- 13In the 86th year, the Nephites remained unrepentant, indeed, persistently wicked, while the Lamanites were careful to strictly keep God’s commandments according to the Law of Moses. 2In this year a man named Samuel, a Lamanite, came to Zarahemla and began to preach to the people. He preached repentance to the people for many days, but they threw him out, and as he was returning to his own land, 3the Lord’s voice spoke to him, telling him to return and prophesy to the people everything that would enter his heart.
- 4But they wouldn’t let him reenter the city. Therefore he climbed atop the city wall and reached out his arm and shouted in a loud voice, prophesying to the people everything the Lord put into his heart. 5He declared to them: I’m Samuel, a Lamanite, and I’m telling you the words the Lord puts into my heart. He has this message for this people: The sword of justice hangs over you. And before 400 years have passed, the sword of justice will fall upon you. 6Indeed, terrible destruction awaits you. It will certainly come for you, and nothing can save you except repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is assuredly coming into the world to suffer many things and be killed on behalf of His people. 7An angel of the Lord testified of this to me; he’s brought me this good news. I was sent to testify of it to you as well, so you also hear this good news. But you refused to listen to me.
- 8Therefore the Lord now says: Because of the hardness of the hearts of the Nephites, unless they repent, I’ll take away My salvation from them and I’ll withdraw My Spirit from them. I won’t put up with them any longer, and I’ll let the hearts of their Lamanite brothers and sisters turn against them. 9And before 400 years have passed, I’ll bring afflictions, punishing them with the sword, famine, and with disease; 10indeed, they’ll bring down My fury. And there will be those of the fourth generation of your enemies, who will live to see your complete destruction. The Lord warns: This is certain to happen unless you repent to avoid the fourth generation seeing your destruction. 11But the Lord says: If you repent and return to the Lord your God, I’ll turn My anger away. Indeed, the Lord says: Blessed are those who repent and turn to Me, but woe upon those who don’t repent. 12Woe to this great city of Zarahemla! It’s only because of the righteous that it’s saved. Woe to this great city! The Lord says: I see that many, indeed, the majority of the inhabitants of this great city, have chosen to harden their hearts against Me. 13But blessed are those who repent, since I’ll spare them. If it weren’t for the few righteous in this great city, I would send fire down from heaven and destroy it. 14But it’s spared because of the righteous. The Lord says: The time will come, once you drive away the righteous, you will be ripe for destruction.
- Woe to this great city because of the wickedness and abominations that are in her. 15Woe to the city of Gideon because of the wickedness and abominations in her. 16Woe to all the cities, in every direction, inhabited by the Nephites, because of the wickedness and abominations in them. 17A curse will fall on the land, says the Lord of Hosts, because of the wickedness and abominations of the people living there.
- 18And it will happen, says the Lord of Hosts (our great and true God), that any who protect their wealth by hiding it in the ground will never recover it because the land will be cursed. Only the righteous will be able to protect what’s stored for the Lord’s sake. 19The Lord says: I want them to protect their valuable possessions for My purposes. But everyone who doesn’t safeguard their wealth for My sake is cursed, because only the righteous protect their valuable things for My sake. Any others who hoard their wealth are cursed, both them and their wealth, for it will be lost because of the curse upon the land. 20The day is coming when they’ll hoard wealth because they’ve set their hearts on their property. Because they’ve set their hearts on their property and will hide it away when they flee from their enemies, they and their property will be cursed, and everything and everyone will be lost on that day, says the Lord.
- 21People of this great city, listen to me. Listen to the words of the Lord. He says your wealth has become a curse to you; you and your wealth are both cursed because that’s all you value, and you won’t listen to the words of the One who gave it to you. 22You’ve forgotten the Lord who is God because of what He’s blessed you with. However, you always remember your property, never thanking the Lord your God for it. Your hearts never focus on the Lord; instead, you’re full of great pride leading to bragging and awful arrogance, to jealousy, conflicts, malice, persecutions, murders, and all kinds of iniquities. 23For this reason, the Lord God has cursed the land and your property also — and this is because of your iniquities. 24Woe to this people because you now drive out the prophets, ridicule them, throw stones at them, kill them, and abuse them, just like they’ve done before.
- 25When you mention it, you claim: If we had lived during the time of our ancestors long ago, we wouldn’t have killed the prophets; we wouldn’t have stoned them and driven them out. 26But you’re worse than them. Because as the Lord lives, if a prophet comes to you and declares the Lord’s word, telling of your sins and iniquities, you’re enraged at him and throw him out and look for a way to kill him. Indeed, you’ll claim he’s a false prophet, a sinner, and follows the accuser because he testifies about your evils. 27But if a man tells you: Do this; it isn’t iniquity! Do that; you won’t suffer for it! Indeed, if he says: Live your life proudly; never be ashamed of what others see you doing, and do as you please. When someone is teaching this, you want to hear it. You’ll say he’s a prophet; 28you’ll support him. You’ll give him some of your wealth and pay him with your gold and silver; you’ll clothe him with expensive clothing. And because he assures you and says everything is fine, you won’t find any fault with him.
- 29You wicked and perverse generation, you hardened and stubborn people, how long do you think the Lord will put up with you? How long will you allow yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? How long will you choose darkness rather than light? 30The Lord’s anger is already aroused against you. He’s cursed the land because of your iniquity. 31The time is coming when He’ll curse your wealth; it will slip away and you won’t be able to hold onto it; and when poverty overtakes you, your wealth won’t come back. 32In the days of your poverty you’ll appeal to the Lord, but that won’t help; because desolation will have arrived, and your destruction is certain. You’ll weep and howl on that day, says the Lord of Hosts. Then you’ll lament and say: 33I wish I had repented and hadn’t killed, stoned, and driven out the prophets. Then you’ll ask: Why didn’t we remember the Lord our God at the time He blessed us with abundance? Then our wealth wouldn’t have slipped away and been lost, and now we suffer poverty. 34We put a tool here, and the next day it disappears. We can’t find our swords in the day of battle as we search for them. 35We’ve stored our valuable things, and they’ve slipped away from us because of the curse on the land. 36Why didn’t we repent when the Lord’s word came to us? The land is cursed; everything is unstable, and we can’t hold onto anything. 37We’re surrounded by demons, surrounded by the angels of him who attempts to destroy our souls. Indeed, we’ve sinned terribly. O Lord, we beg You to turn Your anger away from us! This will be your plea in those days.
- 38But the days of your probation have ended. You’ve procrastinated the day of your salvation until it’s everlastingly too late and your destruction is now certain. You’ve tried your whole lives to get what’s impossible: You’ve tried to find happiness in committing iniquity, which violates the nature of the righteousness of our great and eternal Head. 39People of this land, I wish you would listen to me! I pray the Lord’s anger can still be turned away from you, and ask you to repent and be saved.
- 14Now Samuel the Lamanite prophesied many more things that can’t be written. 2But he did tell them: I’ll give you a sign. Five years from now, the Son of God will come to redeem all those who believe in His name. 3I’ll give you this as a sign of when He comes. There will be great lights in heaven, and in the night before He comes there will be no darkness, so it will seem to people as if it’s still daytime. 4Therefore there will be a day, a night, and a day, as a single daytime without any night. This is a signal to you, since you’ll observe the rising and setting of the sun. Therefore it will be obvious there were two days and a night; nevertheless, the night won’t be dark. That will be on the night before He’s born. 5A new star will arise, unlike anything you’ve seen; and this will be another signal to you. 6But this isn’t all, because there will be many signals and astonishing things in heaven. 7All of you will be amazed and astonished, so much so that you’ll fall to the ground. 8Those who believe in the Son of God will have everlasting life.
- 9The Lord has commanded me by His angel to come and tell you this. He’s commanded me to prophesy these things to you; He directed me: Proclaim to this people: Repent and prepare to follow the Lord. 10Now, because I’m a Lamanite and told you the words the Lord commanded me to speak which condemn you, you’re angry with me, are trying to kill me, and have driven me away. 11Despite this, you’re going to hear my words, which is why I’ve climbed atop the walls of this city: so you would hear and know of God’s judgments awaiting you because of your iniquities; so you could know the offenses requiring your repentance; 12and so you know about the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and so you are aware of the signs of His coming, so you can believe in His name. 13If you believe in His name, you’ll repent of all your sins, to receive a remission of your sins through Him.
- 14In addition, I’ll tell you of another sign coming at His death. 15Because He certainly must die to bring salvation. It’s necessary and proper for Him to die in order to bring about the resurrection of the dead, so that mankind can return to the Lord’s presence. 16His death precedes His resurrection and will redeem everyone from the first death, that spiritual death. Because all mankind was cut off from the Lord’s presence when Adam fell, they’re effectively dead both physically and spiritually. 17But Christ’s resurrection redeems all mankind and returns them to the Lord’s presence. 18And it establishes the conditions for repentance, so whoever repents isn’t cut down and thrown into the fire. But whoever doesn’t repent is cut down and thrown into the fire. Then a second, spiritual death happens to them, because they’re cut off again from all righteousness. 19Therefore repent, repent, or else by knowing these things and failing to do them, you’ll come under condemnation and bring this second death down upon you.
- 20But as I told you about another sign, a sign of His death: On the day of His death, the sun will become dark and refuse to give his light to you, and the moon and stars as well. There won’t be any light on this land for three days, from the time when He suffers death to the time when He rises from the dead. 21When He dies, when He breathes His last, there will be thunder and lightning for many hours. The earth will shake and tremble, and the rock of the earth, both above the ground and beneath it, which you see is now solid, or most of it is one solid mass, will be fractured apart; 22it will be broken apart into grooves, cracks, and broken fragments from then on, across the whole earth, both above the ground and beneath it. 23And there will be great storms. Many mountains will be laid low like a valley. Many places now called valleys will become very high mountains. 24Many highways will be broken up, and many cities will be decimated. 25And many graves will be opened and will give up many of their dead; with many holy ones seen by many witnesses. 26The angel has told me the following: He said there would be thunder and lightning for many hours. 27He told me that while the thunder and lightning and storm lasted, as this takes place darkness will cover the entire land for three days. 28The angel also told me many would see greater things than these, in order for them to believe — that these signs and these wonders would happen throughout this land, so there wouldn’t be any reason for unbelief by mankind — 29and so that whoever chose to believe could be saved and whoever didn’t believe could have a righteous judgment imposed on them; and so if they’re condemned, they chose their own condemnation.
- 30Now remember, remember, my friends, that whoever perishes, perishes by their own choice and whoever does evil does it to themselves. Because you’re free; you’re permitted to act for yourselves. God has given you a choice, and He lets you freely make it. 31He’s made you capable of distinguishing good from evil. He lets you choose life or death. You can do good and be restored to what’s good or have what’s good restored to you; or you can do evil and have what’s evil restored to you. 15Now, my dear people, I declare to you that unless you repent, your houses will be left completely abandoned. 2Unless you repent, your women will have good reason to mourn when they nurse their young. You’ll attempt to escape and there won’t be any safe place to go. Woe to those who are pregnant, since pregnancy will slow them down and they won’t be able to escape; they will struggle, fall down, and be left to die. 3Woe to you people called Nephites, unless you repent when you see all the signs and astonishing things that will be shown to you. Because you’ve been a chosen people of the Lord. He’s loved the Nephites. And He’s corrected you as well when you strayed because He loves you.
- 4But, my friends, He’s detested the Lamanites because they’ve continually done evil — but only because of their ancestors’ wicked traditions. But salvation has come to them through the Nephites’ preaching; and because of this, the Lord will assure their descendants’ survival. 5I tell you the majority of them are following their duty faithfully, living carefully before God, taking care to keep His commandments, statutes, and judgments according to the Law of Moses. 6I tell you the majority of them do this. They continue tirelessly to work on converting the rest of their fellow Lamanites to the truth. Therefore many others join them daily. 7You’ve seen and know that all who are converted to the truth, abandon the wicked and perverse traditions of their ancestors, and are persuaded to believe the holy scriptures (the prophecies of the holy prophets written there), which led them to faith in the Lord and to repentance, which faith and repentance bring them a change of heart; 8therefore you know all of them are firm and resolute in the liberty God has given them. 9You also know they’ve buried their weapons, and they’re afraid to use them because they might sin in some way. You can see they’re afraid to commit sin. They’ll allow themselves to be cut down and killed by their enemies and won’t resist them. They refuse because of their faith in Christ.
- 10Now because once converted to the truth they’re steadfast in their beliefs, and because they’re firm once they accept the truth, the Lord will bless them and preserve their descendants, despite their iniquity. 11Indeed, even if they fall away into unbelief, the Lord will watch over their posterity until the time arrives prophesied by our forefathers, and by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets as well, about the restoration of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth. 12I tell you that in the last days the Lord’s promises cover the Lamanites, our friends and relatives. Despite coming hardships for them, and despite being driven here and there on the earth, hunted, afflicted, and scattered about, having no place for refuge, still, the Lord is going to be merciful to them. 13This will fulfill the prophecy that they will return to the true knowledge, meaning the knowledge of their Redeemer, their great and true Shepherd, and be included as His sheep. 14Therefore I tell you: It’s going to be better for them than for you unless you repent. 15Because if the powerful miracles had been shown to them that have been shown to you, you can see for yourselves they wouldn’t have fallen away in unbelief ever again. No, they only fell away into unbelief because of their ancestors’ traditions. 16Therefore the Lord says: I won’t completely destroy them, but in the day of My wisdom I’ll lead them back to Me, says the Lord. 17Now the Lord says to the Nephites: If you don’t repent and take care to do My will, I’ll completely destroy you, says the Lord, because of your unbelief, despite the many powerful miracles I performed among you. And as surely as the Lord lives, these things will happen, says the Lord.
- 16Now there were many who heard what Samuel the Lamanite said from the city walls. All those who believed what he said went looking for Nephi. When they found him, they confessed their sins to him and didn’t deny them, asking to be baptized in the name of the Lord. 2But all those who didn’t believe Samuel’s message were angry at him. They threw stones, and many also shot arrows at him as he stood on the wall. But the Spirit of the Lord was with him, so they missed him with their stones or arrows.
- 3When they saw they couldn’t hit him, many more believed what he said, so they also went to Nephi to be baptized. 4Nephi was baptizing, prophesying, preaching, crying repentance to the people, showing them signs and awe-inspiring things, and performing miracles among the people, so they would know Christ was sure to come soon. 5He taught them about other things that would happen soon, so that when they happened they would remember they had been revealed to them beforehand, and would believe. Therefore all who believed in Samuel’s words went to Nephi to be baptized, because they came repenting and confessing their sins.
- 6But the majority didn’t believe what Samuel said. Therefore when they saw they couldn’t hit him with stones and arrows, they yelled to their captains: Arrest this man and tie him up. He’s possessed by a devil; and because of the power of the accuser protecting him, we can’t hit him with our stones and arrows! So arrest him and tie him up and take him away! 7As they went to lay their hands on him, he jumped down from the wall and escaped from their lands, returning to his own country, where he continued to preach and prophesy among his own people. 8He was never heard from again by the Nephites. And this tells you the condition of the people. 9So ended the 86th year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites. 10And so ended also the 87th year of the judges’ rule — most of the people remaining prideful and wicked and a minority living carefully before God. 11It was the same in the 88th year of the judges’ rule. 12In the 89th year of the judges’ rule, there was little change in the people’s affairs, except that the people began to be more entrenched in iniquity and increasingly disobedient to God’s commandments.
- 13But in the 90th year of the judges’ rule, great signs were given to the people, and other awe-inspiring things as the prophet’s words began to be fulfilled. 14Angels appeared to wise men declaring to them good news of great joy. In this year, the scriptures began to be fulfilled. 15Nevertheless, the people still hardened their hearts, except for the most believing of them, among both the Nephites and the Lamanites. They began to rely on their own reasoning and foolishness, saying: 16They may have guessed right about a few things among so many. But certainly, all the great and miraculous things predicted will never happen. 17They began to reason and argue among themselves, 18saying it wasn’t at all reasonable for any Messiah to come, but if he does come, and he really is the son of God the Father of heaven and of earth, as claimed, then why won’t he show himself to us as well as to those at Jerusalem? 19Why won’t he come to this land as well as to the land of Jerusalem? 20But clearly this is a wicked tradition handed down to us by our ancestors, to make us believe in some great and miraculous thing to happen, but not among us, but in a land that’s far away, a land we know nothing about. Therefore they can keep us in ignorance, since we can’t witness with our own eyes when it happens. 21And using this clever and unseen trick from the Evil One, they’ll make claims we’ll never be able to disprove, which will be used to control us as servants to them and their false tradition, since we depend on them as our teachers. So they’ll keep us in ignorance our whole lives, if we let them.
- 22The people imagined many other foolish, vain lies to believe. And they were very agitated, since Satan constantly stirred them up to sin. He went around spreading rumors and starting conflicts everywhere, in order to harden the people’s hearts toward the truth and to reject the prophesies. 23Despite the signs and marvelous things that happened among the Lord’s people and the many miracles they experienced, Satan controlled the people’s hearts throughout the land. 24And so ended the 90th year of the judges’ rule. 25And so ended the Book of Helaman, based on the record of Helaman and his sons.
Chapter 5
Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecy to the Nephites.