Helaman
26 verses
In the fifty-fourth year, there were many disagreements in the church, and there was also conflict among the people, resulting in much bloodshed.
And it came to pass in the fifty and fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, and there was also a contention among the people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed.
The rebellious group were killed or driven out of the land, and they went to the king of the Lamanites.
And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.
They tried to persuade the Lamanites to go to war against the Nephites, but the Lamanites were extremely afraid and refused to listen to the dissenters.
And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceedingly afraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those dissenters.
In the fifty-sixth year of the reign of the judges, some dissenters left the Nephites and joined the Lamanites. Together with others, they stirred up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites, and they spent the entire year preparing for war.
But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, there were dissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for war.
In the fifty-seventh year, they came down against the Nephites to battle and began the work of death, so much that in the fifty-eighth year of the reign of the judges, they succeeded in taking possession of the land of Zarahemla and also all the lands, even up to the land near Bountiful.
And in the fifty and seventh year they did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land Bountiful.
The Nephites and Moronihah’s armies were driven all the way into the land of Bountiful.
And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful;
There they fortified themselves against the Lamanites, from the west sea all the way to the east. It was a day's journey for a Nephite along the line they had fortified, where they stationed their armies to defend their northern country.
And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.
So the Nephite dissenters, with the help of a large Lamanite army, took control of all the Nephite lands in the southern region. All of this happened during the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth years of the reign of the judges.
And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges.
In the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah and his armies succeeded in taking back many parts of the land; they regained many cities that had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.
And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.
In the sixty-first year of the reign of the judges, they succeeded in regaining even half of all their possessions.
And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in regaining even the half of all their possessions.
This great loss of the Nephites, and the terrible slaughter among them, would not have happened if it weren’t for their wickedness and the abominations among them; and this was also true of those who claimed to belong to the church of God.
Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.
It was because of the pride in their hearts and their great wealth. They oppressed the poor, withheld food from the hungry, withheld clothing from the naked, struck their humble brothers on the cheek, mocked what was sacred, denied the spirit of prophecy and revelation, committed murder, plundering, lying, stealing, adultery, stirred up great contentions, and deserted to the land of Nephi among the Lamanites.
And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—
Because of their great wickedness and their boasting in their own strength, they were left to their own strength. As a result, they did not prosper, but were afflicted, beaten, and driven by the Lamanites until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.
And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.
Moronihah preached many things to the people because of their sin, and Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, also preached and prophesied to the people about their sins and what would happen to them if they did not repent.
But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.
They repented, and as they repented, they began to prosper.
And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper.
When Moronihah saw that they had repented, he took the risk to lead them from place to place and from city to city, until they had regained half of their property and half of all their lands.
For when Moronihah saw that they did repent he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands.
That was the end of the sixty-first year of the reign of the judges.
And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges.
In the sixty-second year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah was unable to gain any more territory from the Lamanites.
And it came to pass in the sixty and second year of the reign of the judges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the Lamanites.
So they gave up their plan to take back the rest of their lands, because there were so many Lamanites that it was impossible for the Nephites to gain more power over them. Moronihah used all his armies to hold on to the areas he had already taken.
Therefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of their lands, for so numerous were the Lamanites that it became impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he had taken.
Because there were so many Lamanites, the Nephites were very afraid that they would be overpowered, trampled, killed, and destroyed.
And it came to pass, because of the greatness of the number of the Lamanites the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed.
They began to remember the prophecies of Alma and the words of Mosiah, and they realized they had been a stubborn people and had ignored the commandments of God.
Yea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the words of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people, and that they had set at naught the commandments of God.
They had changed and disregarded the laws of Mosiah, or what the Lord commanded him to give to the people. They saw that their laws had become corrupted and that they had become a wicked people, just as wicked as the Lamanites.
And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and they saw that their laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites.
Because of their sin, the church started to shrink, and people began to doubt the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation. God's judgments were clearly before them.
And because of their iniquity the church had begun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.
They saw that they had become weak, like their brothers, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord no longer preserved them; it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in unholy temples—
And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—
So the Lord stopped preserving them by his miraculous and unmatched power, because they had fallen into unbelief and terrible wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were far more numerous than they were, and unless they held firmly to the Lord their God, they would surely be destroyed.
Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God, they must unavoidably perish.
They saw that the strength of the Lamanites was equal to their own, matching them man for man. They had fallen into this great transgression and had become weak because of it, in just a few years.
For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.