- 1King Mosiah died and returned to the dust of the earth after fighting a good fight and living righteously before God. But no one was left to rule in his place. Nevertheless, the people accepted the laws he established. In the first year of the rule of the judges over the Nephites, the people followed the laws king Mosiah established. 2In the first year Alma occupied the judgment seat, a large man recognized for his strength was brought before him to be judged. 3He had been preaching to the people what he called God’s word, repeatedly attacking the congregation, declaring every priest and teacher should be chosen by the people and shouldn’t have to work to support themselves, but should be paid by the people. 4He also preached that all mankind would be saved on the last day, they didn’t need to be afraid or worry, but they could relax and be happy. He claimed that because the Lord had created and redeemed everyone, in the end, everyone would have eternal life. 5He successfully taught these things, and many believed what he said. People began to support him and give him money. 6He became prideful and began to wear very expensive clothing. He even began to build up a church based on what he preached.
- 7As he was on his way to preach to his followers, he met a man who belonged to the congregation of God and was one of their teachers. He started an intense argument with that teacher, hoping to mislead the congregation members. But the teacher opposed him, admonishing him with God’s words. 8This man’s name was Gideon, the same one who had been an instrument in God’s hands in freeing Limhi’s people from slavery. 9Now because Gideon opposed him with God’s words, he was very angry with Gideon and drew his sword and attacked him. Because Gideon was quite old, he wasn’t able to defend against the attack, and was killed. 10The man who killed him was taken by the congregation members and brought to Alma to be judged for his crime. 11He stood before Alma and boldly defended himself. 12But Alma said to him: This is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people. And you’re not only guilty of priestcraft, but you’ve also tried to violently enforce it. If priestcraft were to be forced on the people, it would ensure their complete destruction. 13You’ve killed a righteous man, one who’s done a lot of good for the people. If we spare you, his murder would become our responsibility and God’s vengeance would be directed at us. 14Therefore you’re condemned to die according to the law given by Mosiah, our last king. These laws have been approved by the people, so we must abide by them.
- 15Then they took him — and his name was Nehor — and they brought him to the top of the hill Manti, where he confessed, or admitted between the heavens and earth, that what he had taught the people violated God’s word. Then he was publicly executed.
- 16Despite this, it didn’t put an end to the spread of priestcraft across the land, since there were many who loved worldly things. They went around preaching false doctrines, doing it for money and popularity. 17However, they didn’t dare lie — at least in public — for fear of the law, because liars were punished. So they pretended to preach according to their beliefs. Now the law punished no one for their beliefs. 18They didn’t dare steal for fear of the law, because thieves were punished. And they didn’t dare rob or murder, because anyone who murdered was executed.
- 19But those who didn’t belong to God’s congregation began to persecute those who belonged to it and had taken upon themselves the name of Christ. 20They abused, harassed, and insulted them, knowing their humility. Members of the congregation were neither proud nor viewed themselves as superior. They shared God’s word with each other freely, without money or cost. 21There was a strict law among congregation members prohibiting persecution of those who didn’t belong to the congregation, as well as persecuting one another. 22Nevertheless, there were many who were proud and who got into heated arguments over disagreements, even sometimes getting into fistfights. 23This was during the second year of Alma’s rule, and it caused a considerable amount of trouble and difficulty for the congregation. 24The hearts of many were hardened, and their names were removed, and they were no longer included as part of God’s people. Many also resigned from the congregation. 25This was a difficult test for those who were faithful. Despite this, they were firm and immovable in keeping God’s commandments, and they patiently endured the persecution piled on them. 26When their priests left their work to share God’s word with the people, the people also left their work to hear God’s word. When the priest had shared God’s word with them, they all returned diligently to their work, the priest not regarding himself as better than his audience, since the preacher wasn’t any better than the hearer and the teacher wasn’t any better than the learner. They were all equal; and they all worked, each person based on their ability. 27They shared what they had based on their ability to do so, with the poor, the needy, the sick, and the distressed. And they didn’t wear expensive clothing, yet they were well-dressed and clean. 28This is how they arranged things in the congregation and they began to have peace again, despite all the persecution.
- 29Now because of the stability of the congregation, they became wealthy, having plenty of everything they needed: flocks, herds, and young, fattened animals; grain, gold, silver, valuables, furs, fine woven linen, and all kinds of simple, comfortable cloth. 30And in their prosperous circumstances they didn’t send away any who were naked, hungry, thirsty, sick, or malnourished. And they didn’t set their hearts on wealth. They gave freely to all, old and young, slaves and free men, male and female, whether in or out of the congregation, treating everyone in need the same. 31So they prospered and became far wealthier than those who didn’t belong to their congregation. 32Those who didn’t belong to their congregation indulged in sorcery, idol worship, laziness, gossip and foolish empty talk, jealousy, arguments, wearing expensive clothes, proudly viewing themselves as superior, persecution, lying, theft, robbery, committing whoredoms, murder, and all kinds of evil. Nevertheless, those who broke the law were prosecuted so far as it was possible.
- 33By making them accountable to the law (everyone received punishment based on what they did), they became more peaceful, and didn’t dare commit violations that anyone would know about. So the Nephites enjoyed considerable peace until the fifth year of the judges’ rule.
- 2At the start of the fifth year of their rule, a serious disagreement started among the people. A clever, worldly-wise man named Amlici had the same beliefs as the man who killed Gideon with his sword and was executed according to the law. 2Now this Amlici had cleverly drawn away a large number of people to follow him. He had so many followers that they became very powerful and wanted to establish Amlici as their king. 3Now this alarmed the congregation and everyone not persuaded by Amlici’s arguments, because they realized that according to their law, such things were established by the voice of the people. 4Consequently, if Amlici, an evil man, received enough support, he could deprive them of their right to worship as a congregation, because he intended to destroy God’s congregation.
- 5The people gathered throughout the land in separate groups, according to whether they favored or opposed Amlici, everyone arguing at length and having heated disagreements with each other. 6Then they voted about it, the votes being placed before the judges. 7And the vote went against Amlici, so he wasn’t made king over the people. 8This made those who opposed him very happy, but Amlici persuaded those who supported him to be angry with those who didn’t support him.
- 9His supporters then anointed Amlici to be their king anyway. 10After Amlici was made their king, he ordered them to go to war against their fellow Nephites, hoping to force them under his control. 11Now Amlici’s people called themselves the people of Amlici, or Amlicites, and the rest were called either Nephites or God’s people. 12The Nephites learned about the Amlicites’ ambition and they armed themselves with swords, cimeters, bows, arrows, stones, slings, and every kind of weapon. 13And they were ready to fight the Amlicites when they attacked. And captains, higher captains, and chief captains were appointed, depending on the number of soldiers.
- 14Amlici also armed his men with every kind of weapon, and appointed commanders and leaders over his people to lead them into battle against the Nephites. 15The Amlicites attacked on the hill Amnihu, east of the Sidon River, which ran by the land of Zarahemla; there they began to fight the Nephites. 16Since Alma was the chief judge and governor of the Nephites, he commanded his armed forces, with his soldiers, captains, and chief captains, in the battle against the Amlicites. 17And they began to kill the Amlicites on the hill east of the Sidon River; the Amlicites fighting the Nephites very aggressively, so much so that many of the Nephites were killed by the Amlicites. 18But the Lord helped the Nephites; with His strength, they massacred the Amlicites, and they began to retreat. 19The Nephites chased them that whole day, killing a great number of them. In total, 12,532 Amlicites were killed and 6,562 Nephites were killed.
- 20When night came and Alma’s pursuit of the Amlicites ended for the day, he had his people camp in the valley of Gideon. The valley was named after the Gideon Nehor had killed with his sword. The Nephites camped in this valley for the night. 21Alma sent spies to follow the surviving Amlicites, so he could find out what their plans and schemes were to guard against them. His plan was to preserve his people from being destroyed. 22Now the names of those he sent out to watch the Amlicite camp were Zeram, Amnor, Manti, and Limher; they, along with their spies, went to watch the Amlicites’ camp.
- 23On the following day, these men rushed back to the Nephites’ camp. They were extremely surprised and frightened, reporting: 24We followed the Amlicites’ camp, and to our great surprise, in the land of Minon — above the land of Zarahemla and toward the land of Nephi — we saw a large Lamanite army, and the Amlicites have joined them! 25They’re attacking our people there, and our people are fleeing from them toward our city, with their flocks, wives, and children. Unless we hurry, they’ll take our city, and kill our fathers, wives, and children.
- 26The Nephites took their tents and left the valley of Gideon to return to their city of Zarahemla. 27As they were crossing the Sidon River, the Lamanites and Amlicites, who seemed as countless as the sands of the sea, attacked them, intent on killing them. 28However, trusting in the Lord, the Nephites prayed to Him with all their energy, asking Him to save them from their enemies. The Lord heard their prayers and strengthened them, and the Lamanites and Amlicites began to be slaughtered. 29Alma and Amlici fought face to face with swords to the death.
- 30Being a man of God and relying on his faith, Alma prayed aloud: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life so I can be an instrument in Your hands to save and protect this people! 31After Alma said this, he renewed his fight with Amlici; and he was able to overpower and kill Amlici with his sword. 32He then fought the king of the Lamanites, but the king of the Lamanites retreated from Alma and sent his guards to fight him. 33Alma’s guards battled the king of the Lamanites’ guards who were killed or ran away. 34Then Alma cleared the ground on the west bank of the Sidon River, throwing the dead bodies of the Lamanites into the Sidon, to make room to cross and fight the Lamanites and Amlicites on the west side of the Sidon River.
- 35When all the Nephites had crossed the Sidon River, the Lamanites and Amlicites ran from them, despite far outnumbering them. 36They fled from the Nephites toward the wilderness to the west and north, beyond the land’s frontier. The Nephites chased them with God’s strength and killed them — 37in fact, they killed on every battle front and scattered them to the west and north, until they reached a wilderness area called Hermounts. That area was infested by wild, dangerous predators. 38Many died in the wilderness as a result of their wounds and then were eaten by those predators or by vultures. Their bones have been found and piled up on the ground.
- 3Then the Nephite survivors of the battle buried their dead fellow soldiers. The total number of dead was far too many to be counted. After they finished burying their dead, they returned to their lands, houses, wives, and children. 2Unfortunately, many women and children had been killed in the war, and many flocks and herds also died. Many fields of grain were also destroyed, being trampled by the armies. 3And all the Lamanites and Amlicites that were killed on the bank of the Sidon River were thrown into the river. As a result, their bones — and there are many of them — went to the depths of the sea.
- 4The Amlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, since they had marked themselves with red on their foreheads to look like the Lamanites — yet they hadn’t shaved their heads like the Lamanites did. 5The Lamanites’ heads were shaved; and they were naked except for animal skin, which was fastened around their waists. They did wear some armor also, which was securely fastened, and carried their bows, arrows, stones, slings, etc. 6The Lamanites’ dark countenance marked them since their forefathers. There was a curse on them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brothers — Nephi, Jacob, Joseph, and Sam — who were righteous and holy men. 7Their brothers tried to kill them, so they were cursed, and the Lord God set a mark upon them — upon Laman, Lemuel, Ishmael’s sons, and the Ishmaelite women. 8This was done so their descendants could be distinguished from their brothers’ descendants. In this way the Lord God could keep His people separated, so they wouldn’t mix and believe in incorrect traditions, resulting in their destruction.
- 9Whoever intermarried with the Lamanites brought the same curse upon their descendants. 10Therefore those who let themselves be led away by the Lamanites were called by that name and inherited that mark. 11Those who rejected the Lamanites’ tradition, believing instead in the records brought from Jerusalem, and in their forefathers’ correct tradition, who believed in God’s commandments and kept them, were called Nephites, or the people of Nephi, from then on. 12They’re the ones who have kept the accurate records about them and the Lamanites.
- 13We return now to the Amlicites, who also had a mark set on them. They marked themselves with red on their foreheads. 14By this, God’s word was fulfilled when He said to Nephi: I’ve cursed the Lamanites and I’ll set a mark upon them, so they and their descendants will be separated from you and your descendants from this time forward and forever, unless they repent of their evil and turn to Me. Then I would have mercy on them. 15I’ll also set a mark on anyone who intermarries with your brothers’ descendants, so they will be cursed as well. 16In addition, I’ll set a mark on those who fight against you and your descendants. 17And those who separate themselves from you won’t be included as your descendants anymore; and I’ll bless you and your descendants, and whoever joins with your descendants, from this time forward and forever. These were promises made by the Lord to Nephi and his descendants. 18Now the Amlicites didn’t know they were fulfilling God’s words when they began to mark themselves on their foreheads. However, as they had openly rebelled against God, it was fitting for the curse to fall on them. 19I want you to understand they volunteered to be cursed.
- In similar fashion, so does everyone who’s cursed — each person brings upon themselves their own condemnation. 20Not many days after the battle fought in the land of Zarahemla against the Lamanites and Amlicites, another Lamanite army attacked the Nephites at the same place where the first army met the Amlicites. 21The Nephites sent an army to drive them out. 22Alma was suffering from a wound and didn’t go out to battle against the Lamanites on this occasion, 23but he sent a large army against them. They went and killed many Lamanites and drove the rest of them from the borders of their land. 24Then they returned and began to establish peace in the land, without being troubled by their enemies for a time. 25Now all this happened — all these wars and conflicts started and ended — in the fifth year of the judges’ rule. 26In one year, thousands and tens of thousands of souls were sent to the eternal world, to reap their reward according to their actions, whether they were good or bad. They would reap eternal happiness or eternal misery according to the spirit they chose to follow, whether it was a good spirit or a bad one. 27Because every person receives wages from the one they choose to follow — this is what the spirit of prophecy tells us, so it’s the truth. That’s how the fifth year of the judges’ rule ended.
The Book of Alma
THE SON OF ALMA
Chapter 1
The account of Alma, who was the son of Alma, the first and chief judge over the Nephites, and high priest over the congregation. An account of the judges’ rule and the wars and conflicts among the people. And an account of a war between the Nephites and Lamanites according to Alma’s record, who was the first and chief judge.