having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people.

3. And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.

4. And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man, and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.

5. And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.

6. And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of "Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.

7. And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying, Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy them; yea, they will destroy my people.

8. And now the king was not so much concerned about his people, as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.

9. And the king commanded the people that they should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself did go before them, and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children.

10. And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay them.

11. Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites.

12. Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them. And the rest left their wives and their children and fled.

13. And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children, caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites, that they would not slay them.

14. And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the

their women;

beauty of

15. Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them captives, and carried them back to the "land of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed; one half of

e, vers.

d, see d, Mos. 10. h, see b, ii. Nep. 5. i, see k, Mos. 9.

b, Mos. 11: 12. 21, 19. f, ver. 14.

c, see h, II. Nep. 5.
g, ver. 13.

their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, from year to year.

16. And now there was one of the sons of the king among those that were taken captive, whose name was Limhi.

17. And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man.

18. And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king, and those that were with him. And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests.

19. Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if 'their wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them.

20. And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death "by fire.

21. And they were about to take the 'priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them.

22. And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi, and they met the men of Gideon. And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land, by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed.

23. And the people told the men of Gideon that they had "slain the king, and his priests had fled from them farther into the wilderness.

24. And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had "done to the king.

25. And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them.

26. And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him by the people, made oath unto the king of the Lamanites, that his people should pay tribute unto him, "even one half of all they possessed.

27. And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom, and to establish peace among his people.

28. And the king of the Lamanites set "guards round about the land, that he might keep the people of Limhi in k, seef, Mos. 11. l, vers. 11, 12. o, see ƒ, Mos. 11. P, vers. 14, 15. q, see k,

j, see h, Mos. 7. n, Mos. 12: 3, 10-12. Mos. 9. r, ver. 20. u, vers. 20, 23.

8, see f, v, see k, Mos. 9.

m, ver. 12.

Mos. 11.
vers. 14, 15, 19, 22.
w, Mos. 21: 5. 22: 6-10.

the land, that they might not depart into the wilderness; and he did support his guards out of the "tribute which he did receive from the Nephites.

29. And now king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom, for the space of two years, that the Lamanites did not molest them nor seek to destroy them.

CHAPTER 20.

1. Now there was a place in aShemlon, where the daughters of the Lamanites did gather themselves together to sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry.

2. And it came to pass that there was one day a small number of them gathered together to sing and to dance.

3. And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children.

4. And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them;

5. And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places, and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness.

6. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that their daughters had been missing, they were angry with the people of Limhi; for they thought it was the people of Limhi.

7. Therefore they sent their armies forth; yea, even the king himself went before his people; and they went up to the land of Nephi, to destroy the people of Limhi.

8. And now Limhi had discovered them from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover; therefore he gathered his people together, and laid wait for them in the fields, and in the forests.

9. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had come up, that the people of Limhi began to fall upon them from their waiting places, and began to slay them.

10. And it came to pass that the battle became exceeding sore, for they fought like lions for their prey.

11. And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. But they fought for their

lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves, and like dragons did they fight.

12. And it came to pass that they found the king of the Lamanites among the number of their dead; yet he was not dead, having been wounded and left upon the ground, so speedy was the flight of his people.

13. And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said, behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound, has fallen among their dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him.

14. But Limhi said unto them, ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither, that I may see him. And they brought him. And Limhi said unto him, What cause have ye to come up to war against my people? Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people?

15. And now the king said, I have broken the oath, because thy people did "carry away the daughters of my people; therefore, in my anger I did cause my people to come up to war against thy people.

16. Now Limhi had heard nothing concerning this matter; therefore he said, I will search among my people and whosoever has done this thing shall perish. Therefore he caused a search to be made among his people.

17. Now when Gideon had heard these things, he being the king's captain, he went forth and said unto the king, pray thee forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge.

18. For do ye not remember the priests of thy father, whom this people sought to destroy? And are they not in the wilderness? And are not they the ones who have stolen the daughters of the Lamanites?"

19. And now behold, and tell the king of these things, that he may tell his people that they may be pacified towards us: for behold they are already preparing to come against us; and behold also, there are but few of us.

20. And behold, they come with their numerous hosts; and except the king doth pacify them towards us, we must perish.

21. For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us? and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities.

22. And now let us pacify the king, and we fulfil the 'oath which we have made unto him: for it is better that we should be in bondage, than that we should lose our lives; therefore, let us put a stop to the shedding of so much blood. 23. And now Limhi told the king all the things concern

g, Mos. 19:25, 26. h, vers. 1--6. k, Mos. 12:1-8. 7, Mos. 19: 26.

i, see f, Mos. 11. j, ver. 5.

ing his father, and the "priests that had fled into the wilderness, and attributed the carrying away of their "daughters to them.

24. And it came to pass that the king was pacified towards his people: and he said unto them, Let us go forth to meet my people, without arms; and I sware unto you with an oath, that my people shall not slay thy people.

25. And it came to pass that they followed the king, and went forth without arms to meet the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they did meet the Lamanites; and the king of the Lamanites did bow himself down before them, and did plead in behalf of the people of Limhi.

26. And when the Lamanites saw the people of Limhi, that they were without arms, they had compassion on them, and were pacified towards them, and returned with their king in peace to their own land.

CHAPTER 21.

1. AND it came to pass that Limhi and his people returned to the city of Nephi, and began to dwell in the land again in peace.

2. And it came to pass that after many days, the Lamanites began again to be stirred up in anger against the Nephites, and they began to come into the borders of the land round about.

3. Now they durst not slay them, because of the "oath which their king had made unto Limhi; but they would smite them on their cheeks, and exercise authority over them; and began to put heavy burdens upon their backs, and drive them as they would a dumb ass:

4. Yea, all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled.

5. And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had 'surrounded them on every side.

6. And it came to pass that the people began to murmur with the king, because of their afflictions; and they began to be desirous to go against them to battle. And they did afflict the king sorely with their complaints; therefore he granted unto them that they should do according to their desires.

7. And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armour, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land.