- 13Now I’ll conclude my record covering the destruction of the people I’ve been writing about. 2They rejected all of Ether’s words, since he truthfully told them everything from mankind’s beginning, and when the floodwaters receded from this land, it became a choice land better than all other places on earth, a land chosen by the Lord. Therefore the Lord requires everyone who lives there to follow Him. 3It was destined to be the place of the New Jerusalem, where the Lord’s holy sanctuary would come down out of heaven.
- 4Ether saw Christ’s days, and he spoke about a New Jerusalem on this land. 5He also spoke about the house of Israel and the Jerusalem where Lehi would come from — that after it was destroyed, it would be rebuilt as a holy city to the Lord; so it couldn’t be a New Jerusalem since it had existed before. However, it would be rebuilt and become a holy city of the Lord; and it would be founded for the house of Israel. 6And also a New Jerusalem would be founded on this land for the remnant of Joseph’s descendants. And earlier events depicted this: 7Think of how Joseph brought his father down into Egypt, where he later died; likewise, the Lord brought a remnant of Joseph’s descendants out of the land of Jerusalem, to be merciful to Joseph’s descendants, so they wouldn’t be killed, just as He was merciful to Joseph’s father, so he wouldn’t perish.
- 8Therefore the remnant of Joseph’s family will be established on this land, and it will be their land by inheritance. They’ll establish a holy city to the Lord like the old Jerusalem. And they won’t be left in doubt anymore through the end, when the earth passes away. 9There will be a new heaven and a new earth; and they will be like the old ones, except the old ones will have ended and all things will have become new. 10Then the New Jerusalem will come; and those who live there are blessed since they’re the ones whose clothes are spotless through the Lamb’s blood; and they’re included with the remnant of Joseph’s descendants, who are part of the house of Israel. 11Then the old Jerusalem will also return; and its inhabitants are blessed since they’ve been washed clean in the Lamb’s blood; they’re the ones who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth and from the north countries and share in the fulfillment of the covenant God made with their father Abraham. 12When these things happen, it will accomplish the scripture that says: There are those who were first who will be last, and there are those who were last who will be first.
- 13I was about to write more, but I’m forbidden to do so; however, Ether’s prophecies were great and marvelous. But they regarded him as worthless and cast him out. So he hid himself in a cave by day, and at night he went out, viewing what was happening to the people. 14While he lived in a cave, he made the rest of this record, watching at night the destruction that overtook the people.
- 15In the same year the people banished him, a great war began among the people since many powerful men rose up in rebellion and tried to kill Coriantumr using their secret plans of wickedness, which have been mentioned before. 16Now because Coriantumr had thoroughly studied the art of war and the learning of the world, he attacked those who tried to kill him in battle. 17Yet he didn’t repent, and neither did his beautiful sons and daughters, and neither did the beautiful sons and daughters of Cohor, and neither did the beautiful sons and daughters of Corihor. In short, none of the beautiful sons and daughters in all the land repented of their sins. 18That being the case, during the first year Ether lived in the cave, many people were killed by the sword by those secret societies that fought against Coriantumr, trying to obtain the kingdom. 19And Coriantumr’s sons fought and bled a great deal. 20In the second year, the Lord’s word came to Ether that he was to go and prophesy to Coriantumr that if he and his whole household repented, the Lord would give him his kingdom and spare the people. 21Otherwise, they would be destroyed, as well as his whole household, all except for him. Only he would survive long enough to see the fulfillment of the prophecies about another people inheriting the land as their own, and Coriantumr would be buried by them, and every soul would be killed except for Coriantumr. 22But Coriantumr didn’t repent, and neither did his household, and neither did the people; and the wars didn’t stop. They tried to kill Ether, but he escaped from them and hid again in the cave.
- 23Shared rose up in rebellion and he also attacked Coriantumr and defeated him, so in the third year he captured and confined him. 24In the fourth year, Coriantumr’s sons defeated Shared and reclaimed the kingdom for their father. 25Now a war began throughout the land, every man with an armed band of men fighting for what they wanted. 26There were also robbers, and in short, all kinds of wickedness throughout the land. 27Coriantumr was very angry with Shared, and so he went out to attack him in battle with his armed forces. They met in great anger, in the valley of Gilgal, and the battle became severe. 28Shared fought him for three days. And Coriantumr beat him and pursued him until he came to the plains of Heshlon. 29Shared attacked him again on the plains. And he defeated Coriantumr and drove him back to the valley of Gilgal. 30Coriantumr engaged Shared in battle again in the valley of Gilgal, in which he beat Shared and killed him. 31But Shared wounded Coriantumr in the thigh, and as a result, he didn’t return to fight again for two years. During that time, everyone throughout the land was killing each other and no one could restrain them.
- 14A great curse came upon the land because of the people’s iniquity. The curse on the land was so great that if a man placed his tool or sword on a shelf, or wherever he might keep it, he couldn’t find it the next day. 2As a result, everyone clung with their hands to those things that were theirs and wouldn’t borrow or lend. Every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in defense of his property and life, as well as the property and life of his wife and children. 3Now after two years and following Shared’s death, Shared’s brother rose up in rebellion and attacked Coriantumr. In that battle Coriantumr beat him and pursued him to the wilderness of Akish. 4Shared’s brother attacked him in the wilderness of Akish, and the battle became very heated, and many thousands fell by the sword. 5Then Coriantumr laid siege to the wilderness. But Shared’s brother marched out from the wilderness at night and destroyed part of Coriantumr’s army while they were drunk. 6Then he went to the land of Moron and set himself up as king in Coriantumr’s place. 7Coriantumr lived with his army in the wilderness for two years, adding great strength to his army during that time.
- 8Now Shared’s brother, whose name was Gilead, also added great strength to his army because of secret conspiracies. 9But Lib, his high priest, who was a member of a secret society, murdered him 10in a secret pass as he ruled over the kingdom, and Lib obtained the kingdom for himself. He was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the people. 11In Lib’s first year, Coriantumr came up to Moron and engaged Lib in battle. 12He fought with Lib, and in the battle Lib struck him and wounded his arm. Nevertheless, Coriantumr’s army pressed hard against Lib, so he fled to the area by the seashore. 13Coriantumr pursued him, and Lib engaged him in battle on the seashore. 14Lib furiously attacked Coriantumr’s army, so they fled again to the wilderness of Akish. 15Lib then pursued him until he came to the plains of Agosh. Coriantumr brought all the people with him as he fled ahead of Lib from that part of the land where he escaped. 16When he arrived on the plains of Agosh, he attacked Lib; and he struck him repeatedly until he died. Nevertheless, Lib’s brother, acting in his place, came against Coriantumr; and the battle became very heated, during which Coriantumr fled again from the army of Lib’s brother.
- 17Now the name of Lib’s brother was Shiz. And Shiz pursued Coriantumr; he conquered many cities, killing men, women, and children, and burning their cities. 18The fear of Shiz ran through the whole land; indeed, a cry of terror ran throughout the land: Who can stand before Shiz’s army? He sweeps the earth before him!
- 19The people then began to assemble into armed forces throughout the land. 20They were divided: some fled to Shiz’s army and others fled to Coriantumr’s army. 21The war had been so great and long lasting, and the slaughter and carnage had gone on so long, that the whole land was littered with dead bodies. 22The war was so swift and speedy no one was left to bury the dead, but they marched out from slaughter to slaughter, leaving the bodies of men, women, and children scattered over the land, to feed the maggots. 23The stench from it spread over the whole land. So the people were bothered, both during the day and at night, because of the smell of rotting flesh. 24Nevertheless, Shiz didn’t stop pursuing Coriantumr, having sworn to avenge himself on Coriantumr for the blood of his brother, who had been killed; however, the Lord’s word came to Ether that Coriantumr wouldn’t die by the sword. 25We see from this the Lord let them experience the full extent of His wrath. Their wickedness and abominations had paved the way for their everlasting destruction.
- 26Shiz pursued Coriantumr eastward, all the way to the area by the seashore. There he engaged Shiz in battle for three days. 27The destruction was so terrible among Shiz’s armed forces that they became frightened and began to flee from Coriantumr’s army. They fled to the land of Corihor and swept off the inhabitants in front of them, all those who refused to join them. 28They pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor, and Coriantumr pitched his tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comron, so Coriantumr gathered his armed forces on the hill Comron and sounded a trumpet to Shiz’s army to summon them to battle. 29They came forward but were driven back. They came a second time, and they were driven back a second time. They came back a third time, and the battle grew very fierce. 30Shiz struck Coriantumr repeatedly, giving him many deep wounds. Coriantumr, having lost a lot of blood, fainted and was taken away, as if dead. 31Now the loss of men, women, and children on both sides was so great that Shiz ordered his people not to pursue Coriantumr’s army; so they returned to their camp.
- 15When Coriantumr had recovered from his wounds, he began to remember the words that Ether had spoken to him. 2He saw the sword had already killed nearly two million of his people. He began to feel great regret — indeed, two million strong men had been killed, and their wives and children as well. 3He began to feel sorrow for the evil he had done. He began to remember the words the prophets had spoken; and he saw they had been completely fulfilled, up to that point. And his soul mourned and refused to be comforted.
- 4He wrote Shiz a letter, asking him to spare the people, saying he was willing to give up the kingdom for the sake of the people’s lives. 5When Shiz received his letter, he wrote Coriantumr a letter, saying if he would give himself up so he could kill him with his own sword, he would spare the people’s lives. 6But the people didn’t repent of their iniquity. And Coriantumr’s people were stirred up to anger toward Shiz’s people, and Shiz’s people were stirred up to anger toward Coriantumr’s people; so Shiz’s people attacked Coriantumr’s people.
- 7When Coriantumr saw he was about to be defeated, he fled again from Shiz’s people. 8He came to a body of water known as Ripliancum, which means large or to exceed all. When they arrived at this body of water, they pitched their tents; and Shiz also pitched his tents near them. On the following day, they came together for battle. 9They fought a very heated battle, during which Coriantumr was wounded again; and he fainted from blood loss. 10Coriantumr’s armed forces bore down heavily against Shiz’s armed forces, defeating them and causing them to flee. They fled southward and pitched their tents in a place called Ogath. 11Coriantumr’s army pitched their tents by the hill Ramah, that same hill where my father Mormon hid away the sacred records under the Lord’s care. 12And they gathered everyone throughout the land who hadn’t been killed, all except for Ether.
- 13Ether saw everything the people did. He saw the people who were on Coriantumr’s side joined Coriantumr’s army and the people who were on Shiz’s side joined Shiz’s army. 14They spent four years bringing the people together, getting everyone in the land, so they could receive all the strength it was possible to receive. 15When they had all assembled, everyone to the army of their choice, with their wives and children — men, women, and children being armed with weapons: having shields, breastplates, and headplates, and being clothed and equipped for war — they marched out against each other to battle. They fought all that day and neither side emerged victorious.
- 16When night came, they were tired and retired to their camps. After they had retired to their camps, they began to howl and mourn for those who had been killed. Their cries, howls, and lamentations were so great that they filled the air. 17They went again to battle the next day. And awful and terrible was that day. Nevertheless, neither side was victorious. When night came, they again filled the air with their cries, wails, and mourning for those who had been killed.
- 18Coriantumr again wrote Shiz a letter, asking him not to return to battle, but to take the kingdom and spare the people’s lives. 19But the Spirit of the Lord had stopped struggling with them. Satan had complete power over the people’s hearts — they were abandoned to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, so they could be destroyed. Therefore they returned to battle. 20And they fought the whole day. When night came, they slept on their swords. 21On the following day, they fought until night came. 22When night came, they were drunk with anger, like someone who’s drunk with wine. They slept again on their swords.
- 23On the next day, they fought again. When night came, they had all died by the sword, all except 52 of Coriantumr’s people and 69 of Shiz’s people. 24And they slept on their swords that night. On the next day, they fought again; and they struggled powerfully with their swords and shields the whole day. 25When night came, 32 of Shiz’s people remained and 27 of Coriantumr’s people remained. 26And they ate and slept, and prepared for death the following day. They were large and powerful men as to men’s strength. 27They fought for three hours and fainted from blood loss. 28When Coriantumr’s men had recovered enough energy so they could walk, they were about to flee for their lives. But Shiz and his men got up, and Shiz swore in anger he would kill Coriantumr or he would die by the sword; 29so he pursued them.
- On the next day he overtook them, and they fought again with the sword. When they had all died by the sword, all except for Coriantumr and Shiz, it turned out that Shiz had fainted from blood loss. 30When Coriantumr had leaned on his sword and rested a little, he struck Shiz’s head. 31After he had cracked Shiz’s head, Shiz rose up on his hands and fell. After struggling for breath, he died. 32And Coriantumr fell to the ground as if lifeless.
- 33The Lord spoke to Ether and told him: Go out and look. And he went out and saw the Lord’s words had all been fulfilled. Then he ended his record, but I haven’t written one percent of it, and he hid the plates where Limhi’s people found them. 34Now the last words written by Ether are these: It doesn’t matter whether the Lord intends for me to be translated or that I submit to the Lord’s will in the flesh, as long as I’m saved in God’s kingdom. Amen.
Chapter 6