- 30Ammon’s people had been settled in the land of Jershon, and the Lamanites had been driven out of the land and their dead had been buried by the residents. 2Because there were so many dead Lamanites they weren’t counted. Neither were the Nephite dead counted. But following burying the dead and after time spent fasting, mourning, and praying, a time of peace arrived. This was in the 16th year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites. Everywhere in the land there was peace. 3And the people paid careful attention to keep the Lord’s commandments; and they strictly followed God’s ordinances in the Law of Moses, since they were taught to keep the Law of Moses until it was fulfilled. 4There were no disturbances in the entire 16th year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites.
- 5At the beginning of the 17th year of the judges’ rule, peace continued. 6But toward the end of the 17th year, a man came to Zarahemla and he was an anti-Christ, because he denounced the prophecies of the prophets about Christ’s coming. 7Now there was no law prohibiting a person’s belief. It was absolutely contrary to God’s commandments to control or force beliefs. Everyone could choose equally for themselves. 8The scripture states: Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. 9So if someone wanted to serve God, it was their right to do so. If they believed in God, they were free to serve Him. But if they didn’t believe in Him, there was no law to punish them. 10However if they murdered, they were executed; and if they robbed, they were punished; and likewise they were punished for stealing, adultery, and any other wickedness. 11The law provided that people were only punished for their crimes, but not for their beliefs. Everyone was equally punished and equally free to believe as they wished.
- 12And this anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, couldn’t be punished under the law. So he was free to preach to the people that there would be no Christ. He preached: 13Why do you tie yourselves down with a foolish and useless hope? Why do you let such foolishness oppress you? Why do you look for a Messiah? It’s impossible to know the future. 14These ideas you call prophecies, that you say are handed down by holy prophets, are nothing more than your ancestors’ foolish traditions. 15How can you know they’re true? You can’t know about things you don’t see, and so you can’t know there will be a Messiah. 16You anticipate you’ll be forgiven of your sins, but this is a delusion of your troubled mind. You inherited this mental disorder from your ancestors’ false traditions that convince you to believe in lies. 17He said many more similar things, telling them there couldn’t be any atonement made for mankind’s sins, but that everyone experienced success or failure in this life based on the talent of each person. Therefore everyone’s success or failure was based on their individual abilities, and they should enjoy life without feeling any guilt. 18He preached these ideas to them, persuading many of them to go astray. It caused them to be proud of their wickedness. Many men and women engaged in whoredoms. He taught that death ended all existence and there was no afterlife.
- 19He took his message to Jershon to preach these things to Ammon’s people, formerly Lamanites. 20But they were wiser than many of the Nephites, and they arrested him, tied him up, and took him to Ammon, who was the high priest over that people.
- 21He had him forcibly exiled. Next, he went to Gideon and began to preach to them as well. But here he didn’t have much success, and he was arrested, tied up, and taken before both the high priest and the chief judge over the land.
- 22The high priest asked him: Why are you preaching these perversions that violate the Lord’s commandments? Why do you teach there will be no Christ? Do you intend to make them hopeless? Why do you contradict the prophecies of the holy prophets? 23Now the high priest’s name was Giddonah, and Korihor responded: Because I don’t teach your ancestors’ foolish traditions. Because I don’t teach this people to chain themselves with ridiculous ordinances and performances begun by ancient priests as a plan to seize power and authority, planning to keep them in ignorance, so they remain subservient and are controlled by your lies. 24You claim these people are free. But I say these people are enslaved. You claim those ancient prophecies are true. But I say it’s impossible for anyone to know they’re true. 25You claim these people are guilty and fallen because of a parent’s transgression. I say no child is guilty because of their parents. 26And you claim the Messiah will come. But it’s impossible to know there will be a Messiah. And you also claim He’ll be killed for the sins of the world. 27You use that to indoctrinate the people to follow your ancestors’ foolish traditions and obey your own wishes. You oppress them like they’re your slaves so you can take for yourselves everything their work produces. They don’t even dare to boldly confront you to reclaim their rights and privileges. 28They don’t dare to protect their property out of fear they might offend their priests, who control them to get what they want. The priests use traditions, dreams, whims, visions, and pretended mysteries to impose their beliefs. They threaten the people that if they don’t do what they say, they’ll offend some unknown being, who they say is God. Merely a false being who’s never been seen or known, who never existed and will never exist. 29When the high priest and the chief judge witnessed the hardness of his heart, and saw he would even denounce God, they refused to reply to anything he said, but they had him tied up; and they had the officers take him to Zarahemla, and brought before Alma and the chief judge who was governor over the whole land.
- 30When he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he went on in the same way he had in Gideon, including blaspheming. 31And he boldly advocated his arrogant ideas to Alma, insulting the priests and teachers, accusing them of brainwashing the people, to get them to follow their ancestors’ silly traditions, in order to take everything that the people produced for themselves. 32Now Alma said to him: You know we aren’t paid by the people. Indeed, I’ve supported myself from the beginning of the judges’ rule until now, supporting myself with my own labor, despite traveling around the land to teach God’s word to my people. 33And despite all my work performed in the congregation, I’ve never received so much as even one senine for my work, and none of my associates have either. The only exception is for the work of judges, and then any payment received is based on an established rate for our time. 34So if we don’t receive anything for our work in the congregation, how does it benefit us to work in the congregation except to declare the truth? We only do it to spread joy to our fellow beings. 35Then how can you claim we preach to this people to become rich when you know we receive no financial benefit? Now, do you believe we deceive people and that lies cause such joy in their hearts? 36And Korihor answered: Yes.
- 37Then Alma asked him: Do you believe there’s a God? 38And he answered: No. 39Then Alma asked him: Will you deny again there’s a God and also deny Christ? Because I tell you: I know there’s a God, and that Christ will come. 40Now, what evidence do you have that there’s no God or that Christ won’t come? I tell you that you have nothing except for your word only. 41But I have all things as a testimony that these things are true. And you also have all things as a testimony to you that they’re true. And will you deny them? Do you believe these things are true? 42I know you believe. But a lying spirit has power over you, and you’ve rejected God’s Spirit so it can’t have any place in you; but the accuser has power over you, and he leads you here and there, carrying out his evil plans to destroy God’s children. 43Now Korihor said to Alma: If you show me a sign to prove there’s a God, and show me He has power, only then will I be convinced what you say is true.
- 44But Alma said to him: You’ve had plenty of signs. Will you put God to the test? Will you say, show me a sign, when you already have the testimony of your fellow Nephites and all the holy prophets? The scriptures are in front of you. And all things demonstrate there’s a God: This earth and everything on it, and its motion, and all the planets moving in their appointed places — these all prove there’s a Supreme Creator. 45But you go around leading the hearts of this people astray, testifying to them that there’s no God. While you ignore all the evidence. Then he said: Yes, I’ll deny it unless you show me a sign.
- 46Now Alma said to him: I mourn the hardness of your heart, that you’re still determined to reject the spirit of the truth, resulting in your soul being destroyed. 47But it’s better for your soul to be lost than for you to bring many souls with you down to destruction. Your lying influence needs to end. Therefore if you deny again, God will strike you so you won’t be able to speak, or teach, or preach your deceit to the people again. 48Now Korihor responded: I don’t deny the existence of a God, but I don’t believe there’s a God. And I also claim you don’t know there’s a God; and unless you show me a sign, I refuse to believe.
- 49Then Alma said to him: Here is the sign I’ll give to you: God will vindicate my words and you will be unable to speak. I say, in the name of God, you will be struck mute, and will no longer speak. 50When Alma said this, Korihor was struck mute, and he was unable to speak, vindicating Alma’s words. 51When the chief judge saw this, he wrote a note to Korihor asking: Are you convinced of God’s power? How did you expect a sign to be given? Did you think God would target someone else to show you a sign? Now He has shown you a sign. Do you still disbelieve?
- 52Then Korihor wrote: I know that I’m mute, since I can’t speak. And I know nothing except for God’s power could bring this upon me. I always knew there was a God. 53But the accuser deceived me, appearing to me in the form of an angel and saying to me: Go and reclaim this people, because they’ve all gone astray after an unknown God. He told me: There is no God. And he taught me what to say, and I’ve taught his words. I taught them because they were pleasing to the worldly mind. And I taught them until I had considerable success, then I honestly believed they were true. And for this reason I fought the truth, to the point I’ve now brought upon myself this great curse. 54When he had said this, he begged Alma to pray to God so the curse would be removed from him. 55But Alma said to him: If this curse were to be taken from you, you would return to leading the hearts of this people astray. Therefore what happens to you is up to the Lord.
- 56And the curse wasn’t taken from Korihor, but he was exiled and went around from house to house begging for food. 57Now the knowledge of what happened to Korihor was spread throughout the land; a proclamation was sent out by the chief judge to everyone in the land, declaring to those who accepted Korihor’s lies that they must quickly repent so the same judgments wouldn’t come upon them.
- 58That convinced them all of Korihor’s wickedness. Therefore they were all converted again to the Lord. This put an end to Korihor’s heresy. Meanwhile Korihor went from house to house begging for assistance.
- 59He wandered into a group of people that had separated themselves from the Nephites, and called themselves Zoramites, led by a man named Zoram. As he was walking in their community he was run over and trampled to death. 60This shows the fate of those who corrupt and pervert the ways of the Lord. We see the accuser won’t support his children at the end but abandons them, and quickly drags them down to hell.
- 31Now after Korihor’s death, Alma received the news that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord. Zoram, their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to worship idols that don’t speak, etc. The news made Alma sick at heart because of the people’s iniquity. 2Alma hated to hear about any iniquity among his people; so he mourned over the separation of the Zoramites from the Nephites. 3Now the Zoramites were occupying a land they called Antionum, east of Zarahemla, nearly bordering the seashore south of the land Jershon, which also bordered the southern wilderness, a wilderness area with many Lamanites. 4Now the Nephites were worried the Zoramites might begin to associate with the Lamanites, and that could result in more great losses suffered by the Nephites. 5Now preaching the truth was more effective to lead the people to do what’s right — indeed, it had greater effect on the minds of the people than the sword or anything else available — therefore Alma thought teaching God’s word was their best alternative. 6So he took Ammon, Aaron, and Omner — and he left Himni in the congregation in Zarahemla, but he took the first three with him — and Amulek and Zeezrom came too, who had been at Melek; and he also brought two of his sons. 7Now he didn’t bring his oldest son Helaman with him, but he did bring his sons Shiblon and Corianton. These are all the names of those who went with him to preach to the Zoramites.
- 8Now the Zoramites were previously part of the Nephites; so God’s word had been preached to them. 9But they had fallen into great errors, since they failed to carefully keep God’s commandments and statutes according to the Law of Moses. 10They also failed to follow the congregation’s practice of regular prayer and worship of God daily to avoid temptation. 11In short, they perverted the ways of the Lord in many ways. To remedy this, Alma and his companions traveled to their land to preach the word to them.
- 12When they had entered the land, to their astonishment they found the Zoramites had built synagogues and they came together on one day of the week, which they called the Lord’s day, and they worshiped in a way Alma and his companions had never seen. 13They had a high stand in the middle of their synagogue, high above the head; and the narrow top would only fit one person at a time. 14Therefore anyone who wanted to worship had to go stand on top and raise their arms to heaven and say in a loud voice: 15Holy, holy god, we believe that you are god. And we believe that you are holy, and that you were a spirit, and that you are a spirit and that you will be a spirit forever. 16Holy god, we believe that you’ve separated us from our fellow Nephites. And we don’t believe in the tradition of our fellow Nephites, handed down to them by the childishness of their ancestors, but we believe that you’ve chosen us to be your holy children, and that you’ve revealed to us that there will be no Messiah. 17But you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. And you’ve chosen us to be saved, while everyone around us has been chosen to be sent down to hell by your wrath; and we thank you, O god, for this holiness. And we also thank you for choosing us, so we aren’t led astray to follow the foolish traditions of our fellow Nephites, which tie them down to a belief in the Messiah, which leads their hearts to wander far from you, our god. 18And again we thank you, O god, that we’re a chosen and holy people. Amen.
- 19Now after Alma, his companions, and his sons heard this prayer, they were shocked; 20because everyone went there and offered up this same prayer. 21Now they called the pulpit Rameumptom, which means the holy stand. 22And from this stand they offered up, every single one of them, the very same prayer to god, thanking god they were chosen by him and he hadn’t led them astray to follow the tradition of their fellow Nephites, and that their hearts weren’t deceived to believe in things to come, which they didn’t know anything about.
- 23Now when the people all had offered up their customary prayer, they returned to their homes, never speaking of their god again until they had gathered again at the holy stand to offer up thanks in their corrupt way. 24Now when Alma saw this, his soul was troubled — since he realized they were a wicked and perverse people. He could see their hearts were set on gold, silver, and expensive things. 25And it was clear their pride led them to arrogantly brag in their vanity. 26And he cried out loudly to heaven, saying: How long, O Lord, will Your servants be left here to live and see such repulsive wickedness among mankind? 27O God, they pray out loud to You, but their hearts are consumed by their pride. O God, they pray with their mouths while their hearts are filled with pride, because they value the worthless things of the world. 28O God, their expensive clothing and their rings, bracelets, and ornaments of gold, and all the expensive things they’re adorned with — their hearts are set upon them, while they pray to You saying: We thank you, O god, because we’re a chosen people to you, while others will perish. 29And they say You’ve told them there will be no Messiah. 30O Lord God, how long will You allow such wickedness and unbelief to continue among this people? O Lord, will You give me the strength to endure my weaknesses! Because I’m weak, and such wickedness among this people pains my soul. 31O Lord, my heart is very sorrowful. Will You comfort my soul in Christ! O Lord, will You give me the strength to patiently endure the coming afflictions because of this people’s iniquity! 32O Lord, will You comfort my soul and give me success! And also my fellow laborers Ammon, Aaron, and Omner, and Amulek and Zeezrom, and my two sons — O Lord, will You comfort all of them! Will You comfort their souls in Christ! 33Will You give them the strength to endure the afflictions they’ll encounter because of this people’s iniquities! 34O Lord, please grant us success in bringing them back to You in Christ! 35O Lord, their souls are precious; and we’re closely related to many of them. Therefore give us, O Lord, power and wisdom so we can bring these brothers and sisters back to You.
- 36When Alma had said these words, he put his hands on everyone with him and blessed them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 37Afterward, they divided up without planning what they would eat, drink, or wear. 38The Lord provided for them so they wouldn’t be hungry or thirsty. And He provided the strength to cope with afflictions through the joy given by Christ. Now Alma prayed for this and it happened because he prayed in faith.
- 32Then they went out and began to preach God’s word to the people, entering their synagogues and houses; and they even preached the word in their streets. 2After a great deal of work, they started to see some success among the poorer class of citizens, since they were expelled from the synagogues because they looked poor due to how they were dressed. 3As a result, they weren’t allowed to enter their synagogues to worship God, because they were regarded as unworthy. Because they were poor, the others living in Antionum treated them like trash. So they were both poor in material possessions and poor in spirit.
- 4While Alma was teaching and speaking to the people on the hill Onidah, a large crowd approached him. They were those just described, who were poor in spirit because of their poverty in material possessions; 5and they came up to Alma. The one who was the most prominent among them asked him: What should these companions of mine do? They’re despised by everyone, especially the priests, because of our poverty. They’ve thrown us out of our synagogues, which we worked hard to build with our own hands. They threw us out because of our poverty, now we don’t have any place to worship God. What should we do?
- 6When Alma heard this, he turned around, facing him. Looking at them brought him hope and joy, because he could tell their difficulties had humbled them and prepared them to accept the word. 7Therefore he abandoned his talk to the other crowd, and reached out his hand and declared to the penitent people before him: 8I can tell you are humble in heart, and therefore you are blessed. 9Your spokesman asked: What should you do? They threw you out because of your poverty, now you don’t have any place to worship God. 10I say: Do you think you can only worship God in your synagogues? 11Furthermore, I ask: Do you think you can only worship God once a week? 12I tell you: It benefits you to have been kicked out of your synagogues, to humble you so you can learn wisdom; because wisdom must be learned. It’s because you’re rejected and despised by others in your community, due to your great poverty, that you’re humble of heart. You’ve been forced to be humble. 13Now because you’re forced to be humble you are blessed; because sometimes a person forced to be humble seeks repentance. Now certainly anyone who repents will find mercy. And everyone who finds mercy and endures to the end will be saved.
- 14Now as I said, because you were forced to be humble you were blessed, but don’t you think those who voluntarily humble themselves because of the word are more blessed? 15Indeed, those who voluntarily humble themselves and repent of their sins, and persevere to the end will be far more blessed than those who are forced to be humble by their great poverty. 16Therefore blessed are those who humble themselves without being forced to be humble. Or put differently, blessed are those who believe in God’s word and are baptized while believing in their heart, without being humbled by their circumstances before they will believe. 17There are those who say: If you show us a sign from heaven, then we’ll know for sure; then we’ll believe. 18But I ask: Is this faith? I tell you: No. Because if someone knows a thing, they don’t have any reason to believe, since they know it. 19And now, how much more cursed is someone who knows God’s will and doesn’t do it than someone who only believes, or only has reason to believe, and falls into transgression? 20You must decide this matter for yourself. I tell you it’s on the one hand just like it’s on the other, and everyone will inherit the consequences of their choices in this life.
- 21And now as I explained about faith: faith doesn’t mean having a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if you have faith, you hope for things beforehand, which you haven’t yet received. 22Now I tell you and want you to remember that God is merciful to everyone who believes in His name. Therefore, in the first place, He wants you to believe based on His message. 23Now He delivers His message using angels who teach men. Not only men but women as well, and even little children learn things that astonish the wise and the well-educated.
- 24Now, my new friends, as you’ve asked me what to do because you are downtrodden and religious outcasts — in describing you I’m not judging you, I only intend to accurately tell you the true circumstances you face — 25I also don’t mean all of you have been forced to be humble. I truly believe there are some of you who would humble themselves, whatever circumstances they might be in. 26Now as I said, faith isn’t perfect knowledge, and it’s the same with my words. You can’t know for certain when you first hear them, any more than faith is perfect knowledge. 27But if you pay close attention and perform an experiment with my words, and start with the smallest particle of faith — even if you can’t do anything more than want to believe — hold on to this desire, until you start to believe enough to trust my words a little.
- 28Now we’ll compare the word to a seed. If you let the seed be planted in your heart, if it’s a true seed or a good seed, and you don’t throw it out by your unbelief and resist the Spirit of the Lord — if you let it, a good seed will begin to grow within you. And when you feel growth begin, you’ll start to realize, this has to be a good seed, or the word must be good, because it has started to enlarge my soul. It has started to increase my understanding. It has begun to be valuable to me. 29Now, wouldn’t this increase your faith? I tell you: Yes. Still, it hasn’t grown to become perfect knowledge. 30But as the seed swells, sprouts, and begins to grow, then you should recognize the seed is good, because it swells, sprouts, and begins to grow. Now won’t this strengthen your faith? Of course it will strengthen your faith. You’ll recognize this is a good seed because it lives and begins to increase. 31Can you be sure this is a good seed? I answer: Yes! Because every living seed gives life. 32Therefore if a seed grows, it’s living. But if it doesn’t grow, it’s dead; therefore you throw it out. 33And once you’ve tried my experiment and planted the seed and it swells, sprouts, and begins to grow, you must conclude that the seed is good.
- 34Does that give you perfect knowledge? Yes, your knowledge is perfect about that thing and your faith is dormant — and this is so because you know. You know the word has produced growth in your soul. You know this because it has sprouted up, your understanding begins to be enlightened, and your mind begins to expand. 35Then isn’t this real? I tell you: Yes, because it’s light. And whatever is light is good, because it’s recognizable; therefore you can be certain it’s good.
- Now after you’ve experienced this light, is your knowledge perfect? 36I tell you: No. You have to continue on using your faith, since you’ve only exercised your faith to plant the seed as an experiment to understand whether the seed was good. 37As a tree starts to grow, you’ll want to nourish it carefully so it can take root, so it can grow up and produce fruit for us. Now if you cultivate it carefully, it will take root and grow up and produce fruit. 38But if you neglect the tree and don’t take care of it, it won’t take root. Then the heat from the sun will scorch it, and it will wither away because it doesn’t have any root. Then you’ll pull it up and throw it out. 39Now this isn’t because the seed wasn’t good, nor is it because its fruit wouldn’t be good. But it’s because your ground is barren and you’re unwilling to care for the tree; therefore you won’t harvest its fruit. 40And so it is: if you don’t give heed to the word, looking forward in faith for its fruit, you’ll never gather fruit from the tree of life. 41But if you cultivate the word — indeed, care for the tree as it starts to grow by faithfully, diligently, and patiently awaiting its fruit — it will take root. And it will be a tree springing up to everlasting life. 42Because of your diligence, faith, and patience caring for (or obeying) the word so it can take root in you, in time you’ll harvest its fruit. That harvest is most valuable: sweet over all that’s sweet, white over all that’s white, and pure over all that’s pure; and you’ll eat this fruit until you’re filled, no longer hungry or thirsty, or without understanding the truth. 43Then, my friends, you’ll harvest the fruit of your faith, diligence, patience, and long-suffering, as you waited for the tree to produce fruit for you.
- 33Now after Alma taught this, they sent him a message, asking to know whether they were to believe in one God in order to obtain the fruit he spoke about; how they might plant the seed, or the word he had spoken about, which he said must be planted in their hearts; and in what way they should start to exercise their faith. 2And Alma explained: You said you couldn’t worship God because you were thrown out of your synagogues. But I tell you: If you think that prevents you from worshiping God, you’re making a grave mistake. You should carefully study the scriptures; because if you think they teach this, you’re mistaken. 3Do you remember reading what Zenos the prophet long ago said about prayer or worship? 4He said: You are merciful, O God, because You’ve heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness. Indeed, You were merciful when I prayed about those who were my enemies, and You changed their hearts toward me. 5Indeed, O God, You were merciful to me when I cried out to You in my field, when I cried out to You in my prayer, and You heard me. 6And also, O God, when I returned to my house, You heard me in my prayer. 7And when I returned to my room, O Lord, and prayed to You, You heard me. 8Indeed, You are merciful to Your children when they cry out to You — to be heard by You and not by others — and You will hear them. 9O God, You’ve been merciful to me and heard my cries in the middle of Your congregations. 10And You’ve also heard me when I was driven out and hated by my enemies. You heard my cries and were angry with my enemies, and You visited them in Your anger with swift destruction. 11And You heard me because of my effort and my sincerity. And it’s because of Your Son that You’ve been merciful to me in this way. Therefore I’ll cry out to You in all my troubles, because my joy is in You; You’ve turned Your judgments away from me because of Your Son.
- 12And now Alma said to them: Do you believe the scriptures written long ago? 13If you do, you must believe what Zenos said: You’ve turned away Your judgments because of Your Son. 14Now, my friends, haven’t you read these scriptures? If you’ve read them, then how can you not believe in the Son of God? 15The scriptures show Zenos wasn’t the only one who spoke about these things — indeed, Zenoch also confirmed these things; 16he was the one who said: You are angry, O Lord, with this people, because they refuse to understand the mercy You’ve freely given them because of Your Son. 17And now, my friends, you see a second prophet long ago testified of the Son of God. And because the people refused to understand what he said, they stoned him to death. 18But this isn’t everything. These aren’t the only ones who have spoken about the Son of God. 19He was spoken of by Moses. And a symbol was raised up in the wilderness, so that anyone who was willing to look at it could live; and many looked and lived. 20But few understood the meaning of those things, and this was because of their hard hearts. There were many who were so hardened they refused to look; therefore they died. Now the reason they refused to look is because they didn’t believe it would heal them. 21My friends, if you could merely turn your head to look at it and be healed, wouldn’t you quickly look? Or would you prefer to harden your hearts in unbelief and be lazy, refusing to look around, risking your death? 22If so, woe will come upon you. But if not, then look and begin to believe in the Son of God, that He will come to redeem His people and He will suffer and die to atone for their sins, and that He will rise again from the dead. That will bring to pass the resurrection, so everyone will stand before Him to be judged on the last day, the day of judgment, based on their works. 23Now, my friends, I want you to plant this word in your hearts. And as it begins to grow, at that moment nourish it by your faith. And it will become a tree springing up in you to everlasting life. Then may God lighten your burdens through the joy of His Son. And you can accomplish this if you’re willing. Amen.
- 34Now after Alma finished this, he sat down on the ground. And Amulek stood up and began teaching, saying: 2My friends, I think it’s impossible for you not to have heard the prophecies about the coming of Christ, who we teach is the Son of God. I know this was taught to you many times before you separated yourselves from us. 3And as you’ve asked my dear brother what you should do because of your difficulties, he’s introduced you to truths that can prepare your minds, and he’s urged you to want faith and patience — 4asking you to have enough faith to plant the word in your heart, so you can test its goodness as an experiment. 5And we’ve seen the great question you ponder is whether the word is in the Son of God or instead whether there will be no Christ. 6And you heard my brother show you many examples of the word being in Christ for salvation. 7My brother used the words of Zenos, that redemption comes through the Son of God, and also the words of Zenoch. And he’s also used Moses to prove this is true.
- 8Now let me testify and confirm to you I know this is true. I assure you I know Christ will come among mankind to take upon Himself the transgressions of His people, and He will atone for the sins of the world, because the Lord God has promised it. 9An atonement must be made because the great plans of the Eternal God require it; otherwise all mankind would be unavoidably lost. Everyone has gone astray; all are fallen and lost and would certainly perish without the atonement — therefore it’s necessary for it to happen. 10Indeed, it’s fitting for there to be a great and last sacrifice — not a sacrifice of a man or woman, nor of animals, nor of any kind of bird — because it can’t be a mortal sacrifice, but it requires an infinite and eternal sacrifice. 11Now there isn’t anyone who can sacrifice their own blood and atone for the sins of someone else. If a person murders, will our law, which is equitable, execute a family member? I tell you: No. 12But the law demands the execution of the one who has murdered. Therefore nothing short of an infinite atonement would be adequate for the sins of the world. 13Therefore it’s essential for there to be a great and last sacrifice. And then there will be an altogether appropriate end to the shedding of blood; because the Law of Moses will be fulfilled. Indeed, it will all be fulfilled, every single requirement, and none of it will remain incomplete. 14The whole purpose of the law, every part of it, was designed to point to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be of the Son of God, infinite and eternal. 15And so He’ll bring salvation to all those who believe in His name, since this is what the last sacrifice accomplishes. Through it God can provide mercy, because every requirement of justice is satisfied and nothing more can be demanded by justice, and it makes a way for mankind to have faith that leads to repentance. 16And so mercy can satisfy the demands of justice and embrace the penitent with arms of safety, while those who don’t exercise any faith followed by repentance are exposed to all the punishment justice requires under the law. So the great and eternal plan of redemption only works for those who have faith followed by repentance.
- 17Therefore may God grant you, my friends, that you begin to exercise faith followed by repentance, so you begin to call on His holy name so He can give mercy to you. 18Pray to Him for mercy, because He is powerful to save. 19Humble yourselves and continue praying to Him. 20Pray out loud to Him when you’re in your fields, over all your flocks. 21Pray out loud to Him in your houses, over all your household — morning, midday, and evening. 22Pray aloud to Him against the power of your enemies. 23Pray aloud to Him against Satan, who’s an enemy of all righteousness. 24Pray aloud to Him over the crops of your fields, that they thrive for you. 25Pray aloud over the flocks of your fields, so they can increase. 26But this isn’t everything. You must pour out your souls in your private rooms and secret places and in your secluded retreats. 27And when you don’t pray aloud to the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in silent prayer to Him continually for your well-being as well as the well-being of those who are around you.
- 28Now, my friends, I say: Don’t think that this is everything. Because after you’ve done all these things, if you turn away the needy and naked and don’t visit the sick and afflicted and give a portion of what you can spare — if you have anything you can spare — to the needy, I’m telling you, if you don’t do these other things too, then your prayer is useless and doesn’t benefit you at all, and you’re essentially hypocrites who deny the faith. 29If you don’t remember to be charitable, you’re like the waste thrown away by refiners because it has no value, to be trampled underfoot.
- 30Now, my friends, you’ve received many witnesses, because the holy scriptures testify of these things, and therefore I want you to respond and produce evidence of your repentance. 31I would like you to respond and not harden your hearts any longer. Because now is the time and the day of your salvation. And therefore if you repent and don’t harden your hearts, the great plan of redemption will immediately take effect for you. 32This life is the time for people to prepare to come face to face with God. Indeed, now is the time for people to perform their labors. 33And so, as I told you before, you have so many witnesses that I warn you not to delay your repentance until the end of your life. Because we’ve been provided our lifetime to let us prepare for eternity. If we squander that time, we pass into the dark night where no further work can be done. 34You can’t say when that awful moment of crisis arrives that: I’ll repent, I’ll return to God. No, you can’t say this. Because that same spirit that you listen to and obey while living in the flesh will, after your death, have the same power to influence you to listen to that spirit in the next life. 35Indeed, if you’ve delayed the day of your repentance until death, you’ve fallen under the power of the accuser’s spirit, and he secures you as his own. Therefore the Spirit of the Lord has withdrawn from you and has no place in you, and the accuser has all power over you. This is the final state of the wicked. 36And I know this because the Lord said He doesn’t dwell in unholy temples, but He dwells in the hearts of the righteous. He has also said that the righteous will arrive in His kingdom and never leave His presence again, but their clothes will be made white through the Lamb’s blood.
- 37Now, my dear friends, please remember this and work out your salvation in awe of God, and never deny Christ’s coming. 38Stop resisting the Holy Ghost; on the contrary, welcome it and take upon yourselves the name of Christ. Humble yourselves, bow to the ground to worship God wherever you go, in spirit and truth, and live thanking Him every day for His mercy and blessings to you. 39I urge you, my friends, to remain watchful and prayerful so you aren’t overtaken by the accuser’s temptations. Don’t let him overpower you, so you don’t end up under his control on the last day. He won’t reward you with anything good in return. 40Now, my dear friends, I would urge you to have patience and to endure every difficulty you face, and don’t speak ill of those who reject you because of your great poverty and become sinners like them. 41To the contrary, you must have patience and endure difficulties with a firm hope that you’ll rest one day from all your difficulties.
- 35Now after Amulek had finished teaching these things, they left the group that had gathered to listen and returned to Jershon. 2And the rest of their companions, after they finished preaching the word to the Zoramites, also returned to Jershon.
- 3After the leaders of the Zoramites got together and deliberated about the words preached to them, they were angry because of the message, since it destroyed their dishonest profession; therefore they refused to accept what had been taught. 4And they sent messages to have people meet so they could get their reaction to the things that had been taught. 5Now their rulers, priests, and teachers didn’t let the people know what they wanted to do, and so they secretly found out what the people were thinking.
- 6Then, after they had found out what everyone was thinking, the many people who were in favor of the things taught by Alma and his companions were removed from the land and evacuated to Jershon. 7Alma and his companions welcomed them.
- 8Immediately the Zoramites were angry with Ammon’s people in Jershon. The Zoramites’ chief ruler, who was a very wicked man, sent a message to Ammon’s people, demanding they banish all the Zoramites who arrived in Jershon. 9He made violent threats against them. However, Ammon’s people weren’t afraid of the threats, and they didn’t banish them, but they welcomed the impoverished Zoramites who arrived. They cared for them and clothed them and gave them lands to occupy. And they ministered to them given their circumstances. 10This aroused the anger of the Zoramites against Ammon’s people. And they befriended the Lamanites and provoked them to join their bitter resentment. 11And so the Zoramites and the Lamanites prepared to go to war against both Ammon’s people and the Nephites. 12That was how the 17th year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites ended.
- 13Ammon’s people relocated from Jershon and went to Melek, letting Jershon be occupied by the Nephite armies in anticipation of the battle with the Lamanite and Zoramite armies. At the start of the 18th year of the judges’ rule a war began between the Lamanites and the Nephites. An account of their wars will be given later.
- 14Anyway, Alma, Ammon, and their companions, and Alma’s two sons, had returned to Zarahemla, after God used them as His method of bringing many Zoramites to repentance. The repentant converts were exiled from their land, but they were provided with their own lands in Jershon. And then they armed themselves to defend their wives, children, and lands.
- 15Alma was very disturbed by his people’s iniquity, because of the coming wars, slaughter, and conflicts facing them. He had been sent by God to preach the word in every city, but now as the people were preparing for war they began to harden their hearts and reject strict obedience to the word, which gravely disappointed him. 16As a response, he brought his sons together so he could give each one of them his guidance for them to maintain individual righteousness. And next is an account of the instructions he gave them, taken from his own record.
Chapter 16