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CHAPTER 28.

1. Now it came to pass that after the "sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them, and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them, that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi, that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites;

2. That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their chatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.

3. Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment, did cause them to quake and tremble.

4. And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the every vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul, because of their iniquities; and suffering much, fearing that they should be cast off for

ever.

5. And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi.

6. And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord, if he would let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word.

7. And the Lord said unto Mosiah, Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.

8. And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go, and do according to their request;

9. And they took their journey into the wilderness, to go up to preach the word among the Lamanites: and I shall give an account of their proceedings hereafter.

10. Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept of the kingdom;

11. Therefore he took the records which were engraven

a, Mos. 27: 34.

Jacob 6. 22, 23.

b, see b, II. Nep. 5. c, see n, Jacob 7. d, see m, e, Mos. 27: 8-11. f, see b, II. Nep. 5. g, Alma 17: 35. 19: h, Alma 17-28 chapters.

on the plates of brass, and also the 'plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved, according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold, which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;

12. And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people, for they were desirous beyond measure, to know concerning those people 'who had been destroyed.

13. And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.

14. Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;

15. And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land, the iniquities and abominations of his people:

16. And whosoever has these things, is called "seer, after the manner of old times.

17. Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed, back to the building of the "great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time until the "creation of Adam.

18. Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow: nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice.

19. And this account shall be 'written hereafter for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account.

20. And now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah had done these things, he took the 'plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; yea, "all the records, and also the "interpreters, and conferred them upon him, and commanded him that he should keep and preserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.

i, see a, 1. Nep. 3. Mos. 8. m, see n, Mos. 8. Tower of Babel, Omni 1: 20-22. m, Mos. 2. s, Book of Ether.

j, see f, 1. Nep. 1. k, see k, Mos. 8. 1, see j, n, Mos. 8: 13-18. o, see j, Mos. 8. P, Ether 1: 1-5. q, Ether 1: 33. t, see a, I. Nep. 3. u, The two sets of plates of Nephi, sword of Laban, miraculous ball, twenty-four plates of gold,

the brass plates, &c. v, see n, Mos. 8.

r, see

CHAPTER 29.

1. Now when Mosiah had done this, he sent out throughout all the land, among all the people, desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king.

2. And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying, We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king, and our ruler.

3. Now Aaron had gone up to the "land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him; neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were any of the 'sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom,

4. Therefore king Mosiah sent again among the people; yea, even a written word sent he among the people. And these were the words that were written :-saying,

5. Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such; for I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider; for ye are desirous to have a king.

6. Now I declare unto you, that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong, has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom.

7. And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you; and who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom "doth belong, should turn to be angry, and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you; which would be the cause of shedding much blood, and perverting the way of the Lord; yea, and destroy the souls of many people.

8. Now I say unto you, Let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have a right to destroy another, if he should be appointed in his stead.

9. And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things, he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin.

10. And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people.

11. Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law, and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be

a, see b, . Nep. 5. b, Mos. 27: 34. 2, 3, 6, 9. e, vers. 25-27, 34, 38, 39, 41. Hela. 1:3-5, 13. 2:2. 3:37. 5: 1, 2, 9ch. IL Nep. 1:1. 3: 1. 6:19, 21-30.

c, vers. 2, 3, 7, 9. d, vers. Alma 2: 3-7. 4:16, 17. 50:39. 6:15, 19, 39. 7:4. 8:27, 28. 7: 1-3,

4.

judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God.

12. Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just;

13. Therefore if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments; yea, if ye could have men for your kings, who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this people: I say unto you, if this could always be the case, then it would be expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you.

14. And even I myself have laboured with all the power of faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity:

15. And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers.

16. Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just, it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule

over you.

17. For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed! yea, and what great destruction!

18. Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations; and also the wickedness and abominations of his people. Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities, they were brought into bondage.

19. And were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until now.

20. But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him, he did deliver them out of bondage: and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.

21. And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king, save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood.

22. For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him: and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him: and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God;

23. And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people; yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedf, Omni 1:23-25. Words of Mormon, vers. 3, 10-18. Mos. 1-6 ch. g, Mos. 11: 1--15. 12: 17-19. 17:1-20. h, Mos. 12: 2-8. 14. 22:5-14.

i, Mos. 21:

ness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws, he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him, he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can, he will destroy them and thus an unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness.

24. And now behold I say unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you;

25. Therefore choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.

26. Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe, and make it your law to do your business by the voice of the people.

27. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you, yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.

28. And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given, ye can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge:

29. If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the people.

30. And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord and I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king: that if these people commit sins and iniquities, they shall be answered upon their own heads.

31. For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings.

32. And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit, that we may live and inherit the land; yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.

33. And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king; yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them.

34. And he told them that these things ought not to be; j, sec e. k, Alma 2: 3-7. 10:19. Hela. 5: 2. 6: 38-40. 1, see e m, 11. Nep. 1: 7. Alma 46: 10-28, 34-36.

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