- 21When Ammon and his companions split up in the border region of the land of the Lamanites, Aaron traveled toward the place called by the Lamanites Jerusalem, named after the place of their ancestors’ birth. It was adjoining the land of Mormon. 2It was the Lamanites, Amlicites, and the people of Amulon who built the city called Jerusalem. 3As for the Lamanites, they were quite hard-hearted and set in their ways, but the Amlicites and the Amulonites were worse and they led the Lamanites to harden their hearts, become increasingly wicked, and practice abominations.
- 4When Aaron arrived at the city of Jerusalem, he first began to preach to the Amlicites. He started preaching in the synagogues they had built for use by the followers of Nehor. Many of the Amlicites and the Amulonites followed the teaching of Nehor and practiced it as a religion. 5Therefore when Aaron entered one of their synagogues to preach to the people, and as he was speaking to them, an Amlicite came forward confronting him by asking: What’s this that you’ve testified about? Have you seen an angel? Why don’t angels appear to us? Aren’t we as good as your people? 6You also say: Unless we repent, we’ll be doomed. How do you know the thoughts and intents of our hearts? How do you know there are reasons why we should repent? How do you know we aren’t a righteous people? We’ve built sanctuaries, and we gather to worship God. We believe that God will save everyone.
- 7Then Aaron asked him: Do you believe that the Son of God will come to redeem mankind from their sins? 8And the man responded to him: We don’t believe you know any such thing. We don’t believe in these foolish traditions. We don’t believe you know of future events, and we don’t believe your ancestors or our ancestors knew about the things they spoke of either, about things to happen in the future.
- 9Now Aaron began to explain and interpret the scriptures for them regarding the Messiah’s coming and about the resurrection of the dead and that there couldn’t be any redemption for mankind unless it came about through the death and suffering of the Messiah and the atonement of His blood. 10As he began to explain these things to them, they got angry with him and started to ridicule him; and they ignored the words he taught. 11Therefore when he realized they ignored him, he left the synagogue and came over to a village called Ani-Anti. There he encountered Muloki actively preaching the word to them, and Ammah and his companions as well; and they debated the message of the gospel with as many of them as listened. 12They realized the people intended to reject the message; so they left and came over into the land of Middoni. There they preached to many, but only a few of them believed what they taught. 13Nonetheless, Aaron and some of his companions were arrested and thrown in prison; and the rest escaped from Middoni and fled to nearby areas. 14Those who were thrown in prison endured many hardships; and they were freed by Lamoni and Ammon, who fed and clothed them. 15Then they went out again to preach the word. This was how they were freed from prison the first time, and what they had suffered. 16And they went as they were led by the Spirit of the Lord, preaching God’s word in every synagogue of the Amlicites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites they were allowed to enter.
- 17And the Lord began to bless them so much that they persuaded many to accept the truth. Many of them were convinced of their sins and that the traditions they believed were false.
- 18Then Ammon and Lamoni left the land of Middoni and returned to the land of Ishmael, which was their homeland. 19And king Lamoni wouldn’t permit Ammon to serve or be his servant. 20But he had synagogues built in the land of Ishmael. And he had his people — or the people he ruled — meet together. 21He told them how happy he was with them, and he taught them many things. He also declared to them that while he ruled, they would be free people, independent of the king, his father, because his father had given him the independent right to rule the people in the land of Ishmael and the surrounding area. 22He announced to them that they were free to worship the Lord who is God as they wished, in any part of the land under the control of king Lamoni. 23Ammon also preached to king Lamoni’s people. He taught them the requirements for righteousness. And he diligently encouraged them daily; and they paid close attention to his message, and were eagerly devoted to keeping God’s commandments. 22While Ammon was busy teaching Lamoni’s people, we turn to the account of Aaron and his other companions. After leaving Middoni, he was led by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, right to the house of the king who was over the whole land other than the land of Ishmael; and he was Lamoni’s father.
- 2Aaron and his companions went to see him at the king’s palace, bowed before the king, and said to him: Your majesty, we are Ammon’s companions whom you’ve freed from prison. 3And now, O king, if you will spare our lives, we will be your servants. And the king said to them: Stand up, for you are safe here. And I won’t allow you to be my servants, but I’ll insist that you minister to me. Indeed, I’ve been bothered because of the generosity and impressive words of your brother Ammon. I want to know why he hasn’t come up from Middoni with you. 4Aaron answered the king: The Spirit of the Lord has led him another way; he’s gone to the land of Ishmael to teach Lamoni’s people. 5Then the king said: How do you explain the Spirit of the Lord? This is what troubles me. 6And also, explain what Ammon said — if you repent, you will be saved; and if you don’t repent, you will be rejected on the last day. 7Then Aaron replied: Do you believe there’s a God? And the king said: I know that the Amlicites say there’s a God. And I’ve allowed them to build sanctuaries, so they could gather to worship Him. And if you say there’s a God, I’ll believe.
- 8Now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice and he said: As surely as you live, your majesty, there is a God. 9And the king said: Is God that Great Spirit who brought our ancestors out of the land of Jerusalem? 10And Aaron replied: Yes, He is that Great Spirit. And He created all things, both in heaven and on earth. Do you believe this? 11And he said: Yes, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things. And I want you to clarify for me all these things, and I’ll trust your words.
- 12When Aaron saw the king was willing to believe his words, he began at the creation of Adam, reading the scriptures to the king, how God created mankind in His own image and likeness, and that God gave them commandments, and because of transgression, mankind had fallen. 13Aaron explained the scriptures to him, from the creation of Adam, bringing to his attention the Fall of mankind and their mortal state, and also the plan of redemption that was prepared from the foundation of creation through the Messiah, for anyone who would believe in His name. 14And since mankind had fallen, they weren’t entitled to a reward based on anything they might do; but Christ’s suffering and death atone for their sins through faith, repentance, etc., and He breaks the chains of death, so the grave will have no victory and so the bitterness of death will be replaced by the hope of glory. Aaron covered all these things in teaching the king. 15After Aaron had explained these things to him, the king asked: What must I do so I can have this eternal life that you’ve spoken about? Indeed, what must I do so I can be born of God, so I can have this wicked spirit rooted out of my heart and receive His Spirit, so I can be filled with joy, so I won’t be rejected on the last day? He said: I would give up all that I own; indeed, I’ll renounce my kingdom if I can receive this great joy. 16But Aaron said to him: If this is what you want, if you’re willing to bow down to God — if you repent of all your sins and are willing to bow down to God and call on His name in faith, believing He’ll respond to you, then you’ll receive the hope that you long for.
- 17When Aaron had said this, the king bowed down to the Lord on his knees, even lying face down on the ground, and prayed earnestly, saying: 18O God, Aaron has told me that there is a God. And if there is a God and if you are God, will you make yourself known to me? I’ll give up all my sins so I can know you and be raised from the dead and be saved on the last day. Now when the king had said these words, he passed out, and he looked like he was dead.
- 19His servants ran and told the queen everything that had happened to the king, and she went to see him. When she saw him lying there looking like he was dead, and Aaron and his companions on their feet, looking like they had killed him, she got angry and commanded her servants — or the king’s servants — to take them and execute them. 20But the servants had seen what caused the king to pass out. Therefore they didn’t dare lay their hands on Aaron and his companions; and they begged the queen, saying: Why do you command us to kill these men when one of them is more powerful than all of us? Therefore we will die, not them. 21When the queen saw the servants were afraid, she too became very afraid that something terrible might happen to her. So she commanded her servants to go call the people, and they could kill Aaron and his companions.
- 22When Aaron witnessed what the queen had decided, and knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, he was afraid a crowd would gather and there would be a serious confrontation with them. So he put out his hand and helped the king up from the ground saying to him: Stand up! And he stood on his feet, regaining his strength. 23Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of his servants. When they saw it, they were amazed and became afraid. And the king stood up and began to testify to them, and he taught them so that his whole household was converted to the Lord. 24Now a crowd gathered because of the queen’s command, and many whispered complaints circulated between them because of Aaron and his companions. 25But the king interrupted them and testified to them. He reconciled his people with Aaron and those with him.
- 26When the king saw the people were reconciled, he had Aaron and his companions come and preach to them from the middle of the crowd. 27Then the king sent a proclamation throughout the land, among everyone and all the surrounding areas, which extended from sea borders, east to the west, and divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow corridor of wilderness located there. It included everywhere by the seashore and the wilderness areas which were to the north by the land of Zarahemla to the area by the borders of Manti, by the headwaters of the Sidon River, running from the east toward the west; which was how the Lamanites and the Nephites were divided. 28Now the less civilized part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, in tents. They occupied the western wilderness of the land of Nephi, and the western part of the land of Zarahemla by the border of the seashore, and to the west in the land of Nephi in the place their ancestors first landed and lived, bordering the seashore. 29There were also many Lamanites to the east by the seashore where the Nephites had driven them. And so the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites. Nevertheless, the Nephites had taken all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness at the headwaters of the Sidon River, from the east to the west, around on the northern wilderness side, until they came to the land they called Bountiful. 30And it was next to the land they called Desolation, since it was so far northward it came into the land that had been filled with people who were destroyed. We mentioned their bones were discovered by Zarahemla’s people, at the place they first landed. 31They spread from there up to the southern wilderness. The land to the north was called Desolation; and the land to the south was called Bountiful, since it was a wild region filled with all kinds of wild animals of every variety, some of which roamed from the north looking for food. 32Now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s travel for a Nephite on the line between the land of Bountiful and the land of Desolation, from the east to the western sea; accordingly, the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, with a small neck of land running between the land to the north and the land to the south.
- 33And the Nephites had inhabited the land of Bountiful, all the way from the east to the western sea. The Nephites, in their wisdom, had their armies guard the border that kept the Lamanites to the south, to prevent them from acquiring any more territory to the north, to prevent the northern lands from being overrun. 34Therefore the Lamanites couldn’t conquer any more territory, except in the land of Nephi and the surrounding wilderness. The Nephites were wise to do this, since the Lamanites were their enemy; it prevented them from having to defend from every direction — and also so they had a way to retreat if they needed to escape. 35Now, after having said this, I return to the account of Ammon, and Aaron, Omner, and Himni, and their companions.
Chapter 13
An account of the preaching of Aaron, Muloki, and their companions to the Lamanites.