Alma
24 verses
They stopped and stepped back from them. Moroni said to Zerahemnah, “Zerahemnah, we do not want to be men of blood. You know that you are in our power, yet we do not want to kill you. ”
And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto Zerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do not desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.
We have not come out to fight you to shed your blood for power, and we do not want to bring anyone into bondage. But this is exactly why you have come against us, and you are angry with us because of our religion.
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 yoke of bondage. But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.
Now you see that the Lord is with us, and that he has delivered you into our hands. I want you to understand that this has happened to us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. You can see that you cannot destroy our faith.
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 because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.
Now you see that this is the true faith of God; you see that God will support, keep, and preserve us as long as we are faithful to him, to our faith, and to our religion. The Lord will never allow us to be destroyed unless we fall into sin and deny our faith.
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 faithful 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.
Now, Zerahemnah, I command you in the name of the all-powerful God who has strengthened us so we have gained power over you—by our faith, our religion, our worship, our church, and the sacred duty we owe to our wives and children, by the freedom that ties us to our lands and our country, and also by our commitment to uphold the sacred word of God, which is the source of all our happiness, and by everything that is most precious to us—
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, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty 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—
And that’s not all; I urge you, by all your desire to live, to hand over your weapons of war to us, and we won’t seek your blood, but will spare your lives if you go your way and don’t come again to fight against us.
Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.
And now, if you do not do this, you are in our hands, and I will command my men to attack you and inflict deadly wounds on you, so that you will be destroyed; then we will see who has power over this people; we will see who will be brought into bondage.
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 inflict 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.
When Zerahemnah heard these words, he came forward and handed his sword, his scimitar, and his bow to Moroni, and said to him: Here are our weapons of war; we will give them to you, but we will not take an oath to you that we know we will break, nor will our children. Take our weapons of war and allow us to leave into the wilderness; otherwise, we will keep our swords, and we will either die or conquer.
And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his sword 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 oath 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.
We are not of your faith; we do not believe that God has delivered us into your hands, but we believe that your cunning has kept you safe from our swords. It is your breastplates and your shields that have protected you.
Behold, we are not 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 breastplates and your shields that have preserved you.
When Zerahemnah finished speaking, Moroni gave back the sword and the weapons of war he had received to Zerahemnah, saying, "We will end the conflict.
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.
I can’t take back what I’ve said, so as surely as the Lord lives, you will not leave unless you swear an oath that you won’t come against us in war again. Now that you’re in our power, we will either shed your blood on the ground or you will accept the terms I’ve offered.
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.
When Moroni finished speaking, Zerahemnah kept his sword and became angry with Moroni. He rushed forward to kill Moroni, but as he raised his sword, one of Moroni’s soldiers struck it to the ground and it broke at the hilt. The soldier also struck Zerahemnah and cut off his scalp, which fell to the ground. Zerahemnah then retreated back into the middle of his soldiers.
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.
The soldier who stood nearby, who had cut off Zerahemnah’s scalp, picked it up from the ground by the hair, placed it on the tip of his sword, and held it out toward them, saying loudly:
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:
Just as this scalp, which belonged to your chief, has fallen to the ground, you will also fall to the earth unless you give up your weapons of war and leave with a promise of peace.
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.
Many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp on the sword, were struck with fear. Many came forward and threw down their weapons of war at Moroni’s feet and made a covenant of peace. Everyone who made this covenant was allowed to leave into the wilderness.
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 covenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to depart into the wilderness.
Zerahemnah became extremely angry, and he stirred up the rest of his soldiers to anger so they would fight more fiercely against the Nephites.
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.
Moroni was angry because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites, so he commanded his people to attack and kill them. They began to kill them, and the Lamanites fought back with their swords and all their strength.
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.
Their bare skin and uncovered heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; they were pierced and struck down, falling very quickly before the swords of the Nephites, just as Moroni’s soldier had prophesied.
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.
When Zerahemnah saw that they were all about to be destroyed, he cried out loudly to Moroni, promising that he and his people would make a covenant with them, if they would spare the rest of their lives, that they would never go to war against them again.
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 never would come to war again against them.
Moroni made sure that the killing stopped among the people. He took the weapons of war from the Lamanites, and after they made a peace agreement with him, they were allowed to leave into the wilderness.
And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.
The number of their dead was not counted because there were so many; the number of their dead was extremely large, both among the Nephites and the Lamanites.
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.
They threw their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have been carried away and are buried in the depths of the sea.
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 sea.
The Nephite armies, led by Moroni, went back to their homes and their lands.
And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.
This is how the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi ended. This also marks the end of Alma’s record, which was written on the plates of Nephi.
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.