hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God, that he would take away our stain. 12. Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords 'no more with the blood of our brethren. 13. Behold, I say unto you, nay, let us retain our swords, that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren: for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again, they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins. 14. And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us, that we might not perish yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations. 15. Oh how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us 'hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us, and has made us clean thereby. 16. And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them "deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved. 17. And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth; 18. And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood; and this they did, Vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren, they would "give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother, they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness, they would labour abundantly with their hands; 19. And thus we see that when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death, rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace. 20. And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi, for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of PAnti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land. 21. Now when the people saw that they were coming against them, they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword; 22. And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God. 23. Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword; 24. Now when the Lamanites saw this, they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done. 25. And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them. 26. And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people; therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved. 27. And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people. 28. Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren, were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the order of the Nehors. 29. Now among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were none who were Amalekites or "Amulonites, or who were of the 'order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel; o, see n. s, Alma 1 : 2-15. P, see t, Alma 23. q, Alma 1 : 2-15. r, see u, Mos. 23. 30. And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes 'worse than though they had never known these things. CHAPTER 25. 1. AND behold, now it came to pass that those Lamanites were more angry, because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did no more attempt to slay the people of "Anti-Nephi-Lehi at that time; 2. But they took their armies and went over into the borders of the land of Zarahemla, and fell upon the people who were in the 'land of Ammonihah, and destroyed them. 3. And after that, they had many battles with the Nephites, in the which they were driven and slain; 4. And among the Lamanites who were slain, were almost all the seed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah, and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites; 5. And the remainder having fled into the east wilderness, and having usurped the power and authority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should perish by fire because of their belief; 6. For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilder ness. 7. And it came to pass that those rulers who were the remnant of the "children of Amulon, caused that they should be 'put to death, yea, all those that believed in these things. 8. Now this martyrdom caused that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger; and there began to be contention in the wilderness; and the Lamanites began to hunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren, and began to slay them, and they fled into the east wilderness. 9. And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites; thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire. 10. For he said unto them, 'What ye shall do unto me, shall be a type of things to come. 11. And now Abinadi was the first that suffered "death by fire, because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, "according as he had suffered. 12. And he said unto the priests of Noah, that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were 'hunted, and they were smitten. 13. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites, they returned again to their own land; and many of them came over to dwell in the Pland of Ishmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of "Anti-Nephi-Lehi; 14. And they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes, 15. Yea, and they did keep the 'law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances, until the time that he should be revealed unto them. 16. Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the Spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come. 17. And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites, seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their "prayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular. k, Mos. 17: 15-20. 5-7. o, vers. 8, 9. r, see t, Alma 23. Nep. 32. 7, Mos. 13: 10. m, Mos. 17:13-20. n, vers. Mos. 17: 18. P, see w, Alma 17. q, see b, I. Nep. 5. t, see o, II. Nep. 25. u, see e, IL 8, see l, Alma 24. CHAPTER 26. 1. AND now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed, when we "started from the 'land of Zarahemla, that God would have granted unto us such great blessings? 2. And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can tell? We 3. Behold, I answer for you, for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss; but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvellous light of God? And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work. 4. Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God. 5. Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your mights, yea, all the day long did ye labour; and behold the number of your sheaves, and they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted; 6. Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh, they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them. 7. But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day. 8. Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness for ever. 9. For if we had not come up out of the "land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been 'racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God. 10. And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying, Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting; 11. But Ammon said unto him, I do not boast in my own strength, or in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God; 12. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength Ỉ am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will a, Mos. 28: 9. d, Alma 23: 5. g, see p, Mos. 23. Alma 17: 6-9. b, see h, Omni 1. 7. c, Alma 23: 8-13. f, see i, II. Nep. 9. |