ration to another by the Nephites, even until they have fallen into transgression and have been murdered, plundered, and hunted, and driven forth, and slain, and scattered upon the face of the earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are 2 no more called the Nephites, becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites.

17. And now I return again to mine account; therefore what I have spoken had passed after there had been great contentions, and disturbances, and wars, and dissensions, among the people of Nephi.

18. The forty and sixth year of the reign of the Judges ended.

19. And it came to pass that there was still great contentions in the land, yea, even in the forty and seventh year, and also in the forty and eighth year;

20. Nevertheless, 2/Helaman did fill the judgment seat with justice and equity; yea, he did observe to keep the statutes, and the judgments, and the commandments of God; and he did do that which was right in the sight of God continually; and he did walk after the ways of his father, insomuch that he did prosper in the land.

21. And it came to pass that he had two sons. He gave unto the eldest the name of Nephi, and unto the youngest, the name of Lehi. And they began to grow up unto the Lord.

22. And it came to pass that the wars and contentions began to cease, in a small degree, among the people of the Nephites, in the latter end of the forty and eighth year of the reign of the Judges over the people of Nephi.

23. And it came to pass in the forty and ninth year of the reign of the Judges, there was continual peace established in the land, all save it were the secret combinations which Gadianton the robber had established, in the more settled parts of the land, which at that time were not known unto those who were at the head of government; therefore they were not destroyed out of the land.

24. And it came to pass that in this same year there was exceeding great prosperity in the church, insomuch that there were thousands who did join themselves unto the church, and were 2baptized unto repentance;

25. And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.

26. And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls; yea, even tens of thousands.

27. Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all

2e, Alma 45: 12-14. 2f, Hela. 2: 2. 2 i, see g, Mos. 26.

u, II. Nep. 9.

2g, see i, 11. Nep. 10. 2j, see u, II. Nep. 9.

2 h, sec

who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name;

28. Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God;

29. Yea, we see that whosoever will lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning, and the snares, and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a 2kstraight and narrow course across that everlasting 21gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked,

30. And land their souls, yea, their 2 mimmortal souls, at the right hand of God, in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

31. And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the 2 "land of Zarahemla, and in all the regions round about, even in all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

32. And it came to pass that there was peace and exceeding great joy in the remainder of the forty and ninth year: yea, and also there was continual peace and great joy in the fiftieth year of the reign of the judges.

33. And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church; not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God;

34. And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction;

35. Nevertheless they did 2 fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

36. And it came to pass that the fifty and second year ended in peace also, save it were the exceeding great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people; and it was because of their exceeding great riches and their prosperity in the land; and it did grow upon them from day to day.

37. And it came to pass in the fifty and third year of the reign of the Judges, Helaman died, and his eldest son Nephi began to reign in his stead. And it came to pass that he did fill the judgment seat with justice and equity; yea, he did keep the commandments of God, and did walk in the ways of his father.

2 k, see e, II. Nep. 31. See t, Alma 12.

21, see i, 1. Nep. 15. 2 m, Alma 42: 9, 11. 20, see t, Mos, 27. 2p, Hela. 2:2

2n, see h, Omni 1.

CHAPTER 4.

1. AND it came to pass in the fifty and fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, and there was also a contention among the people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed;

2. And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.

3. And it came to pass that they did endeavour to stir up the Lamanites to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceeding fraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those dissenters.

4. But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the Judges, there were dissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for

war.

5. And in the fifty and seventh year, they did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the "land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the 'land Bountiful;

6. And the Nephites, and the armies of Moronihah, were driven even into the land of Bountiful;

7. And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.

8. And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges.

9. And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies, in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they retained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.

10. And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges, they succeeded in retaining even the half of all their possessions.

11. Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened, had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God;

a, see h, Omni 1. b, see 2k, Alma 22. c, see c, Alma 48. . d, Alma 22:32. e, see c, Alma 48.

12. And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the Spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites;

13. And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

14. But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people; yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.

15. And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper;

16. For when Moronihah saw that they did repent, he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had retained the onehalf of their property, and the one-half of all their lands.

17. And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the Judges.

18. And it came to pass in the sixty and second year of the reign of the judges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the Lamanites;

19. Therefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of their lands, for so numerous were the Lamanites that it became impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he had taken.

20. And it came to pass because of the greatness of the number of the Lamanites, the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed;

21. Yea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the words of Mosiah ; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people, and that they had set at nought the commandments of God;

22. And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and thus seeing that their

f, see l, Mos. 4. 9, see b, 11. Nep. 5. h, ver. 10. 2, Mos. 29: 27. j, Alma 1 : 1.

laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites.

23. And because of their iniquity, the church had began to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the Spirit of prophecy, and in the Spirit of revelation; and the judg ments of God did stare them in the face.

24. And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth 'not dwell in unholy temples;

25. Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were more exceeding numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God, they must unavoidably perish.

26. For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.

CHAPTER 5.

1. AND it came to pass that in this same year, behold, Nephi "delivered up the judgment seat to a man whose name was Cezoram.

2. For as their 'laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted;

3. Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.

4. And it came to pass that Nephi had become weary, because of their iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days;

5. For they remembered the words which their father Helaman spake unto them. And these are the words which he spake:

6. Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to