destroyed so many of their brethren, the Lamanites.

Some said they were tortured for their sins.

28 And thus the contention began to be exceedingly sharp among them. And while they were thus contending, the awoman servant who had caused the multitude to be gathered together came, and when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto tears.

Abish saw the contention.

29 And it came to pass that she went and took the queen by the ahand, that perhaps she might raise her from the ground; and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an bawful hell! O blessed God, have cmercy on this people!

Abish raises the queen “from the dead!”

30 And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood; and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet.

Things were confusing, but then the king raises too. Notice that the queen arose first.

31 And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the awords which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; and as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord.

Word spread like wildfire, thanks to Ammon and the king and the others.

32 But there were amany among them who would not hear his words; therefore they went their way.

But some were “lost.”

33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been achanged; that they had no more desire to do bevil.

People all said that their hearts would change and they wanted to be good.

34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen aangels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.

Angels were even recorded about.

35 And it came to pass that there were many that did abelieve in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.

They formed a church.

36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his aSpirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to ball people who will repent and believe on his name.

The Lamanites were becoming converted!

Ch. 20

1 And it came to pass that when they had established a church in that aland, that king Lamoni desired that Ammon should go with him to the land of Nephi, that he might show him unto his father.

King Lamoni wanted to show Ammon to his father, an even greater king.

2 And the voice of the Lord came to Ammon, saying: Thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi, for behold, the king will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of aMiddoni; for behold, thy brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison.

But the Lord warned he would seek his liefe.

3 Now it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he said unto Lamoni: Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni, and I go that I may deliver them.

Ammon wanted to release his brothers from prison instead.

4 Now Lamoni said unto Ammon: I know, in the astrength of the Lord thou canst do all things. But behold, I will go with thee to the land of Middoni; for the king of the land of Middoni, whose name is Antiomno, is a friend unto me; therefore I go to the land of Middoni, that I may flatter the king of the land, and he will cast thy brethren out of bprison. Now Lamoni said unto him: Who told thee that thy brethren were in prison?

King Lamoni could do it.

5 And Ammon said unto him: No one hath told me, save it be God; and he said unto me—Go and deliver thy brethren, for they are in prison in the land of Middoni.

Ammon said prayer told him that his brothers were in prison.

6 Now when Lamoni had heard this he caused that his servants should make ready his ahorses and his chariots.

So he prepared horses and chariots.

7 And he said unto Ammon: Come, I will go with thee down to the land of Middoni, and there I will plead with the king that he will cast thy brethren out of prison.

The king agreed.

8 And it came to pass that as Ammon and Lamoni were journeying thither, they met the father of Lamoni, who was king aover all the land.

They met his father on the journey anyway.

9 And behold, the father of Lamoni said unto him: Why did ye anot come to the bfeast on that great day when I made a feast unto my sons, and unto my people?

The king over the land had had a feast which Lamoni missed.

10 And he also said: Whither art thou going with this Nephite, who is one of the children of a aliar?

He called the Nephites liars.

11 And it came to pass that Lamoni rehearsed unto him whither he was going, for he feared to offend him.

Lamoni told him what he could.

12 And he also told him all the cause of his tarrying in his own kingdom, that he did not go unto his father to the feast which he had prepared.

He had been held up by what he experienced.

13 And now when Lamoni had rehearsed unto him all these things, behold, to his astonishment, his father was angry with him, and said: Lamoni, thou art going to deliver these Nephites, who are sons of a liar. Behold, he robbed our fathers; and now his children are also come amongst us that they may, by their cunning and their lyings, deceive us, that they again may rob us of our property.

Lamoni’s father was indoctrinated and angry.

14 Now the father of Lamoni commanded him that he should slay Ammon with the sword. And he also commanded him that he should not go to the land of Middoni, but that he should return with him to the land of aIshmael.

He commanded Lamoni to slay Ammon.

15 But Lamoni said unto him: I will not slay Ammon, neither will I return to the land of Ishmael, but I go to the land of Middoni that I may release the brethren of Ammon, for I know that they are just men and holy prophets of the true God.

Lamoni stood his ground, even if he wouldn’t be understood.

16 Now when his father had heard these words, he was angry with him, and he drew his sword that he might smite him to the earth.

His father wanted to smite him!

17 But Ammon stood forth and said unto him: Behold, thou shalt not slay thy son; nevertheless, it were abetter that he should fall than thee, for behold, he has brepented of his sins; but if thou shouldst fall at this time, in thine anger, thy soul could not be saved.

Ammon explained heaven and hell regarding death.

18 And again, it is expedient that thou shouldst forbear; for if thou shouldst aslay thy son, he being an innocent man, his blood would cry from the ground to the Lord his God, for vengeance to come upon thee; and perhaps thou wouldst lose thy bsoul.

It would be like Cain slaying Abel.

19 Now when Ammon had said these words unto him, he answered him, saying: I know that if I should slay my son, that I should shed innocent blood; for it is thou that hast sought to destroy him.

The king sort of got it.

20 And he stretched forth his hand to slay Ammon. But Ammon withstood his blows, and also smote his arm that he could not use it.

The king fell victim to prejudice.

21 Now when the king saw that Ammon could slay him, he began to plead with Ammon that he would spare his life.

Then, seeing that he could be killed, the king plead for his life.

22 But Ammon raised his sword, and said unto him: Behold, I will smite thee except thou wilt grant unto me that my brethren may be acast out of prison.

Ammon wasn’t really going to smite him, he just wanted to see his brothers free.

23 Now the king, fearing he should lose his life, said: If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half of the kingdom.

The king did not lust after his posessions; he offered half his kingdom for his life. Or maybe people just care about their lives.

24 Now when Ammon saw that he had wrought upon the old king according to his desire, he said unto him: If thou wilt grant that my brethren may be cast out of prison, and also that Lamoni may retain his kingdom, and that ye be not displeased with him, but grant that he may do according to his own desires in awhatsoever thing he thinketh, then will I spare thee; otherwise I will smite thee to the earth.

Ammon followed through with his plan.

25 Now when Ammon had said these words, the king began to rejoice because of his life.

The king was happy too, as the plan was good.

26 And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great alove he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would brelease thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—

Seeing Ammon’s love the king released his brothers.

27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was adesirous to learn them.

He wanted to learn from them.

28 And it came to pass that Ammon and Lamoni proceeded on their journey towards the land of Middoni. And Lamoni found favor in the eyes of the king of the land; therefore the brethren of Ammon were brought forth out of prison.

He released them.

29 And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also had asuffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were bpatient in all their sufferings.

They had suffered greatly.

30 And, as it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more astiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with bstrong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon.

They had been carried around even before the prison.

Ch. 21 – preaching to the lamanites

1 Now when Ammon and his brethren aseparated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold Aaron took his journey towards the land which was called by the Lamanites, bJerusalem, calling it after the land of their fathers’ nativity; and it was away joining the borders of Mormon.

They split up, hoping to have more effect.

2 Now the Lamanites and the Amalekites and the people of aAmulon had built a great city, which was called Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was a great city that Aaron went to.

3 Now the Lamanites of themselves were sufficiently hardened, but the Amalekites and the Amulonites were still harder; therefore they did cause the Lamanites that they should harden their hearts, that they should wax strong in wickedness and their abominations.

They were even more hard in their hearts, more of a challenge for these three reasons.

4 And it came to pass that Aaron came to the city of Jerusalem, and first began to preach to the Amalekites. And he began to preach to them in their asynagogues, for they had built synagogues after the border of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors.

Aaron had the advantage that there were synagogues.

5 Therefore, as Aaron entered into one of their asynagogues to preach unto the people, and as he was speaking unto them, behold there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with him, saying: What is that thou hast testified? Hast thou seen an bangel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold care not this people as good as thy people?

Someone said, didn’t they deserve an angel? A tough question to answer requiring poise.

6 Thou also sayest, except we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a arighteous people? Behold, we have built bsanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship cGod. We do believe that God will save all men.

They also said, how does he know they should repent?

7 Now Aaron said unto him: Believest thou that the Son of God shall come to redeem mankind from their sins?

So Aaron asked what the Son of God was for.

8 And the man said unto him: We do not abelieve that thou knowest any such thing. We do not believe in these foolish traditions. We do not believe that thou knowest of things to come, neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come.

Their whole culture didn’t believe.

9 Now Aaron began to open the ascriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be bno redemption for mankind csave it were through the ddeath and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood.

Aaron tries to explain rationally.

10 And it came to pass as he began to expound these things unto them they were angry with him, and began to amock him; and they would not hear the words which he spake.

They hardened their hearts and took his message lightly.

11 Therefore, when he saw that they would not hear his words, he departed out of their synagogue, and came over to a village which was called Ani-Anti, and there he found Muloki preaching the word unto them; and also Ammah and his brethren. And they contended with many about the word.

So he tries another place.

12 And it came to pass that they saw that the people would harden their hearts, therefore they departed and came over into the land of aMiddoni. And they did preach the word unto many, and bfew believed on the words which they taught.

He tried a third place and a few believed.

13 Nevertheless, Aaron and a certain number of his brethren were taken and cast into aprison, and the remainder of them fled out of the land of Middoni unto the regions round about.

Some went to prison again.

14 And those who were cast into prison asuffered many things, and they were delivered by the hand of Lamoni and Ammon, and they were fed and clothed.

But after suffering their friends helped them out.

15 And they went forth again to declare the word, and thus they were delivered for the first time out of prison; and thus they had suffered.

Narrative.

16 And they went forth whithersoever they were led by the aSpirit of the Lord, preaching the word of God in every synagogue of the Amalekites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites where they could be admitted.

They went wherever they could to preach.

17 And it came to pass that the Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, they did aconvince many of their sins, and of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

The Lord helped them and the people they preached to were helped to believe.

18 And it came to pass that Ammon and Lamoni returned from the land of Middoni to the land of aIshmael, which was the land of their inheritance.

So they went back home.

19 And king Lamoni would not suffer that Ammon should serve him, or be his aservant.

King Lamoni even helped Ammon live well.

20 But he caused that there should be asynagogues built in the land of Ishmael; and he caused that his people, or the people who were under his reign, should assemble themselves together.

He built synagogues for his people.

21 And he did rejoice over them, and he did teach them many things. And he did also declare unto them that they were a people who were under him, and that they were a afree people, that they were free from the oppressions of the king, his father; for that his father had granted unto him that he might reign over the people who were in the land of Ishmael, and in all the land round about.

He could preach to them himself, and valued freedom.

22 And he also declared unto them that they might have the aliberty of worshiping the Lord their God according to their desires, in whatsoever place they were in, if it were in the land which was under the reign of king Lamoni.

He also valued religious liberty.

23 And Ammon did preach unto the people of king Lamoni; and it came to pass that he did teach them all things concerning things pertaining to righteousness. And he did exhort them daily, with all diligence; and they gave heed unto his word, and they were azealous for keeping the commandments of God.

They were zealous in keeping God’s commandments.

Ch. 22

1 Now, as Ammon was thus teaching the people of Lamoni continually, we will return to the account of Aaron and his brethren; for after he departed from the land of Middoni he was aled by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, even to the house of the king which was bover all the land csave it were the land of Ishmael; and he was the father of Lamoni.

Aaron and his brothers made it to the head king by revelation.

2 And it came to pass that he went in unto him into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him: Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon, whom thou hast adelivered out of bprison.

They introduced themselves that he had delivered them out of prison.

3 And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants. And the king said unto them: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat atroubled in mind because of the bgenerosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.

They asked for their lives and the king wanted to be preached to.

4 And Aaron said unto the king: Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way; he has gone ato the land of Ishmael, to teach the people of Lamoni.

They said the person he wanted was somewhere else.

5 Now the king said unto them: What is this that ye have said concerning the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me.

So the king asked them his first question. What about the Spirit of the Lord?

6 And also, what is this that Ammon said—aIf ye will repent ye shall be saved, and if ye will not repent, ye shall be cast off at the last day?

The king also wanted to know about repentance and the consequences of not doing it.

7 And Aaron answered him and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God? And the king said: I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will abelieve.

The king would trust Aaron that there was a God.

8 And now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice, and he said: Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God.

Aaron assured him there was a God… will there be follow-up?

9 And the king said: Is God that aGreat Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?

The king recounted the Nephite/Lamanite history from Jerusalem.

10 And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he acreated all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?

Aaron said yes and added the creation of the Universe.

11 And he said: Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will abelieve thy words.

The king just believes this.

12 And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began from the creation of Adam, areading the scriptures unto the king—how God bcreated man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen.

Aaron started from the top.

13 And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the acreation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the bplan of credemption, which was prepared dfrom the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name.

Creation, fall and atonement; they keep going.

14 And since man had afallen he could not bmerit anything of himself; but the sufferings and cdeath of Christ datone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the egrave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.

Atonement is needed to overcome the fall.

15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: aWhat shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be bborn of God, having this wicked spirit crooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up dall that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

The king wanted to get the atonement part.

16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt abow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the bhope which thou desirest.

He had to believingly repent.

17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did abow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried bmightily, saying:

The king set himself up for proper prayer and began:

18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck aas if he were dead.

He said a great, humble prayer, but then was struck for some reason.

19 And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen all that had happened unto the king. And she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lay as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them.

The queen didn’t understand.

20 Now the servants had seen the cause of the king’s fall, therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren; and they pled with the queen saying: Why commandest thou that we should slay these men, when behold one of them is amightier than us all? Therefore we shall fall before them.

The servants said they were too powerful. “One is mightier than us all?”

21 Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren.

The queen didn’t want to suffer from herself being evil.

22 Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his ahand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him: Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength.

Aaron revived the king.

23 Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to aminister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his bwhole household were cconverted unto the Lord.

The king then converted everyone.

24 Now there was a multitude gathered together because of the commandment of the queen, and there began to be great murmurings among them because of Aaron and his brethren.

Why were they murmuring?

25 But the king stood forth among them and administered unto them. And they were apacified towards Aaron and those who were with him.

But they were able to trust their own king.

26 And it came to pass that when the king saw that the people were pacified, he caused that Aaron and his brethren should stand forth in the midst of the multitude, and that they should preach the word unto them.

And the king told Aaron and brothers to preach to the people.

27 And it came to pass that the king sent a aproclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the bwest, and which was divided from the land of cZarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of dManti, by the head of the eriver Sidon, running from the east towards the west—and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.

The king sent a proclamation through his kingdom to let them preach.

28 Now, the more aidle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers’ first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore.

However they didn’t reach the more idle part of the people.

29 And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called aBountiful.

The Nephites had territory too.

30 And it bordered upon the land which they called aDesolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bbones we have spoken, which was discovered by the cpeople of Zarahemla, it being the place of their dfirst landing.

Desolation was far up north and filled with bones.

Ch. 23

1 Behold, now it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a aproclamation among all his people, that they should not lay their hands on Ammon, or Aaron, or Omner, or Himni, nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of God, in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land.

A good king can try to enforce good laws.

2 Yea, he sent a decree among them, that they should not lay their hands on them to bind them, or to cast them into prison; neither should they spit upon them, nor smite them, nor cast them out of their asynagogues, nor scourge them; neither should they cast stones at them, but that they should have free access to their houses, and also their temples, and their bsanctuaries.

He made it like a law where it was complete.

3 And thus they might go forth and preach the word according to their desires, for the king had been converted unto the Lord, and aall his bhousehold; therefore he sent his proclamation throughout the land unto his people, that the word of God might have no obstruction, but that it might go forth throughout all the land, that his people might be convinced concerning the wicked ctraditions of their fathers, and that they might be convinced that they were all brethren, and that they ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to steal, nor to commit adultery, nor to commit any manner of wickedness.

He wanted righteousness to spread.

4 And now it came to pass that when the king had sent forth this proclamation, that Aaron and his brethren went forth from acity to city, and from one house of worship to another, establishing churches, and consecrating bpriests and teachers throughout the land among the Lamanites, to preach and to teach the word of God among them; and thus they began to have great success.

It worked; the church grew.

5 And athousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, yea, thousands were brought to believe in the btraditions of the Nephites; and they were taught the crecords and prophecies which were handed down even to the present time.

They believed, also the beliefs of the Nephites.

6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working amiracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were bconverted unto the Lord, cnever did fall away.

They never fell away from the church; a big plus. You don’t want to rebel against greater light.

7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.

They would not fight.

8 Now, these are athey who were converted unto the Lord:

Here is who converted:

9 The people of the Lamanites who were in the land of Ishmael;

Lamanites in the land of Ishmael.

10 And also of the people of the Lamanites who were in the land of aMiddoni;

Lamanites in the land of Middoni.

11 And also of the people of the Lamanites who were in the city of Nephi;

Lamanites in the city of Nephi.

12 And also of the people of the Lamanites who were in the land of aShilom, and who were in the land of Shemlon, and in the city of Lemuel, and in the city of Shimnilom.

Plus lands of Shilom, Shemlon, and cities of Lemuel and Shimnilom.

13 And these are the names of the cities of the Lamanites which were aconverted unto the Lord; and these are they that laid down the weapons of their rebellion, yea, all their weapons of war; and they were all Lamanites.

They were pacifists. Note that they were pacificists because they didn’t like their past sins. Somehow they had to make up for them.

14 And the Amalekites were not aconverted, save only one; neither were any of the bAmulonites; but they did harden their hearts, and also the hearts of the Lamanites in that part of the land wheresoever they dwelt, yea, and all their villages and all their cities.

Whoever these people were, they didn’t convert.

15 Therefore, we have named all the cities of the Lamanites in which they did repent and come to the knowledge of the truth, and were converted.

This completes the list.

16 And now it came to pass that the king and those who were converted were desirous that they might have a name, that thereby they might be distinguished from their brethren; therefore the king consulted with Aaron and many of their priests, concerning the name that they should take upon them, that they might be distinguished.

They wanted a title.

17 And it came to pass that they called their names aAnti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this name and were no more called bLamanites.

They were named after Nephi and his father.

18 And they began to be a very aindustrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites; therefore, they did bopen a correspondence with them, and the ccurse of God did no more follow them.

They were industrious. We keep being pointed to industrious being a means to prosperity.

Ch. 24

1 And it came to pass that the Amalekites and the Amulonites and the Lamanites who were in the land of aAmulon, and also in the land of bHelam, and who were in the land of cJerusalem, and in fine, in all the land round about, who had not been converted and had not taken upon them the name of dAnti-Nephi-Lehi, were stirred up by the Amalekites and by the Amulonites to anger against their brethren.

Unfortunately there was a cost to those not converted… they took up arms against the converted.

2 And their hatred became exceedingly sore against them, even insomuch that they began to rebel against their king, insomuch that they would not that he should be their king; therefore, they took up arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

They were full of hate.

3 Now the king conferred the kingdom upon his son, and he called his name Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

On the other side, a new king came about.

4 And the king died in that selfsame year that the Lamanites began to make preparations for war against the people of God.

Sometimes, we die right before something big happens.

5 Now when Ammon and his brethren and all those who had come up with him saw the preparations of the Lamanites to destroy their brethren, they came forth to the land of Midian, and there Ammon met all his brethren; and from thence they came to the land of Ishmael that they might hold a acouncil with Lamoni and also with his brother Anti-Nephi-Lehi, what they should do to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

They had a war room.

6 Now there was not one soul among all the people who had been converted unto the Lord that would take up arms against their brethren; nay, they would not even make any preparations for war; yea, and also their king commanded them that they should not.

The converted were pacifists; but this turns out to be a good thing.

7 Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning the matter: I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of the atraditions of our wicked fathers.

They were grateful to know the truth, even if they were “bad.”

8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have aopened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.

they thank God for the Spirit.

9 And behold, I also thank my God, that by opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our asins, and of the many murders which we have committed.

They are grateful, not bitter, that they were sinners.

10 And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath aforgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the bguilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.

Grateful, not against, giving up their sins.

11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to atake them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain—

Repentance was all they could do in their sorry state.

12 Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren.

So they wanted to not fight with their swords anymore.

13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords aagain they can no more be bwashed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.

Even in the darkest times there is hope. It helps to analyze all possible options too.

14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our asouls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the bplan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

God has mercy.

15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ahide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us bclean thereby.

To repent, sometimes you want to do more to balance the bad.

16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall ago to our God and shall be saved.

It’s a win since they believe.

17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did abury them up deep in the earth.

They buried them.

18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they anever would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and bcovenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would cgive up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.

They wanted to fight non-violently through labor and trade.

19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to abelieve and to know the truth, they were bfirm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

They sealed their testimonies in blood.

20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place aanother in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.

So the “enemy” came to attack and take them over.

21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and aprostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword.

They kneeled and prayed.

22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a athousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God.

1005 were immediately killed, but in their mind saved.

23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and aperish, and bpraised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword—

The Lamanites saw what was happening.

24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did aforbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had bswollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.

The Lamanites actually made peace, and this could be a lesson for humanity.

25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.

They felt they had no choice given eternity.

26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were asaved.

The church grew from complete submission.

27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many aways to the salvation of his people.

All that were slain were righteous, so a good afterlife was expected.

28 Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the aorder of the bNehors.

Who slew them.

29 Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were anone who were Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.

But only Lamanites and Lemuelites joined.

30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once aenlightened by the bSpirit of God, and have had great cknowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have dfallen away into sin and transgression, they become more ehardened, and thus their state becomes fworse than though they had never known these things.

Thus, if you fall from greater light, you need to climb harder to get back up.

Ch. 25

1 And behold, now it came to pass that those Lamanites were more angry because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did ano more attempt to slay the people of bAnti-Nephi-Lehi at that time.

At the time, the attackers wanted to go after a different group.

2 But they took their armies and went over into the borders of the land of Zarahemla, and fell upon the people who were in the land of Ammonihah and adestroyed them.

They destroyed a group.

3 And after that, they had amany battles with the Nephites, in the which they were driven and slain.

They destroyed many Nephites.

4 And among the Lamanites who were slain were almost all the aseed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah, and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites;

Other groups getting destroyed.

5 And the remainder, having fled into the east wilderness, and having usurped the power and aauthority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should bperish by fire because of their belief—

They even burnt them.

6 For many of athem, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the bwords which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the ctraditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilderness.

Yet some were converted all the more.

7 And it came to pass that those rulers who were the remnant of the children of aAmulon caused that they should be put to bdeath, yea, all those that believed in these things.

Those left of Amulon wanted to put them to death.

8 Now this martyrdom caused that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger; and there began to be contention in the wilderness; and the Lamanites began to ahunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren and began to slay them; and they fled into the east wilderness.

The Lamanites went after them for the pacifist people.

9 And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites. Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire.

Prophecy.

10 For he said unto them: What ye shall ado unto me shall be a type of things to come.

Prophecy.

11 And now Abinadi was the first that suffered adeath by fire because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, according as he had suffered.

Prophecy.

12 And he said unto the priests of Noah that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten.

Prophecy.

13 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites they returned again to their own land; and many of them came over to dwell in the land of aIshmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of bAnti-Nephi-Lehi.

The path of least resistance.

14 And they did also abury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes.

They buried their weapons too; a spread of the idea.

15 Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the alaw of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a btype of his coming, and believing that they must keep those coutward dperformances until the time that he should be revealed unto them.

The law of Moses preceded what Christ did.

16 Now they did not suppose that asalvation came by the blaw of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a chope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.

They looked at the law of Moses symbolically.

17 And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites, seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their aprayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular.

People “rejoiced exceedingly” at a good spiritual outcome.

Ch. 26

1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

Ammon looks on it with gratitude!

2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

He points to blessings.

3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how amany of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made binstruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

Many were converted.

4 Behold, athousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

Thousands.

5 Behold, the afield was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the bsickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your csheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

They labored for it.

6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the astorm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

Nothing can catch them.

7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the aharvest, and they are his; and he will braise them up at the last day.

They ultimately win.

8 aBlessed be the name of our God; let us bsing to his praise, yea, let us give cthanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever.

They thanked God for this, even though some parts required faith.

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with ahatred against us, yea, and they would also have been bstrangers to God.

They would have been hated.

10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my bjoy is full, yea, my heart is brim with cjoy, and I will rejoice in my God.

Ammon was very happy.

12 Yea, I know that I am anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will bnot boast of myself, but I will cboast of my God, for in his dstrength I can do all ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

He boasts of God, a good thing.

13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of ahell; and they are brought to bsing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

They glory in salvation of others.

14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the achains of hell.

He is the Most High God.

15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting adarkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting blight, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

They were forgiven.

16 Therefore, let us aglory, yea, we will bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

There is so much to say; gratitude.

17 Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and apolluted state?

It is hard to see if God will rescue you from sin!

18 Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to adestroy his church.

They had tried to destroy the church earlier.

19 Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal adespair?

Asking why they were spared by God.

20 Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting agulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.

He realizes God was incredibly merciful, which is helpful to him.

21 And now behold, my brethren, what anatural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is bnone that cknoweth these things, save it be the penitent.

Only the penitent know this.

22 Yea, he that arepenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good bworks, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the cmysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be dgiven to ereveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

Only the penitent know.

23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they alaughed us to scorn?

Remember being laughed at to be missionaries?

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the aincorrectness of the btraditions of their fathers, as cstiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the dshedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

They were serious about the hadrness of the Lamanites.

25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.

They wanted to destroy them.

26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

They prefered to try to be missionaries even still.

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to aturn back, behold, the Lord bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with cpatience thine dafflictions, and I will give unto you success.

The Lord promised to have their back.

28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

They suffered mightily but it worked, and that is what they wanted.

29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been bstoned, and taken and bound with cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

They taught them everywhere with huge insults to them.

30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

They just wanted to save one soul out of it. It was incredibly hard but they didn’t care.

31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the afruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are bmany; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

They were greatly rewarded.

32 For behold, they had rather asacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have bburied their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.

Those pacifists made a wise decision eternally.

33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.

Those pacifists had so much love!

34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how amany of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin.

They loved and hated sin.

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all apower, ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a cmerciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

God knows all.

36 Now if this is aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been clost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, dwanderers in a strange land.

He’s not perfect; he might be boasting. That is humility.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is amindful of every bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

He says God cares about every group of people.

Ch. 27

1 Now it came to pass that when those Lamanites who had gone to war against the Nephites had found, after their amany struggles to destroy them, that it was in vain to seek their destruction, they returned again to the land of Nephi.

They didn’t want to kill them.

2 And it came to pass that the Amalekites, because of their loss, were exceedingly angry. And when they saw that they could not seek revenge from the Nephites, they began to astir up the people in anger against their bbrethren, the people of cAnti-Nephi-Lehi; therefore they began again to destroy them.

Amalekites began to destroy them.

3 Now this people aagain refused to take their arms, and they suffered themselves to be slain according to the desires of their enemies.

They were pacifist again.

4 Now when Ammon and his brethren saw this work of destruction among those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly beloved them—for they were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from everlasting destruction—therefore, when Ammon and his brethren saw this great work of destruction, they were moved with compassion, and they asaid unto the king:

They cared about this scene of unfairness and wanted to do something.

5 Let us gather together this people of the Lord, and let us go down to the land of Zarahemla to our brethren the Nephites, and flee out of the hands of our enemies, that we be not destroyed.

They thought to flee to safety, being refugees.

6 But the king said unto them: Behold, the Nephites will destroy us, because of the many murders and sins we have committed against them.

But the king said they would not be safe there because of their past sins against the people they wanted to flee to. Interesting.

7 And Ammon said: I will go and inquire of the Lord, and if he say unto us, go down unto our brethren, will ye go?

Ammon said he would pray about it.

8 And the king said unto him: Yea, if the Lord saith unto us go, we will go down unto our brethren, and we will be their slaves until we repair unto them the many murders and sins which we have committed against them.

The king was willing to be slaves to the people he had sinned against rather than die.

9 But Ammon said unto him: It is against the law of our brethren, which was established by my father, that there should be any aslaves among them; therefore let us go down and rely upon the mercies of our brethren.

But Ammon said they had anti-slavery laws.

10 But the king said unto him: Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; otherwise we will perish in the land.

So the king said for Ammon to pray about it.

11 And it came to pass that Ammon went and inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said unto him:

And this is what he said:

12 Get this people aout of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and blessed are this people in this generation, for I will bpreserve them.

So first he told them they should flee.

13 And now it came to pass that Ammon went and told the king all the words which the Lord had said unto him.

Ammon told the king the Lord’s instruction.

14 And they gathered together all their people, yea, all the people of the Lord, and did gather together all their flocks and herds, and departed out of the land, and came into the wilderness which divided the land of Nephi from the land of Zarahemla, and came over near the borders of the land.

They went to the land of the Nephites anyway.

15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto them: Behold, I and my brethren will go forth into the land of Zarahemla, and ye shall remain here until we return; and we will atry the hearts of our brethren, whether they will that ye shall come into their land.

They would test hearts to see about entering in.

16 And it came to pass that as Ammon was going forth into the land, that he and his brethren met Alma, over in the aplace of which has been spoken; and behold, this was a joyful meeting.

They happened to meet Alma.

17 Now the ajoy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the bexhausting of his strength; and he fell cagain to the earth.

Ammon passed out he was so glad to see Alma.

18 Now was not this aexceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of bhappiness.

The penitent and humble seeker can be overcome with joy/happiness.

19 Now the joy of Alma in meeting his abrethren was truly great, and also the joy of Aaron, of Omner, and Himni; but behold their joy was not that to exceed their strength.

They were also happy, but not to pass out. Can you really pass out from joy?

20 And now it came to pass that Alma conducted his brethren back to the land of Zarahemla; even to his aown house. And they went and told the bchief judge all the things that had happened unto them in the land of Nephi, among their brethren, the Lamanites.

They told the chief judge what happened.

21 And it came to pass that the chief judge sent a proclamation throughout all the land, desiring the voice of the people concerning the admitting their brethren, who were the people of aAnti-Nephi-Lehi.

The chief judge had an election about it.

22 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the aland of bJershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance.

They voted to give Jershon to the refugees.

23 And behold, we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we may aprotect our brethren in the land Jershon; and this we do for our brethren, on account of their fear to take up arms against their brethren lest they should commit sin; and this their great fear came because of their sore repentance which they had, on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness.

They would protect it. Has the US done noble things like this?

24 And now behold, this will we do unto our brethren, that they may inherit the land Jershon; and we will guard them from their enemies with our armies, on condition that they will give us a aportion of their substance to assist us that we may maintain our armies.

They asked for a portion of their substance.

25 Now, it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he returned to the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, and also Alma with him, into the wilderness, where they had pitched their tents, and made known unto them all these things. And Alma also related unto them his aconversion, with Ammon and Aaron, and his brethren.

They shared stories.

26 And it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the Nephites the apeople of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name ever after.

They went to Jershon and it worked.

27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their azeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly bhonest and upright in all things; and they were cfirm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.

They were zealous, took upon them the name of God, were honest and upright.

28 And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.

They had no fear of problems.

29 Therefore, they would suffer adeath in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren, before they would take the sword or cimeter to smite them.

They didn’t care how much they were tortured.

30 And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord.

The Lord liked it.

Ch. 28

1 And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were established in the land of aJershon, and a church also established in the land of Jershon, and the armies of the Nephites were set round about the land of Jershon, yea, in all the borders round about the land of Zarahemla; behold the armies of the Lamanites had followed their brethren into the wilderness.

They were followed, but so what?

2 And thus there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem; yea, and tens of thousands of the Lamanites were slain and scattered abroad.

Many died.

3 Yea, and also there was a tremendous slaughter among the people of Nephi; nevertheless, the Lamanites were adriven and scattered, and the people of Nephi returned again to their land.

many died of that group too.

4 And now this was a time that there was a great amourning and lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of Nephi—

They mourned death after all they had done.

5 Yea, the cry of awidows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.

They mourned for their families.

6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much afasting and prayer.

This was a sad time. Fast and prayer help with overcoming loss of life.

7 And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;

50 is interesting.

8 And athis is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their bincomprehensible joy, and the reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever.

Narrative.

9 And this is the account of the wars and contentions among the Nephites, and also the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites; and the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges is ended.

Narrative.

10 And from the afirst year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.

There was an awful scene of bloodshed.

11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are amoldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are bmourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.

Many are dead on the earth.

12 While many thousands of others truly amourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the bpromises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending chappiness.

Yet many have happy salvation.

13 And thus we see how great the ainequality of man is because of sin and btransgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning cplans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.

People are divided by sin.

14 And thus we see the great call of adiligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the blight of Christ unto life.

Some are good; some are bad.

Ch. 29

1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the atrump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Alma would be happy to just be an angel telling people of God.

2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and acome unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

He would declare the truth mightily so they could avoid sin.

3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

But Alma is a man who can do what men can do.

4 I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their adesire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their bwills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.

God has a better plan; good or bad.

5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is ablameless; but he that bknoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of cconscience.

Some get good; some get evil.

6 Now, seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to aperform the work to which I have been called?

Therefore, his ⁭life purpose is done sufficiently.

7 Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends of the earth?

Now he’s going to be realistic.

8 For behold, the Lord doth agrant unto ball nations, of their own nation and ctongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he dseeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.

The Lord can teach as much as He wants.

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do anot bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

He just hopes to bring one soul to repentance.

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember awhat the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

Seeing people penitent gives him joy.

11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the aLord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage.

The Lord helped people he knew.

12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who adelivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bbondage.

Even the Jews out of Egypt.

13 Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea, and that same God hath called me by a aholy calling, to bpreach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full.

The church was a good thing.

14 But I do not joy in my own asuccess alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi.

He doesn’t just joy in his success. It was his brothers too.

15 Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!

They worked hard for what they got.

16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my ajoy.

He felt his soul amost separated from his body because of it.

17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen.

Nothing would be more desirable than to praise God forever. Perhaps that includes learning about the Universe.

Ch. 30

1 Behold, now it came to pass that after the apeople of Ammon were established in the land of Jershon, yea, and also after the Lamanites were bdriven out of the land, and their dead were buried by the people of the land—

After things got back to normal…

2 Now their dead were not numbered because of the greatness of their numbers; neither were the dead of the Nephites numbered—but it came to pass after they had buried their dead, and also after the days of afasting, and bmourning, and prayer, (and it was in the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) there began to be continual peace throughout all the land.

The dead were numerous but there was peace.

3 Yea, and the people did observe to keep the commandments of the Lord; and they were strict in observing the aordinances of God, according to the law of Moses; for they were taught to bkeep the law of Moses until it should be fulfilled.

They followed the law of Moses strictly.

4 And thus the people did have no disturbance in all the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

There was peace for a year.

5 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges, there was continual peace.

There was peace for another year.

6 But it came to pass in the latter end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was aAnti-Christ, for he began to preach unto the people bagainst the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.

A man was saying Christ wouldn’t come.

7 Now there was no law against a aman’s bbelief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.

A man had the right to exercise conscience so they couldn’t pass a law about lying maybe?

8 For thus saith the scripture: aChoose ye this day, whom ye will serve.

A religious justification for that lack of a law.

9 Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.

Serving God was independent of government law.

10 But if he amurdered he was punished unto bdeath; and if he crobbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed dadultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.

However clear sins were punished.

11 For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on aequal grounds.

Crimes yes belief or pretend belief no.

12 And this aAnti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there should be bno Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying:

This man said there should be no Christ.

13 O ye that are bound down under a afoolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can bknow of anything which is to come.

He said why look for a Christ if no one can know the future?

14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.

Then He said prophecies were foolish.

15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not asee; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.

“You can’t know what you don’t see.”

16 Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a afrenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.

“Wanting spiritual cleansing is wishful thinking.”

17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man afared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and bwhatsoever a man did was cno crime.

“Everyone managed based on their strength.”

18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.

They became proud in following him.

19 Now this man went over to the land of aJershon also, to preach these things among the people of Ammon, who were once the people of the Lamanites.

He went somewhere else to preach too.

20 But behold they were more wise than many of the Nephites; for they took him, and bound him, and carried him before Ammon, who was a ahigh priest over that people.

Their laws were wise enough to arrest him.

21 And it came to pass that he caused that he should be carried out of the land. And he came over into the land of Gideon, and began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much success, for he was taken and bound and carried before the high priest, and also the chief judge over the land.

He went somewhere else and the same thing happened.

22 And it came to pass that the high priest said unto him: Why do ye go about perverting the ways of the Lord? Why do ye teach this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their rejoicings? Why do ye speak against all the prophecies of the holy prophets?

The priest asked why he sought to tear down the religious establishment.

23 Now the high priest’s name was Giddonah. And Korihor said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.

He said in the past present and future they were being held back.

24 Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold, I say they are in bondage. Ye say that those ancient prophecies are true. Behold, I say that ye do not know that they are true.

He said in the present they were in bondage and ancient prophecies are not known.

25 Ye say that this people is a guilty and a fallen people, because of the transgression of a parent. Behold, I say that a child is not guilty because of its parents.

An argument that they are not fallen (so they don’t need to rely on Christ).

26 And ye also say that Christ shall come. But behold, I say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ. And ye say also that he shall be slain for the asins of the world—

Serious here. He’s saying there will be no Christ nor that He shall be slain for the world’s sins.

27 And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges.

“The people can’t look up and feel proud.”

28 Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who anever has been seen or known, who bnever was nor ever will be.

“It is a system of beliefs to keep them down.”

29 Now when the high priest and the achief judge saw the hardness of his heart, yea, when they saw that he would brevile even against God, they would not make any reply to his words; but they caused that he should be bound; and they delivered him up into the hands of the officers, and sent him to the land of Zarahemla, that he might be brought before Alma, and the chief judge who was governor over all the land.

This was serious (he reviled against God), so instead of replying, they took him to court.

30 And it came to pass that when he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he did go on in the same manner as he did in the land of Gideon; yea, he went on to ablaspheme.

He came to the chief judge Alma and kept blaspheming.

31 And he did rise up in great aswelling words before Alma, and did revile against the bpriests and teachers, accusing them of leading away the people after the silly traditions of their fathers, for the sake of glutting on the labors of the people.

He used powerful language to say traditions were silly and that they got rich off of the people’s belief.

32 Now Alma said unto him: Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people; for behold I have alabored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now, with mine bown hands for my support, notwithstanding my many travels round about the land to declare the word of God unto my people.

Alma says he worked with his own hands for his support.

33 And notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one asenine for my labor; neither has any of my brethren, save it were in the judgment-seat; and then we have received only according to law for our time.

Alma says he never got paid anything for his support as a priest.

34 And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the ajoy of our brethren?

Therefore, doesn’t that mean they want to tell the truth?

35 Then why sayest thou that we preach unto this people to get gain, when thou, of thyself, knowest that we receive no gain? And now, believest thou that we deceive this people, that acauses such joy in their hearts?

It causes great joy to preach.

36 And Korihor answered him, Yea.

Korihor said they still deceive the people.

37 And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?

Alma asked if Korihor believed in God.

38 And he answered, Nay.

He said no.

39 Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

Alma says he knows there is a God.

40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no aGod, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

He asks for evidence that there is no God.

41 But, behold, I have all things as a atestimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?

He says Korihor has all things as evidence too.

42 Behold, I know that thou abelievest, but thou art possessed with a blying spirit, and ye have put coff the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God.

He says he knows Korihor knows but Korihor is possessed. He cares about Korihor.

43 And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a asign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

Korihor meets Alma and the devil halfway.

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the bearth, and call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its dmotion, yea, and also all the eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

Alma says this is not a wise idea to ask.

45 And yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people, testifying unto them there is no God? And yet will ye deny against all these awitnesses? And he said: Yea, I will deny, except ye shall show me a sign.

Korihor is satisfied with his position.

46 And now it came to pass that Alma said unto him: Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be destroyed.

Alma is sad that Korihor’s soul could be destroyed.

47 But behold, it is abetter that thy soul should be blost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by thy flattering words; therefore if thou shalt deny again, behold God shall smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.

Better to lose one soul than to let it bring down many.

48 Now Korihor said unto him: I do not deny the existence of a God, but I do not believe that there is a God; and I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God; and except ye show me a sign, I will not believe.

Korihor maintains his position.

49 Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be astruck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.

Alma said he didn’t deserve to speak.

50 Now when Alma had said these words, Korihor was struck dumb, that he could not have utterance, according to the words of Alma.

Korihor couldn’t speak, but he could still write.

51 And now when the chief judge saw this, he put forth his hand and wrote unto Korihor, saying: Art thou convinced of the power of God? In whom did ye desire that Alma should show forth his sign? Would ye that he should afflict others, to show unto thee a sign? Behold, he has showed unto you a sign; and now will ye dispute more?

They asked if Korihor had changed.

52 And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak; and I know that nothing save it were the apower of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always bknew that there was a God.

Korihor recognized the sign as from God.

53 But behold, the devil hath adeceived me; for he bappeared unto me in the cform of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is dno God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the ecarnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great fcurse upon me.

The devil had taught him waht to say.

54 Now when he had said this, he besought that Alma should pray unto God, that the acurse might be taken from him.

He asked for the curse to be removed after he had confessed.

55 But Alma said unto him: If this curse should be taken from thee thou wouldst again lead away the hearts of this people; therefore, it shall be unto thee even as the Lord will.

He was stuck logically since He couldn’t be trusted, but at least He knew the truth.

56 And it came to pass that the curse was not taken off of Korihor; but he was acast out, and went about from house to house begging for his food.

He begged for food.

57 Now the knowledge of what had happened unto Korihor was immediately published throughout all the land; yea, the proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent, alest the same judgments would come unto them.

The government told people what had happened, which is perfectly legal.

58 And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor. And Korihor did go about from house to house, begging food for his support.

They were all convinced by the government.

59 And it came to pass that as he went forth among the people, yea, among a people who had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves aZoramites, being led by a man whose name was Zoram—and as he went forth amongst them, behold, he was run upon and trodden down, even until he was bdead.

Zoram trodden down.

60 And thus we see the end of him who aperverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not bsupport his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to chell.

The end of those who pervert the ways of the Lord; the devil does not support you forever.

Ch. 31

1 Now it came to pass that after the end of Korihor, Alma having received tidings that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to abow down to dumb bidols, his heart again began to csicken because of the iniquity of the people.

Another social problem sickened Alma.

2 For it was the cause of great asorrow to Alma to know of iniquity among his people; therefore his heart was exceedingly bsorrowful because of the separation of the Zoramites from the Nephites.

The Zoramites had sort of rebelled it looks like.

3 Now the Zoramites had gathered themselves together in a land which they called aAntionum, which was east of the land of Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon the seashore, which was south of the land of bJershon, which also bordered upon the wilderness south, which wilderness was full of the Lamanites.

Where the Zoramites went.

4 Now the Nephites greatly feared that the Zoramites would enter into a acorrespondence with the Lamanites, and that it would be the means of great loss on the part of the Nephites.

The Nephites feared Zoramites and Lamanites would team up against them, spiritually and militarily perhaps.

5 And now, as the apreaching of the bword had a great tendency to clead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

Preaching was the best option in a situation like this.

6 Therefore he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; and Himni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla; but the former three he took with him, and also aAmulek and Zeezrom, who were at bMelek; and he also took two of his sons.

Some went to preach.

7 Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, and his name was Helaman; but the names of those whom he took with him were aShiblon and bCorianton; and these are the names of those who went with him among the cZoramites, to preach unto them the word.

Names of those who went to preach to the Zoramites.

8 Now the Zoramites were adissenters from the Nephites; therefore they had had the word of God preached unto them.

They knew the word of God.

9 But they had afallen into great errors, for they would not observe to keep the commandments of God, and his statutes, according to the law of Moses.

But they were fallen; disobedient.

10 Neither would they observe the aperformances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might not enter into temptation.

They would not do the religious basics.

11 Yea, in fine, they did pervert the ways of the Lord in very many instances; therefore, for this cause, Alma and his brethren went into the land to preach the word unto them.

They did wrong in many ways.

12 Now, when they had come into the land, behold, to their astonishment they found that the Zoramites had built synagogues, and that they did gather themselves together on one day of the week, which day they did call the day of the Lord; and they did aworship after a manner which Alma and his brethren had never beheld;

They had synagogues but they worshipped in a weird way.

13 For they had a place built up in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing, which was high above the head; and the top thereof would only admit one person.

A person would elevate himself.

14 Therefore, whosoever desired to aworship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, and stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice, saying:

They had a set prayer as they reached towards heaven.

15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a aspirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.

God is a spirit, they said.

16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast aelected us to be thy bholy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that cthere shall be dno Christ.

They are favored for knowing that, they said.

17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast aelected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bbind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.

They all go to heaven and everyone else to hell, they said.

18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.

They repeat and close.

19 Now it came to pass that after Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard these prayers, they were astonished beyond all measure.

Alma was amazed.

20 For behold, every man did go forth and offer up these same aprayers.

They all said the same prayers.

21 Now the place was called by them Rameumptom, which, being interpreted, is the holy stand.

They all climed the ladder into the space.

22 Now, from this stand they did offer up, every man, the selfsame prayer unto God, thanking their God that they were chosen of him, and that he did not lead them away after the tradition of their brethren, and that their hearts were not stolen away to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about.

They were grateful for themselves.

23 Now, after the people had all offered up thanks after this manner, they returned to their homes, anever speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.

They never said anything the rest of the week.

24 Now when Alma saw this his heart was agrieved; for he saw that they were a wicked and a perverse people; yea, he saw that their hearts were set upon gold, and upon silver, and upon all manner of fine goods.

Their hearts were on material.

25 Yea, and he also saw that their hearts were alifted up unto great boasting, in their pride.

Pride is the Universasl sin.

26 And he lifted up his voice to heaven, and acried, saying: O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?

He cried to the Lord that He was His servant and wanted to have success.

27 Behold, O God, they acry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are bpuffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the cworld.

He said their prayers were blocked by their pride.

28 Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their abracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish.

They dwell on material… covetousness I believe.

29 Yea, and they say that thou hast made it known unto them that there shall be no Christ.

They don’t worship Christ and say God made it known there will be none.

30 O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people? O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may abear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain my soul.

He prays that he can bear it. Seeing wickedness makes righteous people sick… see the ship to America story in 1 Nephi.

31 O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul ain Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these bafflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.

He prays for himself first, not asking to change others.

32 O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me—yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and also aAmulek and Zeezrom, and also my btwo sons—yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ.

Then He prays for the same for his friends.

33 Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may abear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people.

Follow-up.

34 O Lord, wilt thou grant aunto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

Then he asks if they can bring them to Christ.

35 Behold, O Lord, their asouls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

Their souls are special and many are related to them.

36 Now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words, that he aclapped his bhands upon all them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

He just clapped his hands on them and they felt the Spirit.

37 And after that they did separate themselves one from another, ataking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.

Then they relied on God.

38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of aafflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in bfaith.

Then they suffered gladly and did what was right.

Ch. 32

1 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets.

They went into churches, houses and in the street to preach.

2 And it came to pass that after much labor among them, they began to have success among the apoor class of people; for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel—

The poor accepted, for they were cast out of the synagogues!

3 Therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as adross; therefore they were bpoor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart.

They were poor in heart therefore.

4 Now, as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill aOnidah, there came a great bmultitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking, of whom were cpoor in heart, because of their poverty as to the things of the world.

Some poor-hearted people came to them.

5 And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, awhat shall these my brethren do, for they are bdespised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have ccast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have dno place to worship our God; and behold, ewhat shall we do?

They expressed their concerns.

6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their aafflictions had truly bhumbled them, and that they were in a cpreparation to hear the word.

Alma was grateful they were humbled and could “hear the word.”

7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them:

he addressed them specifically

8 I behold that ye are alowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye.

“It’s a blessing to have a humble heart.”

9 Behold thy brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God.

They don’t know how to worship God, but they want to.

10 Behold I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye acannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?

You can worship God elsewhere.

11 And moreover, I would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only aonce in a week?

You can worship God anytime.

12 I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn awisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are despised of your brethren because of your exceeding bpoverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble.

They can actually become wiser than those in the synagogue through their emotions.

13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh arepentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and bendureth to the end the same shall be saved.

He that finds mercy and endures to the end is saved.

14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be ahumble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?

Are you not more humble than them?

15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.

They humbled themselves on their own; a greater reward.

16 Therefore, blessed are they who ahumble themselves without being bcompelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without cstubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.

The same.

17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a asign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

Many ask for a sign (from Heaven).

18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to abelieve, for he knoweth it.

Knowledge is not faith.

19 And now, how much amore bcursed is he that cknoweth the dwill of God and doeth it not, than he that only believeth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth into etransgression?

Where much knowledge is given, much is required.

20 Now of this thing ye must judge. Behold, I say unto you, that it is on the one hand even as it is on the other; and it shall be unto every man according to his work.

It is fair to everyone.

21 And now as I said concerning faith—afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye bhope for things which are cnot seen, which are true.

Faith is hoping for things which are not seen which are true.

22 And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is amerciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.

First, believe in the name of God.

23 And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, anot only men but women also. Now this is not all; little bchildren do have words given unto them many times, which cconfound the wise and the learned.

Then He gives you some words.

24 And now, my beloved brethren, as ye have desired to know of me what ye shall do because ye are afflicted and cast out—now I do not desire that ye should suppose that I mean to judge you only according to that which is true-

Don’t suppose that he wants to judge them according to what’s true.

25 For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to humble yourselves; for I verily believe that there are some among you who awould humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might.

He complimented them that some of them would humble themselves even in other circumstances.

26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.

You don’t know when you have faith.

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

Try it out a little.

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a aseed. Now, if ye give place, that a bseed may be planted in your cheart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your dunbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to eenlighten my funderstanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

It works.

29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.

Then you have more faith; still not knowledge.

30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.

It continues to grow.

31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own alikeness.

If it keeps growing it must be good.

32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

For if it didn’t grow it would be discarded.

33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

Again with it being good.

34 And now, behold, is your aknowledge bperfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your cfaith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your dmind doth begin to expand.

It is OK to grow to knowledge.

35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is alight; and whatsoever is light, is bgood, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

It is discernible.

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

However knowledge is still not perfect.

37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

Much fruit is a great sign and a great thing.

38 But if ye aneglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.

But you better nourish the tree once its growing.

39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your aground is bbarren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.

When it’s good you need to feed it.

40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the atree of life.

You have to nourish it.

41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with apatience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree bspringing up unto everlasting life.

You can get everlasting life.

42 And because of your adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

The tree is all you need.

43 Then, my brethren, ye shall areap the brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth cfruit unto you.

This is a promise to you.

Ch. 33

1 Now after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe in aone God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he had spoken, or bhow they should plant the cseed, or the word of which he had spoken, which he said must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith.

They wanted to know what to believe and how to test it.

2 And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye acould not bworship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the cscriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them.

Alma said they didn’t need to be in the synagogues that they were cast out of.

3 Do ye remember to have read what aZenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or bworship?

What did Zenos say about prayer and worship (we don’t know who Zenos was)?

4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was ain the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine benemies, and thou didst turn them to me.

You can pray in the wilderness.

5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my afield; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.

You can pray in your field.

6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.

You can pray turning to your house.

7 And when I did turn unto my acloset, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me.

You can pray in your closet.

8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou awilt hear them.

You can pray to God and not what men want you to say.

9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.

But you can cry among people too and God can hear you.

10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been acast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst bvisit them in thine anger with speedy destruction.

When you’re cast out God will hear you.

11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my asincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine bafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, cbecause of thy Son.

You can cry about your afflictions.

12 And now Alma said unto them: Do ye abelieve those scriptures which have been written by them of old?

Alma asked if his audience believed all of that.

13 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what aZenos said; for, behold he said: Thou hast turned away thy judgments because of thy Son.

Jesus is the reason justice can be rectified with mercy.

14 Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye adisbelieve on the Son of God?

How can you disbelieve this?

15 For it is anot written that Zenos alone spake of these things, but bZenock also spake of these things—

For what did Zenos say?

16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they awill not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.

They need to understand this mercy from Jesus.

17 And now, my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God, and because the people would not understand his words they astoned him to death.

They stoned a prophet who said so.

18 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God.

Many have spoken concerning Jesus.

19 Behold, he was spoken of by aMoses; yea, and behold a btype was craised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

I don’t know when Moses spoke of Him, but the snake seems like the cross.

20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would aheal them.

Some people wouldn’t even look when told it would save them.

21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in aunbelief, and be bslothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

Wouldn’t you look?

22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and abegin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to batone for their sins; and that he shall crise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the dresurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be ejudged at the last and judgment day, according to their fworks.

He does rise to judge His people.

23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall aplant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, bspringing up in you unto ceverlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your dburdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye ewill. Amen.

Believe and know and then your burdens will be light! Sounds like a great promise to me!

Ch. 34

1 And now it came to pass that after Alma had spoken these words unto them he sat down upon the ground, and aAmulek arose and began to teach them, saying:

Amulek takes a turn.

2 My brethren, I think that it is impossible that ye should be ignorant of the things which have been spoken concerning the coming of Christ, who is taught by us to be the Son of God; yea, I know that athese things were taught unto you bountifully before your dissension from among us.

He gives his opinion that they know its true.

3 And as ye have desired of my beloved brother that he should make known unto you awhat ye should do, because of your afflictions; and he hath spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your minds; yea, and he hath exhorted you unto faith and to patience—

For your affliction is prescribed faith and patience.

4 Yea, even that ye would have so much faith as even to aplant the word in your hearts, that ye may try the experiment of its goodness.

You should plant the word in your heart.

5 And we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be ano Christ.

And what thtey need to find out is if there should be a Christ.

6 And ye also beheld that my brother has proved unto you, in many instances, that the aword is in Christ unto salvation.

But it has already been proven.

7 My brother has called upon the words of aZenos, that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also upon the words of bZenock; and also he has appealed unto cMoses, to prove that these things are true.

He showed ancient prophecy predicting it.

8 And now, behold, I will atestify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the btransgressions of his people, and that he shall catone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Christ will atone for the world’s sins.

9 For it is expedient that an aatonement should be made; for according to the great bplan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are cfallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

An atonement is necessary for the human race to continue.

10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last asacrifice; yea, not a bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an cinfinite and deternal esacrifice.

One last infinite eternal sacrifice was needed.

11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is ajust, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.

No sinner can atone and a murderer does not mean further death to outside the party.

12 But the law requireth the alife of him who hath bmurdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.

The law requires the life of the murderer. Since the murdered cannot be restored, an infinite atonement is necessary.

13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a astop to the shedding of bblood; then shall the claw of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.

The atonement would satisfy the need for bloodshed.

14 And behold, this is the whole ameaning of the blaw, every whit cpointing to that great and last dsacrifice; and that great and last esacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, finfinite and eternal.

And this is the whole meaning of the law!

15 And thus he shall bring asalvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

The sacrifice enables men to repent.

16 And thus amercy can satisfy the demands of bjustice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of cjustice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal dplan of eredemption.

They can repent and be saved vicariously.

17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your afaith unto repentance, that ye begin to bcall upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;

So please believe so you can repent.

18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is amighty to save.

Cry for mercy and He can help.

19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in aprayer unto him.

Be humble and pray

20 Cry unto him when ye are in your afields, yea, over all your flocks.

Review

21 aCry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

Review; cry in your house 3 times per day.

22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your aenemies.

Cry against your enemies.

23 Yea, acry unto him against the bdevil, who is an enemy to all crighteousness.

Cry against the devil.

24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

Cry for prosperity.

25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

You can cry for increase in wealth.

26 But this is not all; ye must apour out your souls in your bclosets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

You must pray in private as well as casually.

27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your ahearts be bfull, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your cwelfare, and also for the welfare of dthose who are around you.

Think of the Lord when you don’t pray.

28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye aturn away the bneedy, and the cnaked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and dimpart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your eprayer is fvain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as ghypocrites who do deny the faith.

You must act on your prayers by helping others.

29 Therefore, if ye do not remember to be acharitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.

Without charity you are nothing.

30 And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have areceived so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring bfruit unto repentance.

He asks that now that they know that would they repent?

31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and aharden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the bday of your csalvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and dharden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

Hardening hearts is a common theme, and when people know the truth they need to act immediately.

32 For behold, this alife is the time for men to bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of cthis life is the day for men to perform their dlabors.

What was just said.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not bprocrastinate the day of your crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the dnight of edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

Otherwise it’s too late to labor.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

If you want to repent when you’re dead, you have the same spirit after death.

35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become asubjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth bseal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

And that spirit will be subject to the devil.

36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in aunholy temples, but in the bhearts of the crighteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the dblood of the Lamb.

The Lord only dwells with the pure.

37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should awork out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;

He wants them to remember, work out salvation with fear, and not deny the coming of Christ.

38 That ye acontend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the bname of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and cworship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in dthanksgiving daily, for the many emercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Accept the Holy Ghost and humble yourself in the dust.

39 Yea, and I also aexhort you, my brethren, that ye be bwatchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the ctemptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you dno good thing.

Pray always to not be tempted.

40 And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have apatience, and that ye bear with all manner of bafflictions; that ye do not crevile against those who do cast you out because of your dexceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;

Have patience with those who make your life hard because of your poverty!

41 But that ye have apatience, and bear with those bafflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

Have hope that someday you can rest from your problems.

Ch. 35

1 Now it came to pass that after Amulek had made an end of these words, they withdrew themselves from the multitude and came over into the land of aJershon.

They went somewhere else.

2 Yea, and the rest of the brethren, after they had preached the word unto the aZoramites, also came over into the land of Jershon.

The other of them met up there.

3 And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their acraft; therefore they would not hearken unto the words.

The Zoramites didn’t like their word because it destroyed their “craft.”

4 And they sent and gathered together throughout all the land all the people, and consulted with them concerning the words which had been spoken.

So they consulted about the words.

5 Now their rulers and their priests and their teachers did not let the people know concerning their desires; therefore they found out privily the minds of all the people.

The leaders found out what the people thought secretly.

6 And it came to pass that after they had found out the minds of all the people, those who were in favor of the words which had been spoken by Alma and his brethren were cast out of the land; and they were amany; and they came over also into the land of Jershon.

They let those in favor of the words also come to Jershon.

7 And it came to pass that Alma and his brethren did minister unto them.

Narrative.

8 Now the people of the Zoramites were angry with the apeople of Ammon who were in Jershon, and the bchief ruler of the Zoramites, being a very wicked man, sent over unto the people of Ammon desiring them that they should cast out of their land all those who came over from them into their land.

They cut off missionaries I think.

9 And he breathed out many threatenings against them. And now the people of Ammon did not fear their words; therefore they did not cast them out, but they did receive all the poor of the Zoramites that came over unto them; and they did anourish them, and did clothe them, and did give unto them lands for their inheritance; and they did administer unto them according to their wants.

The people of Ammon trusted in God?

10 Now this did astir up the Zoramites to banger against the people of Ammon, and they began to mix with the Lamanites and to stir them up also to anger against them.

So they mixed with them and caused chaos.

11 And thus the Zoramites and the Lamanites began to make preparations for war against the people of Ammon, and also against the Nephites.

In that way they prepared for war.

12 And thus ended the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

The year ended.

13 And the people of Ammon departed out of the land of Jershon, and came over into the land of Melek, and gave place in the land of Jershon for the armies of the Nephites, that they might contend with the armies of the Lamanites and the armies of the Zoramites; and thus commenced a war betwixt the Lamanites and the Nephites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges; and an aaccount shall be given of their wars hereafter.

A war took place in Melek, which is Hebrew for “King.”

14 And Alma, and Ammon, and their brethren, and also the atwo sons of Alma returned to the land of Zarahemla, after having been instruments in the hands of God of bringing bmany of the cZoramites to repentance; and as many as were brought to repentance were driven out of their land; but they have lands for their inheritance in the land of Jershon, and they have taken up arms to defend themselves, and their wives, and children, and their lands.

The righteous prepared.

15 Now Alma, being agrieved for the iniquity of his people, yea for the wars, and the bloodsheds, and the contentions which were among them; and having been to declare the word, or sent to declare the word, among all the people in every city; and seeing that the hearts of the people began to wax hard, and that they began to be boffended because of the strictness of the word, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.

Preaching wasn’t working.

16 Therefore, he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his acharge, separately, concerning the things pertaining unto righteousness. And we have an account of his commandments, which he gave unto them according to his own record.

So he had a new strategy.

Ch. 36

1 My ason, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.

A promise from earlier in the Book of Mormon that we are looking to find out why from Mosiah to Moroni except maybe Ether. Ether is also supposed to be a very important book for everyone.

2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were in abondage, and none could bdeliver them except it was the cGod of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions.

Only God could deliver their fathers.

3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their atrust in God shall be supported in their btrials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be clifted up at the last day.

Trust God and finally you will be helped.

4 And I would not that ye think that I aknow of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the bcarnal mind but of God.

He knows of God not of man.

5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been aborn of God I should bnot have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy cangel, made these things known unto me, not of any dworthiness of myself;

Because he has been born again.

6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to adestroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.

He went to destroy the church but an angel stopped him.

7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did atremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the bfear of the Lord came upon us.

What the sign was.

8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel.

He obeyed the angel.

9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

The angel said he could last if he let the church last.

10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of athree days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.

Alma was paralyzed for three nights.

11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did anot hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.

He couldn’t listen to the angel.

12 But I was racked with aeternal btorment, for my soul was charrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

He felt eternal torment.

13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was atormented with the bpains of hell; yea, I saw that I had crebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

He had earned punishment.

14 Yea, and I had amurdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

He had caused others to be punished also.

15 Oh, thought I, that I acould be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my bdeeds.

He wanted to cease.

16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the apains of a bdamned soul.

Three days were like this.

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus aracked with torment, while I was bharrowed up by the cmemory of my many sins, behold, I dremembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

He remembered Jesus atonement which his father said would come.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, ahave mercy on me, who am bin the cgall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting dchains of edeath.

He cried out to Jesus.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my apains bno more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

His memory was erased, suggesting God may have erased His memory of him too.

20 And oh, what ajoy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

It was as good as it was bad.

21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

Each was the most extreme experience ever.

22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father aLehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and bpraising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

Repeat of 1 Nephi 1.

23 But behold, my limbs did receive their astrength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been bborn of God.

He was physically healed too.

24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto arepentance; that I might bring them to btaste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be cborn of God, and be dfilled with the Holy Ghost.

He preaches repentance now because he wants others to feel that way.

25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth agive me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my blabors;

Preaching brings him great joy.

26 For because of the aword which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have btasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.

He has shared what he had with others.

27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has adelivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still bdeliver me.

God delivered him from affliction to be able to do it.

28 And I know that he will araise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in bglory; yea, and I will cpraise him forever, for he has dbrought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the eEgyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time.

He will praise Him forever and He is who led the Jews out of Egypt.

29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of abondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance, as I have done, their captivity.

He also brought them out of Jerusalem.

30 But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye ought to know as I do know, that ainasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall bprosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence. Now this is according to his word.

A repeat of the theme we are exploring.

Ch. 37

1 And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the arecords which have been bentrusted with me;

Passing the records is a sacred thing.

2 And I also command you that ye keep a arecord of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a bwise purpose that they are kept.

And recording on them when you have them.

3 And these aplates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the bgenealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning—

They have the genealogy from the beginning, perhaps for temple work.

4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and ahanded down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the bmysteries contained thereon.

They are for everyone later in history.

5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

The message will keep its fidelity.

6 Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

Small and simple things cause great things and confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by ameans to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very bsmall means the Lord doth cconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

The Lord can do things by finding important things that we don’t realize and do much good.

8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, athey have benlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the cknowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

The scriptures enhanced memory, corrected behavior and brought people to know God for salvation.

9 Yea, I say unto you, awere it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have bconvinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their cwords brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

Many were brought to repentance in fact.

10 And who knoweth but what they will be the ameans of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our bstiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?

Maybe thousands more would convert.

11 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear.

He doesn’t explore the concept because he doesn’t know everything yet.

12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a awise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth bcounsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is cone eternal round.

He hopes they are preserved for a wise purpose, and God travels in a straight line that is round.

13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how astrict are the commandments of God. And he said: bIf ye will keep my commandments ye shall cprosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

A reminder of how you prosper.

14 And now remember, my son, that God has aentrusted you with these things, which are bsacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and cpreserve for a dwise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

A reminder of the responsibility of having the plates.

15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.

He must be righteous for them to be retained by righteous people.

16 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can atake them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.

If he is, nothing can stop him.

17 For he will fulfil all his apromises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

He will fulfill His promises just like in the past with others.

18 For he promised unto them that he would apreserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.

He promised them about the plates.

19 And now behold, one purpose hath he fulfilled, even to the restoration of amany thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and he hath shown forth his power in them, and he will also still show forth his power in them unto bfuture generations; therefore they shall be preserved.

The Lamanites deserved preservation and power.

20 Therefore I command you, my son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all my words, and that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they are written.

Therefore Helaman must be righteous.

21 And now, I will speak unto you concerning those atwenty-four plates, that ye keep them, that the bmysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed, may be made cmanifest unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve these dinterpreters.

The 24 plates reveal dark acts.

22 For behold, the Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness, yea, work secret murders and abominations; therefore the Lord said, if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

The Lord threatened to wipe people out for them.

23 And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a astone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may bdiscover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.

Gezelem was a stone to expose dark acts.

24 And now, my son, these ainterpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:

God said the following about the interpreter stones.

25 I will abring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will bdestroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.

Everything hidden will be revealed.

26 And now, my son, we see that they did not repent; therefore they have been destroyed, and thus far the word of God has been fulfilled; yea, their asecret abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us.

We see they didn’t repent therefore.

27 And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their asigns and their wonders ye shall bkeep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.

Keep the record so these things may be known.

28 For behold, there is a acurse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed.

There’s a curse on the land that destruction will come upon those who do such dark deeds.

29 Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their aoaths and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto them; and ye shall teach them to babhor such wickedness and abominations and murders; and ye shall also teach them that these people were destroyed on account of their wickedness and abominations and their murders.

So make it known.

30 For behold, they amurdered all the prophets of the Lord who came among them to declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those who were their murderers; and thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret bcombinations.

They murdered the prophets.

31 Yea, and acursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully bripe.

A bad road for workers of darkness/secret combinations. They are punished fully when they are ready for full punishment.

32 And now, my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting ahatred against sin and iniquity.

Teach people to hate sin and iniquity.

33 aPreach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be bmeek and lowly in heart; teach them to cwithstand every dtemptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Teach rather repentance, faith on Jesus Christ, and humility and meekness.

34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find arest to their souls.

Teach them to never tire of doing good!

35 O, remember, my son, and alearn bwisdom in thy cyouth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

Learn when you are young to keep the commandments of God!

36 Yea, and acry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy bdoings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy cthoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

Pray for every thing, relying on the Lord.

37 aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Be fully conversant with the Lord.

38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it aLiahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

He wants to talk about the Liahona.

39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

No man could make that. Chat GPT cannot do that.

40 And it did work for them according to their afaith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

Miracles happened with it through faith.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by asmall means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were bslothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

But lack of faith made it fail.

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did anot travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

They were afflicted from not having faith.

43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a ashadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

The Liahona relates spiritually.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the aword of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

Following Christ is as easy as following a ball.

45 And now I say, is there not a atype in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

It continues to guide to better living.

46 O my son, do not let us be aslothful because of the beasiness of the cway; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would dlook they might elive; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

Relating it to the brass serpent.

47 And now, my son, see that ye take acare of these sacred things, yea, see that ye blook to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.

See that you teach this.

Ch. 38

1 My ason, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that binasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be ccut off from his dpresence.

Talking to antoher son, starting with the American promise.

2 And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your asteadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that bendureth to the end.

When he was young he wanted to be good, and “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the aZoramites.

He was faithful, diligent, patient and long-suffering.

4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with apatience because the Lord was bwith thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.

He had been afflicted by them.

5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your atrust in God even so much ye shall be bdelivered out of your trials, and your ctroubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Trust God and you’ll eventually make it.

6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been aborn of God I should not have known these things.

The Spirit tells Alma this.

7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his aangel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of bdestruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.

Telling about his own bad experiences.

8 And it came to pass that I was athree days and three nights in the most bitter bpain and canguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a dremission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.

How he was in anguish over his sins.

9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is ano other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the blight of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and crighteousness.

Learn from Alma’s experience that you need Christ.

10 And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and atemperate in all things.

Keep teaching people what’s right.

11 See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not aboast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.

Don’t be prideful, nor boast in wisdom or strength.

12 Use aboldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bbridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.

Boldness, not overbearance, self-control, so that you’ll have love, and also you should avoid being idle.

13 Do not apray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.

Do not pray for men to help you, but for God to help you.

14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are abetter than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my bunworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.

Instead of saying you are better, try to become better.

15 And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be asober. My son, farewell.

And hopefully you are rewarded for good.

Ch. 39

1 And now, my ason, I have somewhat more to say unto thee than what I said unto thy brother; for behold, have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother, his faithfulness, and his diligence in keeping the commandments of God? Behold, has he not set a good bexample for thee?

What to tell someone who hasn’t been steady in goodness.

2 For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the aZoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.

Corianton didn’t listen as much as Shiblon, and ended up prideful.

3 And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the aharlot Isabel.

He made a sexual sin.

4 Yea, she did asteal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son. Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted.

He should have been strong.

5 Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most aabominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent bblood or denying the Holy Ghost?

This is a terrible sin, next to shedding innocent blood and denying the Holy Ghost.

6 For behold, if ye adeny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is bunpardonable; yea, and whosoever murdereth against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain cforgiveness; yea, I say unto you, my son, that it is not easy for him to obtain a forgiveness.

Holy Ghost unpardonable; murdering against the light and knowledge of God, hard to obtain forgiveness.

7 And now, my son, I would to God that ye had not been aguilty of so great a crime. I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good.

Alma’s telling Coriaton for his own good.

8 But behold, ye cannot ahide your crimes from God; and except ye repent they will stand as a testimony against you at the last day.

You can’t hide your crimes, so you need to deal with them.

9 Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the alusts of your eyes, but bcross yourself in all these things; for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and ccross yourself in these things.

Take up a cross and don’t follow lust.

10 And I command you to take it upon you to counsel with your elder brothers in your undertakings; for behold, thou art in thy youth, and ye stand in need to be nourished by your brothers. And give heed to their counsel.

Counsel with your brothers about it. He was in his youth!

11 Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing; suffer not the devil to lead away your heart again after those wicked harlots. Behold, O my son, how great ainiquity ye brought upon the bZoramites; for when they saw your cconduct they would not believe in my words.

Don’t let Lucifer get you with this.

12 And now the Spirit of the Lord doth say unto me: aCommand thy children to do good, lest they blead away the hearts of many people to destruction; therefore I command you, my son, in the fear of God, that ye crefrain from your iniquities;

He is telling Corianton because the spirit is telling him.

13 That ye turn to the Lord with all your mind, might, and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly; but rather return unto them, and aacknowledge your faults and that wrong which ye have done.

Go all in.

14 aSeek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you.

Riches can’t go on to the next life.

15 And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the acoming of Christ. Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people.

Savior to preach salvation/repentance.

16 And now, my son, this was the ministry unto which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto this people, to prepare their minds; or rather that salvation might come unto them, that they may prepare the minds of their achildren to hear the word at the time of his coming.

And to prepare minds.

17 And now I will ease your mind somewhat on this subject. Behold, you marvel why these things should be known so long beforehand. Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?

The Lord cares about everyone.

18 Is it not as necessary that the plan of redemption should be amade known unto this people as well as unto their children?

This knowledge helps these people choose the right.

19 Is it not as easy at this time for the Lord to asend his angel to declare these glad tidings unto us as unto our children, or as after the time of his coming?

And its just as easy to do.

Ch. 40

1 Now my son, here is somewhat more I would say unto thee; for I perceive that thy mind is worried concerning the resurrection of the dead.

He wants to calm worries.

2 Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection—or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on aimmortality, this corruption does not bput on incorruption—cuntil after the coming of Christ.

There’s no immortality until after Christ’s first earth life.

3 Behold, he bringeth to pass the aresurrection of the dead. But behold, my son, the resurrection is not yet. Now, I unfold unto you a mystery; nevertheless, there are many bmysteries which are ckept, that no one knoweth them save God himself. But I show unto you one thing which I have inquired diligently of God that I might know—that is concerning the resurrection.

Here comes a mystery. Some mysteries only God knows.

4 Behold, there is a time appointed that all shall acome forth from the dead. Now when this time cometh no one knows; but God knoweth the time which is appointed.

There is a judgement day.

5 Now, whether there shall be one time, or a asecond time, or a third time, that men shall come forth from the dead, it mattereth not; for God bknoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case—that there is a time appointed that all shall rise from the dead.

There may be multiple ones.

6 Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection.

There is time between.

7 And now I would inquire what becometh of the asouls of men bfrom this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection?

What happens to souls in the spirit world?

8 Now whether there is more than one atime appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men.

Again, there may be multiple resurrection times.

9 Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

So there is a space between them to help people.

10 And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God aknoweth all the btimes which are appointed unto man.

They will know God knows all times.

11 Now, concerning the astate of the soul between bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are ctaken dhome to that God who gave them life.

They come to God who gave them life right after they die.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ahappiness, which is called bparadise, a state of rest, a state of cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

The righteous live well there.

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the aspirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the bdevil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into couter darkness; there shall be dweeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

The punishment is just for the wicked.

14 Now this is the state of the asouls of the bwicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, cfearful looking for the fiery dindignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

There state is punishment between death and the ressurection.

15 Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection. Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the araising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.

Ressurection to happiness or misery.

16 And behold, again it hath been spoken, that there is a afirst bresurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Christ was the first to be ressurection.

17 Now, we do not suppose that this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner, can be the resurrection of the souls and their aconsignation to happiness or misery. Ye cannot suppose that this is what it meaneth.

For some reason this first ressurection isn’t the one to happiness or misery.

18 Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but it meaneth the areuniting of the soul with the body, of those from the days of Adam down to the resurrection of Christ.

It means reuniting of soul and body.

to follow: what can happen to the souls in prison?

19 Now, whether the souls and the bodies of those of whom has been spoken shall all be reunited at once, the wicked as well as the righteous, I do not say; let it suffice, that I say that they all come forth; or in other words, their resurrection cometh to pass abefore the resurrection of those who die after the resurrection of Christ.

Some come alive before Christ does.

20 Now, my son, I do not say that their resurrection cometh at the resurrection of Christ; but behold, I give it as my opinion, that the souls and the bodies are reunited, of the righteous, at the resurrection of Christ, and his aascension into heaven.

In his opinion, the souls of the righteous come together at the time of Christ’s resurrection.

21 But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I say, that there is a aspace between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in bhappiness or in cmisery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be dbrought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

There is a state of waiting before standing before God.

22 Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets.

The prophets have talked about this.

23 The asoul shall be brestored to the cbody, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a dhair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and eperfect frame.

A perfect reunion of body and soul.

24 And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been aspoken by the mouths of the prophets—

The prophets have talked about this.

25 And then shall the arighteous shine forth in the kingdom of God.

The righteous shine forth.

26 But behold, an awful adeath cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and bno unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter ccup.

The wicked must consume what they produced.

Ch. 41

1 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have awrested the scriptures, and have gone far bastray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been cworried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee.

Don’t worry; it makes sense.

2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every apart of the body should be restored to itself.

Things shall be restored to what they have been.

3 And it is requisite with the ajustice of God that men should be bjudged according to their cworks; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be drestored unto that which is good.

Good men get good restored.

4 And if their works are evil they shall be arestored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be brestored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—cmortality raised to dimmortality, ecorruption to incorruption—raised to fendless happiness to ginherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

Everyone gets endless happiness or misery restored.

5 The one raised to ahappiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

If you desired evil all day long you get evil.

6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousne

If you desired righteousness you get righteousness.

7 aThese are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own bjudges, whether to do good or do evil.

The righteous are delivered fromthe darkness.

8 Now, the decrees of God are aunalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that bwhosoever will may cwalk therein and be saved.

It is possible to do it right.

9 And now behold, my son, do not risk aone more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.

Don’t risk an offense.

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, awickedness never was bhappiness.

Sin is incompatible with happiness.

11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of anature, or I would say, in a bcarnal state, are in the cgall of bitterness and in the dbonds of iniquity; they are ewithout God in the world, and they have gone fcontrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

These souls are not in a state of happiness.

12 And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?

Restoration means to restore.

13 O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again aevil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

Restoration is what goes around comes around.

14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal ajustly, bjudge righteously, and do cgood continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your dreward; yea, ye shall have emercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

Therefore do good.

15 For that which ye do asend out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

Restoration more fully condmeneth the sinner and justifies him not at all.

Ch. 42 Will this be more of the same?

1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the ajustice of God in the bpunishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is cinjustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.

The Son doesn’t think a sinner is unworthy to suffer.

2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of aEden, to till the bground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, ccherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—

He talks about the Garden of Eden

3 Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed acherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—

Since they had evil, living forever would not be optimal.

4 And thus we see, that there was a atime granted unto man to repent, yea, a bprobationary time, a time to repent and serve God.

Thus they had a time to repent and serve God because eventually they might take of the fruit of life.

5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and apartaken of the btree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.

It wouldn’t have worked out the other way.

6 But behold, it was appointed unto man to adie—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became blost forever, yea, they became cfallen man.

So man had become destined to be destroyed in this life just like he would suffer in the next.

7 And now, ye see by this that our first parents were acut off both temporally and spiritually from the bpresence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own cwill.

They were cut off and subject to do their own will.

8 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this atemporal death, for that would destroy the great bplan of happiness.

He still could be ressurected physically (spiritually not mentioned here).

9 Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the afall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual bdeath as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.

Still a spiritual death.

10 Therefore, as they had become acarnal, sensual, and devilish, by bnature, this cprobationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.

They became bad people.

11 And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were amiserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Plan of redemption?

12 And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which aman had brought upon himself because of his own bdisobedience;

No way to reclaim them?

13 Therefore, according to justice, the aplan of bredemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would ccease to be God.

Men would have to become free from sin.

14 And thus we see that all mankind were afallen, and they were in the grasp of bjustice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.

Al men were fallen in this condition.

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of bmercy, to appease the demands of cjustice, that God might be a dperfect, just God, and a emerciful God also.

But mercy could come about through an atonement!

16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a apunishment, which also was beternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed copposite to the plan of happiness, which was as deternal also as the life of the soul.

Repentance was to avoid a punishment and get a reward.

17 Now, how could a man repent except he should asin? How could he sin if there was no blaw? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?

These conditions exist logically.

18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of aconscience unto man.

The punishment and law brought remorse of conscious to sinners.

19 Now, if there was no law given—if a man amurdered he should bdie—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder?

If there was no law given, righteousness wouldn’t matter.

20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.

Sin would not matter.

21 And if there was ano law given, if men sinned what could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature?

Justice or mercy would not affect htem.

22 But there is a law given, and a apunishment affixed, and a brepentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the claw, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

So there is justice and mercy for repentance.

23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and amercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the batonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the cresurrection of the dead; and the dresurrection of the dead bringeth eback men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be fjudged according to their works, according to the law and justice.

Repentance, through the atonement, enables mercy.

24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also amercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

Justice and mercy are both satisfied.

25 What, do ye suppose that amercy can rob bjustice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.

Mercy cannot rob justice.

26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal apurposes, which were prepared bfrom the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery.

God still bfrought some salvation and redemption and some destruction and misery.

27 Therefore, O my son, awhosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be brestored unto him according to his cdeeds.

It is your choice.

28 If he has desired to do aevil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him, according to the restoration of God.

Evil will be restored to evil.

29 And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things atrouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance.

Only worry about your sins,not this.

30 O my son, I desire that ye should deny the ajustice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his bmercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in chumility.

Do not try to sin in the least part.

31 And now, O my son, ye are called of God to apreach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, that thou mayest bbring souls unto repentance, that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them. And may God grant unto you even according to my words. Amen.

And by the way, help others to see it.

Ch. 43

1 And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not arest, and he also went forth.

Alma and his sons went forth to preach the word. Alma coulnd’t even help himself.

2 Now awe shall say no more concerning their preaching, except that they preached the word, and the truth, according to the spirit of prophecy and revelation; and they preached after the bholy order of God by which they were called.

The preaching was about the same stuff.

3 And now aI return to an baccount of the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges.

More about wars.

4 For behold, it came to pass that the aZoramites became Lamanites; therefore, in the commencement of the eighteenth year the people of the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming upon them; therefore they made preparations for war; yea, they gathered together their armies in the land of Jershon.

The Zoramites united against the Lamanites, so the Nephites prepared against them.

5 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their thousands; and they came into the land of aAntionum, which is the land of the Zoramites; and a man by the name of bZerahemnah was their leader.

The Lamanite group came against them.

6 And now, as the aAmalekites were of a more wicked and murderous disposition than the Lamanites were, in and of themselves, therefore, Zerahemnah appointed chief bcaptains over the Lamanites, and they were all Amalekites and cZoramites.

The murderous and wicked got to be leaders.

Amalekites were even more wicked and against them too.

7 Now this he did that he might preserve their ahatred towards the Nephites, that he might bring them into subjection to the accomplishment of his designs.

It was strategic to get them to hate the Nephites.

8 For behold, his adesigns were to bstir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by bringing them into cbondage.

Anger was his tool.

9 And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses, and their awives, and their children, that they might preserve them from the hands of their enemies; and also that they might preserve their brights and their privileges, yea, and also their cliberty, that they might worship God according to their desires.

The Nephites wanted to be good though.

10 For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites, that whosoever should aworship God in bspirit and in truth, the true and the living God, the Lamanites would cdestroy.

They knew that the Lamanites would destroy living that way.

11 Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites towards their abrethren, who were the bpeople of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, who were called the people of Ammon—and they would not take up arms, yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not break it—therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites they would be destroyed.

There was extreme hatred.

12 And the Nephites would not suffer that they should be destroyed; therefore they gave them lands for their inheritance.

They gave their land for their lives.

13 And the people of Ammon did give unto the Nephites a large portion of their substance to asupport their armies; and thus the Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the Lamanites, who were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, and all those who had dissented from the Nephites, who were Amalekites and Zoramites, and the bdescendants of the priests of Noah.

They had to stand at war.

14 Now those descendants were as numerous, nearly, as were the Nephites; and thus the Nephites were obliged to contend with their brethren, even unto bloodshed.

They had to have bloodshed.

15 And it came to pass as the armies of the Lamanites had gathered together in the land of Antionum, behold, the armies of the Nephites were prepared to meet them in the aland of Jershon.

Narrative.

16 Now, the leader of the Nephites, or the man who had been aappointed to be the bchief captain over the Nephites—now the chief captain took the command of all the armies of the Nephites—and his name was Moroni;

Moroni was the Nephite leader.

17 And Moroni took all the command, and the government of their wars. And he was only twenty and five years old when he was appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites.

He was 25-years old when he was their leader.

18 And it came to pass that he met the Lamanites in the borders of Jershon, and his people were armed with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of aweapons of war.

He built many weapons.

19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had aprepared his people with bbreastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing—

They saw the armor and weapons of the Nephites.

20 Now the army of Zerahemnah was not prepared with any such thing; they had only their aswords and their cimeters, their bows and their arrows, their bstones and their slings; and they were cnaked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins; yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the Amalekites;

They had nothing like that.

21 But they were not armed with breastplates, nor shields—therefore, they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of the Nephites because of their armor, notwithstanding their number being so much greater than the Nephites.

But they were much more numerous.

22 Behold, now it came to pass that they durst not come against the Nephites in the borders of Jershon; therefore they departed out of the land of Antionum into the wilderness, and took their journey round about in the wilderness, away by the head of the river Sidon, that they might come into the land of aManti and take possession of the land; for they did not suppose that the armies of Moroni would know whither they had gone.

So they went somewhere else.

23 But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should ainquire of the Lord bwhither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

Moroni prayed where to send troops.

24 And it came to pass that the aword of the Lord came unto Alma, and Alma informed the messengers of Moroni, that the armies of the Lamanites were marching round about in the wilderness, that they might come over into the land of Manti, that they might commence an attack upon the weaker part of the people. And those messengers went and delivered the message unto Moroni.

So he knew where to go.

25 Now Moroni, leaving a part of his army in the land of Jershon, lest by any means a part of the Lamanites should come into that land and take possession of the city, took the remaining part of his army and marched over into the land of Manti.

Moroni had to divide his army for two different purposes.

26 And he caused that all the people in that quarter of the land should gather themselves together to battle against the Lamanites, to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties; therefore they were prepared against the time of the coming of the Lamanites.

He got everyone ready, a byproduct of their conversion.

27 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his army should be secreted in the valley which was near the bank of the river Sidon, which was on the west of the river Sidon in the wilderness.

He planted some of his army secretly.

28 And Moroni placed spies round about, that he might know when the camp of the Lamanites should come.

They had spies.

29 And now, as Moroni knew the aintention of the Lamanites, that it was their intention to destroy their brethren, or to bsubject them and bring them into bondage that they might establish a kingdom unto themselves over all the land;

Knowing their intent…

30 And he also knowing that it was the aonly desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their bliberty, and their church, therefore he thought it no sin that he should defend them by cstratagem; therefore, he found by his spies which course the Lamanites were to take.

and his group’s intent to keep their land, liberty and church, so he used strategy hoping for a good result.

31 Therefore, he divided his army and brought a part over into the valley, and aconcealed them on the east, and on the south of the hill Riplah;

He hid some of his army.

32 And the remainder he concealed in the west avalley, on the west of the river Sidon, and so down into the borders of the land Manti.

Narrative.

33 And thus having placed his army according to his desire, he was prepared to meet them.

Then he felt prepared.

34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came up on the north of the hill, where a part of the army of Moroni was concealed.

So the Lamanites came to a hidden part.

35 And as the Lamanites had passed the hill Riplah, and came into the valley, and began to cross the river Sidon, the army which was concealed on the south of the hill, which was led by a man whose name was aLehi, and he led his army forth and encircled the Lamanites about on the east in their rear.

They encircled the Lamanites.

36 And it came to pass that the Lamanites, when they saw the Nephites coming upon them in their rear, turned them about and began to contend with the army of Lehi.

The Lamanites commenced fighting.

37 And the work of death commenced on both sides, but it was more dreadful on the part of the Lamanites, for their anakedness was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephites with their swords and their cimeters, which brought death almost at every stroke.

The Lamanites died at almost every hit.

38 While on the other hand, there was now and then a man fell among the Nephites, by their swords and the loss of blood, they being shielded from the more vital parts of the body, or the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites, by their abreastplates, and their armshields, and their head-plates; and thus the Nephites did carry on the work of death among the Lamanites.

Every once in a while a Nephite still died.

39 And it came to pass that the Lamanites became frightened, because of the great destruction among them, even until they began to flee towards the river Sidon.

The Lamanites fled.

40 And they were pursued by Lehi and his men; and they were driven by Lehi into the waters of Sidon, and they crossed the waters of Sidon. And Lehi retained his armies upon the bank of the river Sidon that they should not cross.

With strategy, the Nephites pursued them.

41 And it came to pass that Moroni and his army met the Lamanites in the avalley, on the other side of the river Sidon, and began to fall upon them and to slay them.

They began to slay the Lamanites.

42 And the Lamanites did flee again before them, towards the land of Manti; and they were met again by the armies of Moroni.

They fled again and were met again.

43 Now in this case the Lamanites did fight exceedingly; yea, never had the Lamanites been known to fight with such exceedingly great strength and courage, no, not even from the beginning.

For some reason, the Lamanites fought strongly here.

44 And they were inspired by the aZoramites and the Amalekites, who were their chief captains and leaders, and by Zerahemnah, who was their chief captain, or their chief leader and commander; yea, they did fight like dragons, and many of the Nephites were slain by their hands, yea, for they did smite in two many of their head-plates, and they did pierce many of their breastplates, and they did smite off many of their arms; and thus the Lamanites did smite in their fierce anger.

Anger was a motivation for them.

45 Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a abetter cause, for they were not bfighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their cliberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.

But the Nephites were fighting for their homes, liberties, family and rites of worship.

46 And they were doing that which they felt was the aduty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: bInasmuch as ye are not guilty of the cfirst offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.

They followed God’s prescribed way for this to not be slain by their enemies.

47 And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall adefend your families even unto bbloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

The Lord had said to defend their families unto bloodshed.

48 And it came to pass that when the men of Moroni saw the fierceness and the anger of the Lamanites, they were about to shrink and flee from them. And Moroni, perceiving their intent, sent forth and inspired their hearts with these thoughts—yea, the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage.

They almost fled but remembered their cause.

49 And it came to pass that they turned upon the Lamanites, and they acried with one voice bunto the Lord their God, for their cliberty and their freedom from bondage.

They cried to the Lord in front of the Lamanites.

50 And they abegan to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them; and they fled even to the waters of Sidon.

The outcome changed corresponding to crying to the Lord.

51 Now, the Lamanites were more anumerous, yea, by more than double the number of the Nephites; nevertheless, they were driven insomuch that they were gathered together in one body in the valley, upon the bank by the river Sidon.

The Lamanites were driven.

52 Therefore the armies of Moroni encircled them about, yea, even on both sides of the river, for behold, on the east were the men of Lehi.

Moroni’s army surrounded them.

53 Therefore when Zerahemnah saw the men of Lehi on the east of the river Sidon, and the armies of Moroni on the west of the river Sidon, that they were encircled about by the Nephites, they were struck with terror.

The bad guys struck with terror.

54 Now Moroni, when he saw their aterror, commanded his men that they should stop shedding their blood.

Moroni said it was time for mercy.

Chapter 44

1 And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto aZerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do bnot desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.

Time for mercy.

2 Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the ayoke of bondage. But this is the bvery cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

Pointing out their differences. Bondage vs religion.

3 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us abecause of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

He wants them to understand that the Lord won this battle for them, even with their enhanced weapons and armor. (they fought hard for their rights)

4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are afaithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.

The Lord is fair. He protects the honest and righteous.

5 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, aby our faith, by our religion, and by our brites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our cwives and our children, by that dliberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

By all these things…

6 Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye adeliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will bspare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.

They offer a blank slate!

7 And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and ainflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.

Making clear that it is an option.

8 And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his asword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an boath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.

They gave their weapons, but they complained about making an oath that they’re not good at keeping them.

9 Behold, we are anot of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your bbreastplates and your shields that have preserved you.

They pointed to the cunning and armor as saving the Nephites.

10 And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.

Moroni reteurned the weapon and said they would fight. I guess he saw no other way.

11 Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.

Moroni said he would have to live by his own words as well.

12 And now when Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah retained his sword, and he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni’s soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers.

He got scalped trying to break the condition.

13 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:

For dramatic effect

14 Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.

Reiterating that now they each can choose the peaceful or the deadly route.

15 Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a acovenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to bdepart into the wilderness.

Many chose peace.

16 Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.

Many listened to Zerahemnah.

17 And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites; therefore he commanded his people that they should fall upon them and slay them. And it came to pass that they began to slay them; yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.

So they attacked htem.

18 But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.

This seems sad to me.

19 Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they anever would come to war again against them.

At the point of destruction, like in the journey to the promised land, Zerahemnah agreed to peace.

20 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should acease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a bcovenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.

Moroni stopped fighting and took their weapons.

21 Now the number of their dead was not numbered because of the greatness of the number; yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great, both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites.

Very many had died.

22 And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the asea.

They buried them at sea rather than nothing. Being practical.

23 And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.

Moroni’s armies returned to theri land.

24 And thus ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi.

The year ended.

Ch. 45

1 Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again adelivered them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did bfast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.

They chose to fast, pray and worship to celebrate success.

2 And it came to pass in the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma came unto his son Helaman and said unto him: Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those arecords which have been kept?

Alma asked his son Helaman if he believed.

3 And Helaman said unto him: Yea, I abelieve.

Helaman said yes.

4 And Alma said again: Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?

Alma asked if he believed in Jesus Christ’ coming.

5 And he said: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken.

Helaman said yes and everything else.

6 And Alma said unto him again: Will ye akeep my commandments?

Alma asked if he would keep commandments.

7 And he said: Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart.

Helaman answered perfectly.

8 Then Alma said unto him: Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall aprosper thee in this land.

Alma said he would be rewarded.

9 But behold, I have somewhat to aprophesy unto thee; but what I prophesy unto thee ye shall not make known; yea, what I prophesy unto thee shall not be made known, even until the prophecy is fulfilled; therefore write the words which I shall say.

He wrote something not to be revealed until it is fulfilled.

10 And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in afour hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in bunbelief.

400 years after Christ comes the Nephites shall dwindle in unbelief.

11 Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become aextinct—

The Nephites will have so many problems they will even go extinct.

12 Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and alasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the bfourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.

Because of sin.

13 And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among the people of Nephi, shall ano more be numbered among the people of Nephi.

Nephites would rebel.

14 But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be anumbered among the bLamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even cuntil they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled.

The remainder will be counted Lamanites.

15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman, he ablessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth for the brighteous’ sake.

Alma blessed Helaman and his other sons.

16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—aCursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do bwickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the cblessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the dleast degree of allowance.

The land is for the righteous.

17 And now, when Alma had said these words he blessed the achurch, yea, all those who should stand fast in the faith from that time henceforth.

Alma blesses the church.

18 And when Alma had done this he adeparted out of the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of bMelek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more; as to his death or burial we know not of.

Alma departed and was never seen again.

19 Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the aSpirit, or bburied by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial.

Alma had been a righteous man.

20 And now it came to pass in the commencement of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Helaman went forth among the people to declare the aword unto them.

So Helaman starts to preach.

21 For behold, because of their wars with the Lamanites and the many little dissensions and disturbances which had been among the people, it became expedient that the aword of God should be declared among them, yea, and that a bregulation should be made throughout the church.

The Lamanites were causing problems so the church needed to be modified a little.

22 Therefore, aHelaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that they did appoint bpriests and cteachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.

So they re-established the church.

23 And now it came to pass that after Helaman and his brethren had appointed priests and teachers over the churches that there arose a adissension among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren;

But a dissension came.

24 But they grew proud, being lifted up in their hearts, because of their exceedingly great ariches; therefore they grew rich in their own eyes, and would not give heed to their words, to bwalk uprightly before God.

Their riches blocked conversion.

Chapter 46

1 And it came to pass that as many as would not hearken to the awords of Helaman and his brethren were gathered together against their brethren.

Helaman and his brothers vs those who did not hearken to them. Note that those who hearkened seem to have believed.

2 And now behold, they were exceedingly wroth, insomuch that they were determined to slay them.

They wanted them dead.

3 Now the leader of those who were wroth against their brethren was a large and a strong man; and his name was aAmalickiah.

Their leader was strong.

4 And Amalickiah was desirous to be a aking; and those people who were wroth were also desirous that he should be their king; and they were the greater part of them the lower bjudges of the land, and they were seeking for power.

They made Amalickiah king and wanted power.

5 And they had been led by the aflatteries of Amalickiah, that if they would support him and establish him to be their king that he would make them rulers over the people.

He had flattered them to become so.

6 Thus they were led away by Amalickiah to dissensions, notwithstanding the preaching of Helaman and his brethren, yea, notwithstanding their exceedingly great care over the church, for they were ahigh priests over the church.

They fell away after being members.

7 And there were many in the church who believed in the aflattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they bdissented even from the church; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great cvictory which they had had over the Lamanites, and their great rejoicings which they had had because of their ddeliverance by the hand of the Lord.

Despite their victories, now they were losing on the spiritual front, and so on the physical front.

8 Thus we see how aquick the children of men do bforget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do ciniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.

People lose it quick.

9 Yea, and we also see the great awickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men.

One man can do much harm.

10 Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to adestroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of bliberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the crighteous’ sake.

Amalickiah.

11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the achief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.

Moroni got angry at Amalickiah.

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—aIn memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

He made a flag. It was about God, religion, freedom, peace and family.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his abreastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the btitle of liberty) and he cbowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of dChristians remain to possess the land—

He made a powerful demonstration.

14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.

The Christians liked the flag.

15 And those who did belong to the church were afaithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ btook upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or cChristians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

They were faithful.

16 And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the afreedom of the land might be favored.

Moroni prayed for his side because it was Christian and with freedom.

17 And it came to pass that when he had poured out his soul to God, he named all the land which was asouth of the land bDesolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the cnorth and on the south—A chosen land, and the land of dliberty.

He claimed all the lang as a land of liberty.

18 And he said: Surely God shall not asuffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own btransgressions.

He reasoned that God would therefore help him.

19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the arent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

he went forth with his flag.

20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and aenter into a covenant that they will bmaintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

Offering blessings.

21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running atogether with their armor girded about their loins, brending their garments in token, or as a ccovenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be dashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

They covenanted, and said that like the flag was torn, they would be torn if they fell away from it.

22 Now this was the covenant which they made, and they acast their garments at the feet of Moroni, saying: We bcovenant with our God, that we shall be destroyed, even as our brethren in the land northward, if we shall fall into transgression; yea, he may cast us at the feet of our enemies, even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot, if we shall fall into transgression.

So they covenanted that way.

23 Moroni said unto them: Behold, we are a aremnant of the seed of Jacob; yea, we are a remnant of the seed of bJoseph, whose ccoat was rent by his brethren into many pieces; yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain.

Reminding them of their Old Testament heritage.

24 Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a aremnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a bpart of the cremnant of the coat of Joseph was dpreserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a eremnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.

So they put all that together.

25 Now behold, this giveth my soul sorrow; nevertheless, my soul hath joy in my son, because of that part of his seed which shall be taken unto God.

He was happy for some people.

26 Now behold, this was the language of Jacob.

This is what Jacob was saying.

27 And now who knoweth but what the remnant of the seed of Joseph, which shall perish as his garment, are those who have dissented from us? Yea, and even it shall be ourselves if we do not stand fast in the faith of Christ.

They could learn from the dissenters and not suffer their fate.

28 And now it came to pass that when Moroni had said these words he went forth, and also sent forth in all the parts of the land where there were dissensions, and gathered together all the people who were desirous to maintain their liberty, to stand against Amalickiah and those who had dissented, who were called Amalickiahites.

Moroni gathered people to fight.

29 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah saw that the people of Moroni were more numerous than the Amalickiahites—and he also saw that his people were adoubtful concerning the justice of the cause in which they had undertaken—therefore, fearing that he should not gain the point, he took those of his people who would and departed into the bland of Nephi.

He had to settle when there were doubters and Amalickiah was enticing to be followed.

30 Now Moroni thought it was not expedient that the Lamanites should have any more astrength; therefore he thought to cut off the people of Amalickiah, or to take them and bring them back, and put Amalickiah to death; yea, for he knew that he would stir up the Lamanites to anger against them, and cause them to come to battle against them; and this he knew that Amalickiah would do that he might obtain his purposes.

Amalickiah wanted strength; Moroni wanted to cut it off.

31 Therefore Moroni thought it was expedient that he should take his armies, who had gathered themselves together, and armed themselves, and entered into a covenant to keep the peace—and it came to pass that he took his army and marched out with his tents into the wilderness, to cut off the course of Amalickiah in the wilderness.

So they tried to cut off the path of Amalickiah.

32 And it came to pass that he did according to his desires, and marched forth into the wilderness, and headed the armies of Amalickiah.

It worked.

33 And it came to pass that Amalickiah afled with a small number of his men, and the remainder were delivered up into the hands of Moroni and were taken back into the land of Zarahemla.

He took them prisoner.

34 Now, Moroni being a man who was aappointed by the chief judges and the voice of the people, therefore he had power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and to exercise authority over them.

He had legally authority over his army.

35 And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites that would not enter into a covenant to support the acause of freedom, that they might maintain a free bgovernment, he caused to be put to death; and there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom.

They could choose freedom or death.

36 And it came to pass also, that he caused the atitle of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.

He hoisted the flag.

37 And they began to have peace again in the land; and thus they did maintain peace in the land until nearly the end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges.

Patriotism helped.

38 And Helaman and the ahigh priests did also maintain order in the church; yea, even for the space of four years did they have much peace and rejoicing in the church.

Helaman and the church ordered the church (notice that church and state were separate).

39 And it came to pass that there were many who died, firmly abelieving that their souls were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ; thus they went out of the world rejoicing.

Many died happy.

40 And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many aplants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of bdiseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate—

Plants are important for medicine.

41 But there were many who died with aold age; and those who died in the faith of Christ are bhappy in him, as we must needs suppose.

Those who died with old age were happy too.

Chapter 47

1 Now we will return in our record to Amalickiah and those who had afled with him into the wilderness; for, behold, he had taken those who went with him, and went up in the bland of Nephi among the Lamanites, and did cstir up the Lamanites to anger against the people of Nephi, insomuch that the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation throughout all his land, among all his people, that they should gather themselves together again to go to battle against the Nephites.

The Amalickites and the Lamanites united.

2 And it came to pass that when the proclamation had gone forth among them they were exceedingly afraid; yea, they afeared to displease the king, and they also feared to go to battle against the Nephites lest they should lose their lives. And it came to pass that they would not, or the more part of them would not, obey the commandments of the king.

But many rebeled againt their king.

3 And now it came to pass that the king was wroth because of their disobedience; therefore he gave Amalickiah the command of that part of his army which was obedient unto his commands, and commanded him that he should go forth and acompel them to arms.

So they tried to compel them to fight.

4 Now behold, this was the desire of Amalickiah; for he being a very asubtle man to do evil therefore he laid the plan in his heart to bdethrone the king of the Lamanites.

Amalickiah wanted to dethrone the king of the Lamanites.

5 And now he had got the command of those parts of the Lamanites who were in favor of the king; and he sought to gain favor of those who were not obedient; therefore he went forward to the place which was called aOnidah, for thither had all the Lamanites fled; for they discovered the army coming, and, supposing that they were coming to destroy them, therefore they fled to Onidah, to the place of arms.

Now we’ll see the bad version of the title of liberty.

6 And they had appointed a man to be a king and a leader over them, being fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would anot be subjected to go against the Nephites.

They were determined against the Nephites.

7 And it came to pass that they had gathered themselves together upon the top of the mount which was called Antipas, in preparation to battle.

A mountain may be strategic for battle because the enemy climbs and you go down.

8 Now it was not Amalickiah’s intention to give them battle according to the commandments of the king; but behold, it was his intention to gain favor with the armies of the Lamanites, that he might place himself at their head and dethrone the king and take possession of the kingdom.

Amalickiah wanted to take over not obey the other king.

9 And behold, it came to pass that he caused his army to pitch their tents in the valley which was near the mount Antipas.

They pitched tents…

10 And it came to pass that when it was night he sent a secret embassy into the mount Antipas, desiring that the leader of those who were upon the mount, whose name was Lehonti, that he should come down to the foot of the mount, for he desired to speak with him.

At night, he sent to speak with somebody secretely.

11 And it came to pass that when Lehonti received the message he durst not go down to the foot of the mount. And it came to pass that Amalickiah sent again the second time, desiring him to come down. And it came to pass that Lehonti would not; and he sent again the third time.

Lehonti was reluctant. Alalickiah asked again.

12 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah found that he could not get Lehonti to come down off from the mount, he went up into the mount, nearly to Lehonti’s camp; and he sent again the fourth time his message unto Lehonti, desiring that he would come down, and that he would bring his guards with him.

Amalickiah went up a little to try to get him to come down.

13 And it came to pass that when Lehonti had come down with his guards to Amalickiah, that Amalickiah desired him to come down with his army in the night-time, and surround those men in their camps over whom the king had given him command, and that he would deliver them up into Lehonti’s hands, if he would make him (Amalickiah) a second aleader over the whole army.

Lehonti came down and was offered to take over his own people.

14 And it came to pass that Lehonti came down with his men and surrounded the men of Amalickiah, so that before they awoke at the dawn of day they were surrounded by the armies of Lehonti.

But they surrounded Amalickiah.

15 And it came to pass that when they saw that they were surrounded, they pled with Amalickiah that he would suffer them to fall in with their brethren, that they might not be destroyed. Now this was the very thing which Amalickiah desired.

They begged Amalickiah to let them fall in.

16 And it came to pass that he delivered his men, acontrary to the commands of the king. Now this was the thing that Amalickiah desired, that he might accomplish his designs in dethroning the king.

How does this help him detrhone the king?

17 Now it was the custom among the Lamanites, if their chief leader was killed, to appoint the second leader to be their chief leader.

18 And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer apoison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died.

They poisoned Lehonti to death.

19 Now, when Lehonti was dead, the Lamanites appointed Amalickiah to be their leader and their chief commander.

So then they picked Amalickiah.

20 And it came to pass that Amalickiah marched with his armies (for he had gained his desires) to the aland of Nephi, to the city of Nephi, which was the chief city.

Then they went after the Nephites by name as well.

21 And the king came out to meet him with his guards, for he supposed that Amalickiah had afulfilled his commands, and that Amalickiah had gathered together so great an army to go against the Nephites to battle.

The king comes out with his guards to meet Amalickiah.

22 But behold, as the king came out to meet him Amalickiah caused that his servants should go forth to meet the king. And they went and abowed themselves before the king, as if to reverence him because of his greatness.

They bowed before the king falsely.

23 And it came to pass that the king put forth his hand to raise them, as was the custom with the Lamanites, as a token of peace, which custom they had taken from the Nephites.

They had a token of peace.

24 And it came to pass that when he had raised the first from the ground, behold he stabbed the king to the heart; and he fell to the earth.

They broke the token and killed the king so Amalickiah would lead.

25 Now the servants of the king fled; and the servants of Amalickiah raised a cry, saying:

Amalickiah transitions into power.

26 Behold, the servants of the king have stabbed him to the heart, and he has fallen and they have fled; behold, come and see.

Amalickiah blames it on others.

27 And it came to pass that Amalickiah commanded that his armies should march forth and see what had happened to the king; and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain.

Amalickiah is an actor. These three verses show things you can do to help yourself to be bad.

28 And it came to pass that all they who loved the king, when they heard these words, came forth and pursued after the servants of the king.

They chased the king’s servants.

29 Now when the aservants of the king saw an army pursuing after them, they were frightened again, and fled into the wilderness, and came over into the land of Zarahemla and joined the bpeople of Ammon.

They were protected in Zarahemla.

30 And the army which pursued after them returned, having pursued after them in vain; and thus Amalickiah, by his afraud, gained the hearts of the people.

But Amalickiah won the hearts of those people.

31 And it came to pass on the morrow he entered the city Nephi with his armies, and took possession of the city.

He used his raw power to take over the Nephites.

32 And now it came to pass that the queen, when she had heard that the king was slain—for Amalickiah had sent an embassy to the queen informing her that the king had been slain by his servants, that he had pursued them with his army, but it was in vain, and they had made their escape—

Amalickiah lied to the queen. The whole army went along with it.

33 Therefore, when the queen had received this message she sent unto Amalickiah, desiring him that he would spare the people of the city; and she also desired him that he should come in unto her; and she also desired him that he should bring awitnesses with him to testify concerning the death of the king.

The queen thought him a good apple.

34 And it came to pass that Amalickiah took the same servant that slew the king, and all them who were with him, and went in unto the queen, unto the place where she sat; and they all atestified unto her that the king was slain by his own servants; and they said also: They have fled; does not this testify against them? And thus they satisfied the queen concerning the death of the king.

They convinced the queen with deception.

35 And it came to pass that Amalickiah sought the afavor of the queen, and took her unto him to wife; and thus by his bfraud, and by the assistance of his cunning servants, he cobtained the kingdom; yea, he was acknowledged king throughout all the land, among all the people of the Lamanites, who were dcomposed of the Lamanites and the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites, and all the dissenters of the Nephites, from the reign of Nephi down to the present time.

He married the queen and became very powerful.

36 Now these adissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the Nephites, yea, having been instructed in the same bknowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and cimpenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the Lamanites—drinking in with the dtraditions of the Lamanites; giving way to eindolence, and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God.

Obviously the dissenters had turned very bad, having been very good.

Chapter 48

1 And now it came to pass that, as soon as aAmalickiah had obtained the kingdom he began to binspire the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi; yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their ctowers, against the Nephites.

Amalickiah pives up war.

2 And thus he did inspire their hearts against the Nephites, insomuch that in the latter end of the anineteenth year of the reign of the judges, he having accomplished his designs thus far, yea, having been made king over the Lamanites, he bsought also to creign over all the land, yea, and all the people who were in the land, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites.

He won their hearts.

3 Therefore he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites.

He felt that he had won.

4 For he was determined, because of the greatness of the number of his people, to aoverpower the Nephites and to bring them into bondage.

By his large armies he wanted to bring the Nephites to bondage.

5 And thus he did appoint achief captains of the bZoramites, they being the most acquainted with the strength of the Nephites, and their places of resort, and the weakest parts of their cities; therefore he appointed them to be chief captains over his armies.

The Zoramites were cheap captians since they knew the Nephites well. There is strategy in these chapters for being bad.

6 And it came to pass that they took their camp, and moved forth toward the land of Zarahemla in the wilderness.

They went towards Zarahemla.

7 Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been apreparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.

Moroni was working mentally too, on the good side.

8 Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small aforts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building bwalls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land.

Plus physically he was building barriers to his people.

9 And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

Weak fortications were met with more soldiers.

10 And thus he was preparing to asupport their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of bChristians.

He was preparing them to defend their libery, lands, family, peace and Christianity.

11 And Moroni was a astrong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect bunderstanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

He did not like bloodshed.

12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the awelfare and safety of his people.

Moroni was grateful to God and worked hard because of it.

13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had asworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

He was commited morally.

14 Now the Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even to the shedding of blood if it were necessary; yea, and they were also taught anever to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives.

They had a code of righteousness.

15 And this was their afaith, that by so doing God would bprosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger;

They believed God would help them if they did war righteously.

16 And also, that God would make it known unto them awhither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, and by so doing, the Lord would deliver them; and this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; bnot in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity.

and that God would lead them and that there would be less bloodshed.

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

If all men were like Moroni there would be no hell.

18 Behold, he was a man like unto aAmmon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.

Other people were like him.

19 Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less aserviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.

Preaching “the word” is valuable.

20 And thus they went forth, and the people did ahumble themselves because of their bwords, insomuch that they were highly cfavored of the Lord, and thus they were free from wars and contentions among themselves, yea, even for the space of four years.

They had internal peace because of it.

21 But, as I have said, in the alatter end of the nineteenth year, yea, notwithstanding their peace amongst themselves, they were compelled reluctantly to contend with their brethren, the Lamanites.

But they felt they had to fight.

22 Yea, and in fine, their wars never did cease for the space of many years with the Lamanites, notwithstanding their much reluctance.

They felt they had to fight and did for many years.

23 Now, they were asorry to take up arms against the Lamanites, because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all—they were bsorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, cunprepared to meet their God.

They felt sad.

24 Nevertheless, they could not suffer to lay down their lives, that their awives and their children should be bmassacred by the barbarous ccruelty of those who were once their brethren, yea, and had ddissented from their church, and had left them and had gone to destroy them by joining the Lamanites.

They wanted a better world with less cruelty for their families.

25 Yea, they could not bear that their brethren should rejoice over the blood of the Nephites, so long as there were any who should keep the commandments of God, for the promise of the Lord was, if they should keep his commandments they should aprosper in the land.

They did not want their enemies to delight over their blood.

Chapter 49

1 And now it came to pass in the eleventh month of the nineteenth year, on the tenth day of the month, the armies of the Lamanites were seen approaching towards the land of aAmmonihah.

The Lamanite armies were observed in action.

2 And behold, the city had been rebuilt, and Moroni had stationed an army by the borders of the city, and they had acast up dirt round about to shield them from the arrows and the bstones of the Lamanites; for behold, they fought with stones and with arrows.

Arrows and stones were no match.

3 Behold, I said that the city of aAmmonihah had been rebuilt. I say unto you, yea, that it was in part rebuilt; and because the Lamanites had destroyed it once because of the iniquity of the people, they supposed that it would again become an easy prey for them.

The Lamanites had supposed since they took it over before it would be easy again.

4 But behold, how great was their disappointment; for behold, the Nephites had dug up a aridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of bentrance.

But their was a ridge of earth.

5 Now at this time the chief acaptains of the Lamanites were astonished exceedingly, because of the wisdom of the Nephites in preparing their places of security.

The Lamanites were astonished.

6 Now the leaders of the Lamanites had supposed, because of the greatness of their numbers, yea, they supposed that they should be privileged to come upon them as they had hitherto done; yea, and they had also prepared themselves with shields, and with abreastplates; and they had also prepared themselves with garments of skins, yea, very thick garments to cover their nakedness.

They thought it would have been easy again.

7 And being thus prepared they supposed that they should easily overpower and asubject their brethren to the yoke of bondage, or slay and massacre them according to their pleasure.

They thought it would be easy and joyful.

8 But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they were aprepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni.

But they were astonished at the Nephite preparation.

9 And it came to pass that the Lamanites, or the Amalickiahites, were exceedingly astonished at their manner of preparation for war.

They were very astonished, again.

10 Now, if king Amalickiah had come down out of the aland of Nephi, at the head of his army, perhaps he would have caused the Lamanites to have attacked the Nephites at the city of Ammonihah; for behold, he did care not for the blood of his people.

Amalickiah did not care for the blood of his people.

11 But behold, Amalickiah did not come down himself to battle. And behold, his chief captains durst not attack the Nephites at the city of Ammonihah, for Moroni had altered the management of affairs among the Nephites, insomuch that the Lamanites were disappointed in their places of retreat and they could not come upon them.

But his chief captians wouldn’t try.

12 Therefore they retreated into the wilderness, and took their camp and marched towards the land of aNoah, supposing that to be the next best place for them to come against the Nephites.

They tried Noah next.

13 For they knew not that Moroni had fortified, or had built aforts of security, for every city in all the land round about; therefore, they marched forward to the land of Noah with a firm determination; yea, their chief captains came forward and took an boath that they would destroy the people of that city.

They didn’t know yet that all of the cities were fortified. Maybe they might have guessed.

14 But behold, to their astonishment, the city of Noah, which had hitherto been a weak place, had now, by the means of Moroni, become strong, yea, even to exceed the strength of the city Ammonihah.

But Noah, having been weak, was even stronger than Ammonihah.

15 And now, behold, this was wisdom in Moroni; for he had supposed that they would be frightened at the city Ammonihah; and as the city of Noah had hitherto been the weakest part of the land, therefore they would march thither to battle; and thus it was according to his desires.

This was Moroni’s wisdom.

16 And behold, Moroni had appointed Lehi to be chief captain over the men of that city; and it was that asame Lehi who fought with the Lamanites in the valley on the east of the river Sidon.

He had a good leader there too.

17 And now behold it came to pass, that when the Lamanites had found that Lehi commanded the city they were again disappointed, for they feared Lehi exceedingly; nevertheless their chief captains had asworn with an oath to attack the city; therefore, they brought up their armies.

They had made a bad oath.

18 Now behold, the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance, because of the highness of the bank which had been thrown up, and the depth of the ditch which had been dug round about, save it were by the entrance.

They couldn’t go apart from the entrance.

19 And thus were the Nephites prepared to destroy all such as should attempt to climb up to enter the fort by any other way, by casting over stones and arrows at them.

The Nephites could launch stones and arrows at those outside.

20 Thus they were prepared, yea, a body of their strongest men, with their swords and their slings, to smite down all who should attempt to come into their place of security by the place of aentrance; and thus were they prepared to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

They could defend themselves.

21 And it came to pass that the captains of the Lamanites brought up their armies before the place of entrance, and began to contend with the Nephites, to get into their place of security; but behold, they were driven back from time to time, insomuch that they were slain with an immense slaughter.

They tried the entrance and were brutally massacred.

22 Now when they found that they could not obtain power over the Nephites by the pass, they began to dig down their banks of earth that they might obtain a pass to their armies, that they might have an equal chance to fight; but behold, in these attempts they were swept off by the stones and arrows which were thrown at them; and instead of filling up their ditches by pulling down the banks of earth, they were filled up in a measure with their dead and wounded bodies.

They tried to copy them but the Nephites attacked them why they tried.

23 Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies; and thus the Lamanites did attempt to destroy the Nephites until their achief captains were all slain; yea, and more than a thousand of the Lamanites were slain; while, on the other hand, there was not a single soul of the Nephites which was slain.

It was totally one sided in death; no Nephite death, thousands of Lamanites dead.

24 There were about fifty who were wounded, who had been exposed to the arrows of the Lamanites through the pass, but they were shielded by their ashields, and their breastplates, and their head-plates, insomuch that their wounds were upon their legs, many of which were very severe.

Although about fifty Nephites were wounded.

25 And it came to pass, that when the Lamanites saw that their chief captains were all slain they fled into the wilderness. And it came to pass that they returned to the land of Nephi, to inform their king, Amalickiah, who was a aNephite by birth, concerning their great bloss.

When they saw their chief captains all slain they ran back to Amalickiah.

26 And it came to pass that he was exceedingly angry with his people, because he had not obtained his desire over the Nephites; he had not subjected them to the yoke of bondage.

He was angry at them because he was a prick.

27 Yea, he was exceedingly wroth, and he did acurse God, and also Moroni, swearing with an boath that he would drink his blood; and this because Moroni had kept the commandments of God in preparing for the safety of his people.

He made a bad covenant to make with God. He didn’t have a plan to do it.

28 And it came to pass, that on the other hand, the people of Nephi did athank the Lord their God, because of his matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies.

The Nephites thanked the Lord their God.

29 And thus ended the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

A year passed.

30 Yea, and there was continual peace among them, and exceedingly great prosperity in the church because of their heed and diligence which they gave unto the word of God, which was declared unto them by Helaman, and Shiblon, and Corianton, and Ammon and his brethren, yea, and by all those who had been ordained by the aholy order of God, being baptized unto repentance, and sent forth to preach among the people.

They had peace and prosperity.

Chapter 50

1 And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites; for he caused that his armies should commence in the commencement of the twentieth year of the reign of the judges, that they should commence in digging up aheaps of earth round about all the cities, throughout all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

Moroni didn’t just settle for seeming safe; when he could he went all out.

2 And upon the top of these ridges of earth he caused that there should be atimbers, yea, works of timbers built up to the height of a man, round about the cities.

Timbers?

3 And he caused that upon those works of timbers there should be a frame of pickets built upon the timbers round about; and they were strong and high.

Pickets and timbers?

4 And he caused towers to be erected that overlooked those works of pickets, and he caused places of security to be built upon those atowers, that the stones and the arrows of the Lamanites could not hurt them.

Towers and pickets and timbers?

5 And they were prepared that they could cast stones from the top thereof, according to their pleasure and their strength, and slay him who should attempt to approach near the walls of the city.

They could attack from them and be immune themselves.

6 Thus Moroni did prepare strongholds against the coming of their enemies, round about every city in all the land.

So Moroni was doing really good, or at least it seemed to be.

7 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his armies should go forth into the east wilderness; yea, and they went forth and drove all the Lamanites who were in the east wilderness into their own lands, which were asouth of the land of Zarahemla.

They drove the Lamanites further away.

8 And the land of aNephi did run in a straight course from the east sea to the west.

The land of Nephi went coast to coast.

9 And it came to pass that when Moroni had driven all the Lamanites out of the east wilderness, which was north of the lands of their own possessions, he caused that the inhabitants who were in the land of Zarahemla and in the land round about should go forth into the east wilderness, even to the borders by the seashore, and possess the land.

They posessed that land.

10 And he also placed armies on the south, in the borders of their possessions, and caused them to erect afortifications that they might secure their armies and their people from the hands of their enemies.

They fortified the cities too, like before.

11 And thus he cut off all the strongholds of the Lamanites in the east wilderness, yea, and also on the west, fortifying the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites, between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi, from the west sea, running by the head of the ariver Sidon—the Nephites possessing all the land bnorthward, yea, even all the land which was northward of the land Bountiful, according to their pleasure.

They reigned over a huge region.

12 Thus Moroni, with his armies, which did increase daily because of the assurance of protection which his works did bring forth unto them, did seek to cut off the strength and the power of the Lamanites from off the lands of their possessions, that they should have no power upon the lands of their possession.

They wanted to cut off Lamanite strength.

13 And it came to pass that the Nephites began the foundation of a city, and they called the name of the city aMoroni; and it was by the east sea; and it was on the south by the line of the possessions of the Lamanites.

The Nephites began founding a new city… spreading.

14 And they also began a foundation for a city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron, joining the borders of Aaron and Moroni; and they called the name of the city, or the land, aNephihah.

and again.

15 And they also began in that same year to build many cities on the north, one in a particular manner which they called aLehi, which was in the north by the borders of the seashore.

and many more

16 And thus ended the twentieth year.

and that was it for a year

17 And in these prosperous circumstances were the people of Nephi in the commencement of the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

they prospered

18 And they did prosper aexceedingly, and they became exceedingly rich; yea, and they did multiply and wax strong in the land.

they prospered exceedingly and became rich, which often causes problems.

19 And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying:

He fulfilled his word.

20 Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my acommandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be bcut off from the presence of the Lord.

What we’re emphasizing, along with Christ’s teachings, in this whole Mosiah-Moroni book.

21 And we see that these promises have been verified to the people of Nephi; for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves, which abrought upon them their wars and their destructions.

Their sins had brought their destruction.

22 And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.

But the faithful were delivered.

23 But behold there never was a ahappier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges.

This was their happiest time!

24 And it came to pass that the twenty and second year of the reign of the judges also ended in peace; yea, and also the twenty and third year.

And two years passed.

25 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the twenty and fourth year of the reign of the judges, there would also have been peace among the people of Nephi had it not been for a acontention which took place among them concerning the land of bLehi, and the land of cMorianton, which joined upon the borders of Lehi; both of which were on the borders by the seashore.

But then there was internal contention.

26 For behold, the people who possessed the land of Morianton did claim a part of the land of Lehi; therefore there began to be a warm acontention between them, insomuch that the people of Morianton took up arms against their brethren, and they were determined by the sword to slay them.

They wanted a land that didn’t belong to them?

27 But behold, the people who possessed the land of Lehi fled to the camp of Moroni, and appealed unto him for assistance; for behold they were not in the wrong.

They were right so they appealed to Moroni

28 And it came to pass that when the people of Morianton, who were led by a man whose name was Morianton, found that the people of Lehi had fled to the camp of Moroni, they were exceedingly fearful lest the army of Moroni should come upon them and destroy them.

People were afraid of Moroni’s army.

29 Therefore, Morianton put it into their hearts that they should flee to the land which was northward, which was covered with alarge bodies of water, and take possession of the land which was bnorthward.

The north face was available.

30 And behold, they would have carried this plan into effect, (which would have been a cause to have been lamented) but behold, Morianton being a man of much passion, therefore he was angry with one of his maid servants, and he fell upon her and beat her much.

Somehow him beating his wife enters into the story.

31 And it came to pass that she fled, and came over to the camp of Moroni, and told Moroni all things concerning the matter, and also concerning their intentions to flee into the land northward.

So she ratted on him.

32 Now behold, the people who were in the land Bountiful, or rather Moroni, feared that they would hearken to the words of Morianton and unite with his people, and thus he would obtain possession of those parts of the land, which would lay a foundation for serious consequences among the people of Nephi, yea, which aconsequences would lead to the overthrow of their bliberty.

They worried.

33 Therefore Moroni sent an army, with their camp, to head the people of Morianton, to stop their flight into the land northward.

Moroni sent an army to stop their advance.

34 And it came to pass that they did not ahead them until they had come to the borders of the land bDesolation; and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east.

They cut them off at the pass.

35 And it came to pass that the army which was sent by Moroni, which was led by a man whose name was Teancum, did meet the people of Morianton; and so stubborn were the people of Morianton, (being inspired by his wickedness and his aflattering words) that a battle commenced between them, in the which Teancum did bslay Morianton and defeat his army, and took them prisoners, and returned to the camp of Moroni. And thus ended the twenty and fourth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

The Nephites were so stubborn they had an internal conflict.

36 And thus were the people of Morianton brought back. And upon their acovenanting to keep the peace they were restored to the land of Morianton, and a union took place between them and the people of Lehi; and they were also restored to their lands.

But I guess they covenanted peace again.

37 And it came to pass that in the same year that the people of Nephi had peace restored unto them, that Nephihah, the asecond chief judge, died, having filled the judgment-seat with bperfect uprightness before God.

Utter peace.

38 Nevertheless, he had refused Alma to take possession of those arecords and those things which were esteemed by Alma and his fathers to be most sacred; therefore Alma had conferred bthem upon his son, Helaman.

Helaman got the records.

39 Behold, it came to pass that the son of Nephihah was appointed to fill the judgment-seat, in the stead of his father; yea, he was appointed chief judge and agovernor over the people, with an boath and sacred ordinance to judge righteously, and to keep the peace and the cfreedom of the people, and to grant unto them their sacred privileges to worship the Lord their God, yea, to support and maintain the cause of God all his days, and to bring the wicked to justice according to their crime.

The government should maintain freedom and worship and do justice to the wicked.

40 Now behold, his name was aPahoran. And Pahoran did fill the seat of his father, and did commence his reign in the end of the twenty and fourth year, over the people of Nephi.

Pahoran was his name.

Chapter 51

1 And now it came to pass in the commencement of the twenty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, they having established peace between the people of Lehi and the people of Morianton concerning their lands, and having commenced the twenty and fifth year in apeace;

Now it was peaceful because of their efforts…

2 Nevertheless, they did not long maintain an entire peace in the land, for there began to be a contention among the people concerning the chief judge Pahoran; for behold, there were a part of the people who desired that a few particular points of the alaw should be altered.

Some people wanted a different law.

3 But behold, Pahoran would not alter nor suffer the law to be altered; therefore, he did not hearken to those who had sent in their voices with their petitions concerning the altering of the law.

Pahoran believed in the law the way it was.

4 Therefore, those who were desirous that the law should be altered were angry with him, and desired that he should no longer be chief judge over the land; therefore there arose a warm adispute concerning the matter, but not unto bloodshed.

They wanted to oust him, but not so far with bloodshed.

5 And it came to pass that those who were desirous that Pahoran should be dethroned from the judgment-seat were called aking-men, for they were desirous that the law should be altered in a manner to overthrow the free government and to establish a bking over the land.

The kingmen wanted a king.

6 And those who were desirous that Pahoran should remain chief judge over the land took upon them the name of afreemen; and thus was the bdivision among them, for the freemen had sworn or ccovenanted to maintain their rights and the privileges of their religion by a free government.

The freeman wanted chief judges.

7 And it came to pass that this matter of their contention was settled by the avoice of the people. And it came to pass that the voice of the people came in favor of the freemen, and Pahoran retained the judgment-seat, which caused much rejoicing among the brethren of Pahoran and also many of the people of liberty, who also put the king-men to silence, that they durst not oppose but were obliged to maintain the cause of freedom.

They did it legally and the freemen won.

8 Now those who were in favor of kings were those of ahigh birth, and they sought to be bkings; and they were supported by those who sought power and authority over the people.

The king men were born into wealth and power and wanted to keep it.

9 But behold, this was a critical time for such contentions to be among the people of Nephi; for behold, Amalickiah had again astirred up the hearts of the people of the Lamanites against the people of the Nephites, and he was gathering together soldiers from all parts of his land, and arming them, and preparing for war with all diligence; for he had bsworn to drink the blood of Moroni.

But the time was critical about war.

10 But behold, we shall see that his promise which he made was arash; nevertheless, he did prepare himself and his armies to come to battle against the Nephites.

Amalickiah still wouldn’t succeed despite the kingmen.

11 Now his armies were not so great as they had hitherto been, because of the many thousands who had been aslain by the hand of the Nephites; but notwithstanding their great loss, Amalickiah had gathered together a wonderfully great army, insomuch that he feared not to come down to the land of Zarahemla.

Despite great loss, Amalickiah gathered a “wonderfully great army.”

12 Yea, even Amalickiah did himself come down, at the head of the Lamanites. And it was in the twenty and fifth year of the reign of the judges; and it was at the same time that they had begun to settle the affairs of their contentions concerning the chief judge, Pahoran.

Amalickiah even came down at its head.

13 And it came to pass that when the men who were called king-men had heard that the Lamanites were coming down to battle against them, they were glad in their hearts; and they refused to take up arms, for they were so wroth with the chief judge, and also with the apeople of bliberty, that they would not take up arms to defend their country.

The king men had a moral deficiency.

14 And it came to pass that when Moroni saw this, and also saw that the Lamanites were coming into the borders of the land, he was exceedingly wroth because of the astubbornness of those people whom he had labored with so much diligence to preserve; yea, he was exceedingly wroth; his soul was filled with anger against them.

Moroni was angry at them; isn’t that bad?

15 And it came to pass that he sent a petition, with the voice of the people, unto the governor of the land, desiring that he should read it, and give him (Moroni) power to compel those dissenters to defend their country or to put them to death.

he asked the governer to compel them to fight or die.

16 For it was his first care to put an end to such contentions and dissensions among the people; for behold, this had been hitherto a cause of all their destruction. And it came to pass that it was granted according to the voice of the people.

This was the first goal as it had caused destruction before.

17 And it came to pass that Moroni commanded that his army should go against those king-men, to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth, or they should take up arms and support the cause of liberty.

He fought the king-men and their pride and nobility.

18 And it came to pass that the armies did march forth against them; and they did pull down their pride and their nobility, insomuch that as they did lift their weapons of war to fight against the men of Moroni they were hewn down and leveled to the earth.

Those who raised weapons were “leveled to the earth.” Does that mean killed? I think so.

19 And it came to pass that there were four thousand of those adissenters who were hewn down by the sword; and those of their leaders who were not slain in battle were taken and bcast into prison, for there was no time for their trials at this period.

The dissenters were punished with death and maybe more.

20 And the remainder of those dissenters, rather than be smitten down to the earth by the sword, yielded to the standard of liberty, and were compelled to hoist the atitle of liberty upon their towers, and in their cities, and to take up arms in defence of their country.

But some yielded to liberty and fought for their country.

21 And thus Moroni put an end to those king-men, that there were not any known by the appellation of king-men; and thus he put an end to the stubbornness and the pride of those people who professed the blood of nobility; but they were brought down to humble themselves like unto their brethren, and to fight avaliantly for their freedom from bondage.

he humbled proud people.

22 Behold, it came to pass that while Moroni was thus breaking down the wars and contentions among his own people, and subjecting them to peace and civilization, and making regulations to prepare for war against the Lamanites, behold, the Lamanites had come into the aland of Moroni, which was in the borders by the seashore.

Meanwhile, the Lamanites were coming.

23 And it came to pass that the Nephites were not sufficiently strong in the city of Moroni; therefore Amalickiah did drive them, slaying many. And it came to pass that Amalickiah took possession of the city, yea, possession of all their fortifications.

Only because of infighting, they lost.

24 And those who fled out of the acity of Moroni came to the city of Nephihah; and also the people of the city of Lehi gathered themselves together, and made preparations and were ready to receive the Lamanites to battle.

But they regrouped. Seems fair because many of them were good.

25 But it came to pass that Amalickiah would not suffer the Lamanites to go against the city of Nephihah to battle, but kept them down by the seashore, leaving men in every city to maintain and defend it.

So Amalickiah took over places and defended them.

26 And thus he went on, taking possession of amany cities, the city of bNephihah, and the city of cLehi, and the city of dMorianton, and the city of Omner, and the city of eGid, and the city of fMulek, all of which were on the east borders by the seashore.

He took over much.

27 And thus had the Lamanites obtained, by the cunning of Amalickiah, so many cities, by their numberless hosts, all of which were strongly fortified after the manner of the afortifications of Moroni; all of which afforded strongholds for the Lamanites.

So the Lamanites got many places.

28 And it came to pass that they marched to the aborders of the land Bountiful, driving the Nephites before them and slaying many.

In Bountiful, they drove the Nephites away and slayed them.

29 But it came to pass that they were met by Teancum, who had aslain Morianton and had bheaded his people in his flight.

But they met Teancum.

30 And it came to pass that he headed Amalickiah also, as he was marching forth with his numerous army that he might take possession of the land Bountiful, and also the land anorthward.

Teancum stopped them.

31 But behold he met with a disappointment by being repulsed by Teancum and his men, for they were great warriors; for every man of Teancum did exceed the Lamanites in their strength and in their skill of war, insomuch that they did gain advantage over the Lamanites.

Teancum was strong.

32 And it came to pass that they did harass them, insomuch that they did slay them even until it was dark. And it came to pass that Teancum and his men did pitch their tents in the borders of the land Bountiful; and Amalickiah did pitch his tents in the borders on the beach by the seashore, and after this manner were they driven.

Teancum and his men made them hurt with their lives.

33 And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day.

Teancum went to kill Amalickiah.

34 And it came to pass that Teancum stole privily into the tent of the king, and aput a javelin to his heart; and he did cause the bdeath of the king immediately that he did not awake his servants.

Teancum did so.

35 And he returned again privily to his own camp, and behold, his men were asleep, and he awoke them and told them all the things that he had done.

He woke up his side and told them he had done so.

36 And he caused that his armies should stand in areadiness, lest the Lamanites had awakened and should come upon them.

He had them wake up and be prepared.

37 And thus endeth the twenty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and thus endeth the days of Amalickiah.

The year ended and that was the end of Amalickiah.

Chapter 52

1 And now, it came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, behold, when the Lamanites awoke on the first morning of the first month, behold, they found Amalickiah was dead in his own tent; and they also saw that Teancum was aready to give them battle on that day.

So later the Lamanites found their king dead and the Nephites about to go to battle.

2 And now, when the Lamanites saw this they were affrighted; and they abandoned their design in marching into the land northward, and retreated with all their army into the city of aMulek, and sought protection in their fortifications.

So they tried to defend themselves.

3 And it came to pass that the abrother of Amalickiah was appointed king over the people; and his name was bAmmoron; thus king Ammoron, the brother of king Amalickiah, was appointed to reign in his stead.

Amalickiah’s brother, Ammoron, took his place.

4 And it came to pass that he did command that his people should maintain those cities, which they had taken by the shedding of blood; for they had not taken any cities save they had lost much blood.

Since they had lost a lot of blood in taking cities he wanted to keep them.

5 And now, Teancum saw that the Lamanites were determined to maintain those cities which they had taken, and those parts of the land which they had obtained possession of; and also seeing the enormity of their number, Teancum thought it was not expedient that he should attempt to attack them in their forts.

Teancum decided to not attack them in their forts.

6 But he kept his men round about, as if making preparations for war; yea, and truly he was preparing to defend himself against them, by acasting up walls round about and preparing places of resort.

But he made preparation for war.