3 Nephi
26 verses
In the sixteenth year after Christ’s coming, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received a letter from the leader and governor of the band of robbers. These were the words written in the letter:
And now it came to pass that in the sixteenth year from the coming of Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received an epistle from the leader and the governor of this band of robbers; and these were the words which were written, saying:
Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, I am writing this letter to you and give you very great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining what you believe to be your rights and liberty. You stand strong, as if you were supported by the hand of a god, in defending your liberty, your property, and your country, or what you call your country.
Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so.
It seems a pity to me, most noble Lachoneus, that you would be so foolish and vain as to think you can stand against so many brave men under my command, who are now armed and waiting anxiously for the order to go down against the Nephites and destroy them.
And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.
I know they have an unconquerable spirit, since I’ve seen it in battle, and I know they have a lasting hatred toward you because of all the wrongs you’ve done to them. So if they come against you, they will completely destroy you.
And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.
I have written this letter and sealed it with my own hand, because I care about your well-being, respect your commitment to what you believe is right, and admire your noble spirit in battle.
Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle.
So I am writing to you, asking that you give up your cities, your lands, and your possessions to my people, instead of having them attack you with the sword and bring destruction upon you.
Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the sword and that destruction should come upon you.
In other words, surrender yourselves to us, join with us, learn about our secret works, and become our brothers so you can be like us—not our slaves, but our brothers and partners in all that we have.
Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance.
I swear to you, if you do this, you will not be destroyed. But if you do not do this, I swear to you that next month I will command my armies to come against you, and they will not hold back or show mercy, but will kill you and use the sword against you until you are wiped out.
And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath, that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct.
I am Giddianhi, the governor of the secret society of Gadianton. I know that this society and its works are good. They are ancient and have been handed down to us.
And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us.
I am writing this letter to you, Lachoneus, and I hope you will surrender your lands and possessions without any bloodshed, so that my people can regain their rights and government. They left you because you wickedly kept their rights of government from them, and if you do not do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.
And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.
When Lachoneus received this letter, he was extremely astonished because of Giddianhi’s boldness in demanding possession of the land of the Nephites, and also for threatening the people and seeking revenge for those who had not been wronged, except that they had wronged themselves by joining those wicked and evil robbers.
And now it came to pass when Lachoneus received this epistle he was exceedingly astonished, because of the boldness of Giddianhi demanding the possession of the land of the Nephites, and also of threatening the people and avenging the wrongs of those that had received no wrong, save it were they had wronged themselves by dissenting away unto those wicked and abominable robbers.
Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man and was not intimidated by the demands and threats of a robber. He did not listen to the letter from Giddianhi, the leader of the robbers, but instead had his people pray to the Lord for strength for when the robbers would come against them.
Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them.
He sent a proclamation to all the people, telling them to gather their women, children, flocks, herds, and all their possessions, except for their land, into one place.
Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.
He ordered that strong fortifications be built around them, making them extremely secure. He also stationed armies made up of both Nephites and Lamanites—everyone counted among the Nephites—as guards all around, to watch over and protect them from the robbers day and night.
And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night.
He said to them, “As the Lord lives, unless you repent of all your sins and pray to the Lord, you will not be delivered from the hands of those Gadianton robbers. ”
Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in no wise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.
The words and prophecies of Lachoneus were so great and amazing that they caused fear among all the people, and everyone put in their best effort to follow what Lachoneus told them to do.
And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus.
Lachoneus appointed chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites to lead them when the robbers came down out of the wilderness to attack them.
And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them.
The highest-ranking leader and chief commander of the Nephite armies was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.
Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.
The Nephites usually chose someone with the spirit of revelation and prophecy to be their chief captain, except during times of wickedness. So Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as was the chief judge.
Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.
The people said to Gidgiddoni, “Pray to the Lord, and let’s go up into the mountains and the wilderness so we can attack the robbers and destroy them in their own lands. ”
Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.
But Gidgiddoni said to them, “The Lord forbid it; if we go up against them, the Lord will deliver us into their hands. So we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them. Instead, we will wait until they come against us. As surely as the Lord lives, if we do this, he will deliver them into our hands. ”
But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.
In the seventeenth year, at the end of the year, Lachoneus’s proclamation had gone out across the entire land. The people took their horses, chariots, cattle, all their flocks and herds, their grain, and all their possessions, and marched in groups of thousands and tens of thousands until everyone had gathered at the appointed place to defend themselves against their enemies.
And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the place which had been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.
The land that was chosen was the land of Zarahemla, along with the land between Zarahemla and Bountiful, up to the line that separates Bountiful from Desolation.
And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation.
There were many thousands of people called Nephites who gathered together in this land. Lachoneus made sure they gathered in the land to the south because there was a great curse on the land to the north.
And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the land southward, because of the great curse which was upon the land northward.
They fortified themselves against their enemies and lived together in one land, united as one people. They were afraid because of the words Lachoneus had spoken, so they repented of all their sins and prayed to the Lord their God, asking Him to deliver them when their enemies came to fight against them.
And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.
They were extremely sorrowful because of their enemies. Gidgiddoni directed them to make all kinds of weapons of war, and to equip themselves with armor, shields, and bucklers, according to his instructions.
And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should make weapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction.