- 6Now I’ll continue to give the record of Jared and his brother. 2After the Lord had prepared the stones that Jared’s brother had taken up to the mountain, he came down from the mountain and placed the stones in the ships, one at each end of the ships. And they gave light to their ships. 3So the Lord caused stones to give out light in the dark, to provide light for men, women, and children, so they wouldn’t have to cross the sea in darkness.
- 4They prepared all kinds of food, so they could survive on the sea — as well as food for their flocks, herds, and any other livestock or animal or bird they brought with them — when they had done all this, they boarded their vessels or small ships and set out on the sea, entrusting themselves to the Lord their God. 5The Lord God sent a furious wind blowing over the sea toward the promised land; and so they were tossed on the waves by the wind. 6They were buried in the sea many times because of the mountainous waves that broke upon them, and because of the powerful storms accompanying the violent wind.
- 7When they were buried in the deep sea, no water could hurt them, since their ships were watertight like a bowl, and they were also watertight like Noah’s ark. When they were entirely under the water, they cried out to the Lord, and He returned them to the surface.
- 8The wind never stopped blowing toward the promised land while they were on the water, and they were always driven onward by the wind. 9And they sang praises to the Lord. Jared’s brother sang praises to the Lord, thanking and praising Him throughout the day. When night came, they didn’t stop praising the Lord. 10And so they were driven onward, and no sea creature could wreck them, and no whale could stop them. They had light continually, whether above or under the water. 11And so they were driven onward upon the sea for 344 days. 12Then they landed on the shore of the promised land. When they set foot on the shore of the promised land, they bowed down to the ground and humbled themselves before the Lord and shed tears of joy before the Lord because of His many tender mercies over them. 13Then they went out on the land and began to cultivate the earth.
- 14Jared had four sons: their names were Jacom, Gilgah, Mahah, and Orihah. 15Jared’s brother had sons and daughters as well. 16Jared’s friends and his brother’s friends numbered about 22. They also had sons and daughters before they came to the promised land. And so they began to multiply. 17They were taught to live with humility and obey the Lord, and they were also taught from above. 18They began to spread throughout the land, increasing in numbers and cultivating the earth, and growing strong upon the land.
- 19Then Jared’s brother became old and sensed he would soon die. So he said to Jared: Let’s gather our people in order to count them and find out what they want from us before we die. 20And in due course the people were gathered. Now Jared’s brother had 22 children and Jared had 12, four of whom were sons. 21They counted their people, and after they had counted them, they asked them what they wanted them to do before they died. 22The people asked them to anoint one of their sons to be a king over them. 23This request deeply troubled them, and so Jared’s brother told them: This will certainly lead to slavery. 24But Jared told his brother: Let them have a king. So he said to them: Choose a king from our sons, whomever you wish.
- 25They chose the first born of Jared’s brother, whose name was Pagag. But he refused, not wanting to be their king. And yet the people wanted his father to compel him, but his father refused to do so, ordering them not to force any man to be their king. 26Then they chose each of Pagag’s brothers, but they all declined. 27Jared’s sons declined as well, all except for one. So Orihah was anointed to be king over the people. 28He began to rule and the people began to prosper, becoming very wealthy.
- 29Then Jared died and so did his brother. 30Orihah lived humbly and obeyed the Lord, remembering the Lord had done great things for his father, and teaching his people how the Lord had done great things for their fathers. 7Orihah administered justice over the land in righteousness his whole life, which was very long. 2He had sons and daughters; indeed, he had 31 children, 23 of whom were sons.
- 3He also had a son named Kib in his old age, who ruled as his successor, and Kib had a son named Corihor. 4When Corihor was 32 years old, he rebelled against his father and went over and lived in the land of Nehor. He had sons and daughters who grew up to be very attractive, so Corihor drew away many people to join him. 5When he had assembled an army, he came up to the land of Moron, where the king lived, and took him prisoner, fulfilling the words of Jared’s brother, that they would be brought into slavery. 6Now the land of Moron, where the king lived, was near the land later called Desolation by the Nephites. 7Kib lived in captivity, and so did his people under the rule of his son Corihor, until he became very old. Nevertheless, Kib had a son named Shule in his old age, while he was still in captivity.
- 8Shule was angry with his brother; he grew strong and powerful as a man; and he was also skilled in judgment. 9So he went to the hill Ephraim and smelted ore from the hill, making steel swords for those he had drawn away with him. After he had armed them with swords, he returned to the city of Nehor and attacked his brother Corihor, in this way obtaining the kingdom and restoring it to his father Kib. 10Now because of what Shule had done, his father conferred the kingdom upon him; so he began to rule as his father’s successor. 11He administered justice in righteousness and spread his kingdom throughout the land since the people were very numerous. 12Shule also had many sons and daughters. 13And Corihor felt regret for the many evil things he had done, so Shule trusted him with power in his kingdom. 14Corihor had many sons and daughters. One of Corihor’s sons was named Noah.
- 15Noah rebelled against king Shule and his father Corihor and drew away his brother Cohor, all his siblings, and many of the people. 16He fought king Shule in battle, by which he gained the land they first inherited; and he became a king over that part of the land. 17Noah attacked king Shule again, capturing him and taking him away as a prisoner into Moron. 18When Noah was about to put him to death, Shule’s sons crept into Noah’s house at night and killed him, broke down the prison door, brought their father out, and placed him on his throne in his own kingdom. 19Therefore Noah’s son built up his father’s kingdom as his successor. However, they lost control over king Shule. The people who were under the rule of king Shule benefited and grew strong. 20The land was divided and there were two kingdoms: the kingdom of Shule and the kingdom of Cohor, Noah’s son. 21Cohor had his people attack Shule in which Shule defeated them and killed Cohor. 22Now Cohor had a son named Nimrod. And Nimrod surrendered Cohor’s kingdom to Shule, gaining Shule’s confidence; so Shule granted privileges to him, and Nimrod did what he wanted in Shule’s kingdom. 23During Shule’s reign, prophets came among the people; they were sent from the Lord and prophesied that the people’s wickedness and idol worship were bringing a curse upon the land, and they would be destroyed if they didn’t repent.
- 24But the people abused and mocked the prophets. And king Shule administered justice against all those who abused the prophets. 25He made a law throughout the land that authorized the prophets to go wherever they wished. Because of this, the people were brought to repentance. 26Because the people repented of their iniquities and idol worship, the Lord spared them, and they again began to flourish in the land.
- Shule had sons and daughters in his old age. 27And there were no more wars during Shule’s time. He remembered the great things the Lord had done for his ancestors in bringing them across the sea to the promised land; therefore he administered justice in righteousness his whole life. 8He had a son named Omer, who ruled as his successor. Omer had a son named Jared, and Jared had sons and daughters.
- 2Jared rebelled against his father and went to live in the land of Heth. He deceived a great number of people because of his sly, deceitful words until he had gained half the kingdom. 3Once he had gained half the kingdom, he attacked his father, took his father by force as a prisoner, and made him work as a slave. 4Omer was held in captivity half the time that he ruled. He had sons and daughters, among whom were Esrom and Coriantumr. 5They were very angry because of what their brother Jared had done, so much so that they raised an army and attacked Jared by night. 6When they had destroyed Jared’s army, they were about to kill him as well. But he begged them not to kill him, promising them that he would surrender the kingdom to his father. And they allowed him to live.
- 7Now Jared became despondent because he had lost the kingdom, since he had set his heart on the kingdom and the world’s glory. 8But Jared’s daughter was very astute, and seeing her father’s unhappiness, she devised a plan to recover the kingdom for her father. 9Now Jared’s daughter was very beautiful. She talked with her father and asked him: Why is my father so sad? Hasn’t he read the record that our ancestors brought across the sea? Isn’t there an account about people long ago who obtained kingdoms and great glory using secret plans? 10Therefore send for Akish the son of Kimnor. I’m beautiful and I’ll dance in front of him. And I’ll impress him so that he’ll want to marry me. Therefore if he asks you to give me to him to be his wife, you must say: I’ll give her away if you agree to bring me the head of my father the king.
- 11Now Omer was Akish’s friend. So when Jared had sent for Akish, Jared’s daughter danced in front of him, impressing him so much he wanted her to be his wife. He asked Jared: Give her to me to be my wife. 12But Jared said to him: I’ll give her away if you agree to bring me the head of my father the king. 13So Akish gathered all his relatives to Jared’s house and asked them: Will you swear allegiance to me in what I ask of you? 14They all swore to him by the God of heaven, and by the heavens, the earth, and their heads, that anyone who deviated from what Akish wanted would lose their head, and anyone who divulged anything Akish revealed to them would lose their life.
- 15In this way they made an agreement with Akish. And Akish administered to them the oaths like the people long ago, who also tried to obtain power, oaths that had been handed down from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning. 16They were maintained by the accuser’s power in order to administer these oaths to the people, and to keep those who made these oaths concealed, and to help those who sought power to obtain it, resulting in murder, pillaging, lying, and committing all kinds of wickedness and whoredoms. 17It was Jared’s daughter who gave her father the idea to search out these ancient things. Jared gave Akish the idea. So Akish passed it on to his relatives and friends, persuading them by pleasing promises to do anything he wanted. 18They formed a secret society, as they did long ago, a society God considers most corrupt and wicked of all. 19Because the Lord doesn’t operate by secret conspiracies, neither does He want people to kill; on the contrary, He has always forbidden it since mankind’s beginning.
- 20I Moroni am not writing the details of their oaths and conspiracies, since it has been revealed to me that they exist among all people; and they exist among the Lamanites. 21And they’ve brought about the people’s destruction, whom I’m now writing about, as well as the Nephites’ destruction. 22Any nation that upholds such secret conspiracies, to get power and wealth, until they spread throughout the nation, will be destroyed. Because the Lord won’t permit the blood of His holy ones, which will be shed by them, to always cry out to Him from the ground for vengeance without avenging them. 23Therefore, you Gentiles, it’s God’s wisdom for you to be shown these things, so you’ll repent of your sins and not allow these murderous conspiracies, that are always set up for power and money, to control you, so that you won’t provoke your own destruction. Indeed, the sword of the justice of the Eternal God will fall upon you, to your ruin and destruction, if you allow these things to continue. 24Therefore the Lord commands you, when you see these things come among you, to wake up to a sense of your awful situation because of this secret society that’s come into existence among you. Woe to this conspiracy on account of the blood of those who have been killed; they cry out from the dust for vengeance upon it, and upon those who make and support it.
- 25Indeed, whoever builds it up hopes to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries. These conspiracies bring about everyone’s destruction since they’re built up by the accuser, who’s the father of all lies. He’s the same liar who deceived our first parents, who caused people from the start to commit murder. He’s hardened people’s hearts so that they’ve murdered the prophets, stoned them, and banished them. 26As a result, I’ve been commanded to write these things so evil can be ended. And so the time will come when Satan won’t have any power over people’s hearts, so they can be persuaded to always do good and come to the Source of all righteousness and be saved.
Chapter 3