The Book of Mormon Part 68

Alma 24:7 7 Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning the matter: I thank my G.o.d, my beloved people, that our great G.o.d has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of the traditions of our wicked fathers.

Alma 24:8 8 And behold, I thank my great G.o.d that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.

Alma 24:9 9 And behold, I also thank my G.o.d, that by opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our sins, and of the many murders which we have committed.

Alma 24:10 10 And I also thank my G.o.d, yea, my great G.o.d, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.

Alma 24:11 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 G.o.d to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before G.o.d that he would take away our stain--

Alma 24:12 12 Now, my best beloved brethren, since G.o.d 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.

Alma 24:13 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 again they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great G.o.d, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.

Alma 24:14 14 And the great G.o.d 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 souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

Alma 24:15 15 Oh, how merciful is our G.o.d! 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 hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our G.o.d 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 clean thereby.

Alma 24:16 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 go to our G.o.d and shall be saved.

Alma 24:17 17 And now it came to pa.s.s that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were a.s.sembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth.

Alma 24:18 18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to G.o.d, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with G.o.d, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give 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.

Alma 24:19 19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, 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.

Alma 24:20 20 And it came to pa.s.s 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 another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.

Alma 24:21 21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this att.i.tude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword.

Alma 24:22 22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their G.o.d.

Alma 24:23 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 perish, and praised G.o.d even in the very act of peris.h.i.+ng under the sword--

Alma 24:24 24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.

Alma 24:25 25 And it came to pa.s.s 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.

Alma 24:26 26 And it came to pa.s.s that the people of G.o.d 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 saved.

Alma 24:27 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 ways to the salvation of his people.

Alma 24:28 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 order of the Nehors.

Alma 24:29 29 Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were none who were Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.

Alma 24:30 30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of G.o.d, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.

Alma 25 Chapter 25

Alma 25:1 1 And behold, now it came to pa.s.s that those Lamanites were more angry because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did no more attempt to slay the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi at that time.

Alma 25:2 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 destroyed them.

Alma 25:3 3 And after that, they had many battles with the Nephites, in the which they were driven and slain.

Alma 25:4 4 And among the Lamanites who were slain were almost all the seed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah, and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites;

Alma 25:5 5 And the remainder, having fled into the east wilderness, and having usurped the power and authority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should perish by fire because of their belief--

Alma 25:6 6 For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions 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.

Alma 25:7 7 And it came to pa.s.s that those rulers who were the remnant of the children of Amulon caused that they should be put to death, yea, all those that believed in these things.

Alma 25:8 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 hunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren and began to slay them; and they fled into the east wilderness.

Alma 25:9 9 And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites. Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pa.s.s, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire.

Alma 25:10 10 For he said unto them: What ye shall do unto me shall be a type of things to come.

Alma 25:11 11 And now Abinadi was the first that suffered death by fire because of his belief in G.o.d; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, according as he had suffered.

Alma 25:12 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.

Alma 25:13 13 And it came to pa.s.s 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 Ishmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of G.o.d, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

Alma 25:14 14 And they did also bury 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.

Alma 25:15 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 law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them.

Alma 25:16 16 Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.

Alma 25:17 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 prayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular.

Alma 26 Chapter 26

Alma 26:1 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 started from the land of Zarahemla that G.o.d would have granted unto us such great blessings?

Alma 26:2 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us?

Can ye tell?

Alma 26:3 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of G.o.d!

And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of G.o.d to bring about this great work.

Alma 26:4 4 Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of G.o.d.

Alma 26:5 5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves!

And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

Alma 26:6 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 storm 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.