could do nothing, and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this, ye have supposed in vain :

12. Do ye suppose that, because so many of your brethren have been killed, it is because of their wickedness? I say unto you, if ye have supposed this, ye have supposed in vain: for I say unto you, there are many who have fallen by the sword; and behold it is to your condemnation :

13. For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God.

14. And now behold, I say unto you, I fear exceedingly that the judgments of God will come upon this people, because of their exceeding slothfulness; yea, even the slothfulness of our government, and their exceeding great neglect towards their brethren, yea, towards those who have been slain :

15. For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies, that they could have gained no power over us;

16. Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves; yea, were it not for these "king-men, who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, at the time we were contending among ourselves, if we had united our strength as we hitherto have done; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and united with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies; for it would have been done according to the fulfilling of his word.

17. But behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, and they are murdering our people with the sword: yea, our women and our children: taking possession of our lands, and also carrying them away captive; causing them that they should suffer all manner of afflictions; and this because of the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and authority; yea, even those 'king-men.

18. But why should I say much concerning this matter, for we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority? We know not but what ye are also traitors to your country?

19. Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country, and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies?

e. Mos. 17: 10. Alma 14: 11. f, see 2 v, Alma 12. g, Alma 51: 13-27. h, see e, Alma 51. i, see h, II. Nep. 1.

j, see e, Alma 51.

20. Have ye forgot the commandments of the Lord your God? Yea, have ye forgot the captivity of our fathers? Have ye forgot the many times we have been delivered out of the hands of our enemies?

21. Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us while we sit upon our thrones, and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?

22. Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?

23. Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.

24. And now except ye do repent of that which ye have done, and begin to be up and doing, and send forth food and men unto us, and also unto Helaman, that he may support those parts of our country which he has retained, and that we may also recover the remainder of our possessions in these parts, behold it will be expedient that we contend no more with the Lamanites until we have first cleansed our inward vessel; yea, even the great head of our government;

25. And except ye grant mine epistle, and come out and shew unto me a true spirit of freedom, and strive to strengthen and fortify our armies, and grant unto them food for their support, behold I will leave a part of my freemen to maintain this part of our land, and I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them;

26. And this because of their exceeding faith, and their patience in their tribulations :

27. And I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom, yea, if there be even a "spark of freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct.

23. Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear, and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss.

29. Behold it is time, yea, the time is now at hand, that except ye do bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones, the sword of justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall fall upon you and visit you even to your utter destruction.

30. Behold, I wait for assistance from you, and, except k, ver. 11. 7, ver. 24. m, see 2ƒ, Alma 43. n, see 2f, Alma 43.

ye do administer unto our relief, behold I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our "freedom;

31. For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people.

32. Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out in judgment against the Lamanites, when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred; yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us; while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory, and the vain things of the world?

33. Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet. Behold, the Lord saith unto me, if those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them.

34. And now behold, I, Moroni, am constrained, according to the covenant which I have made to keep the commandments of my God; therefore I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men, and also to Helaman.

35. And behold, if ye will not do this I come unto you speedily; for behold, God will not suffer that we should perish with hunger; therefore he will give unto us of your food, even if it must be by the sword. Now see that ye "fultil the word of God.

36. Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honour of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country. And thus I close mine epistle.

CHAPTER 61.

1. BEHOLD, now it came to pass that soon after Moroni had sent his epistle unto the chief governor, he received an epistle from Pahoran, the chief governor. And these are the words which he received:

2. I, Pahoran, who am the chief governor of this land, do send these words unto Moroni, the chief captain over the army, behold, I say unto you, Moroni, that I do not joy in your great afflictions; yea, it grieves my soul.

3. But behold, there are those who do joy in your afflictions; yea, insomuch that they have risen up in rebellion

o, see h, Omni 1. P, see 2ƒ, Alma 43. 8, see 2f, Alma 43.

a, Alma 50:40

q, see n. Jacob 7.

r, ver. 33.

against me, and also those of my people who are 'freemen, yea, and those who have risen up are exceeding numerous;

4. And it is those who have sought to take away the judgment seat from me, that have been the cause of this great iniquity, for they have used great flattery, and they have led away the hearts of many people, which will be the cause of sore affliction among us; they have withheld our provisions, and have daunted our freemen that they have not come unto you.

5. And behold, they have driven me out, before them, and I have fled to the land of Gideon, with as many men as it were possible that I could get.

6. And behold I have sent a proclamation throughout this part of the land; and behold they are flocking to us daily, to their arms, in the defence of their country and their freedom, and to avenge our wrongs.

7. And they have come unto us, insomuch that those who have risen up in rebellion against us are set at defiance, yea, insomuch that they do fear us, and durst not come out against us to battle.

8. They have got possession of the land, or the city of Zarahemla; they have appointed a king over them, and he hath written unto the king of the Lamanites, in the which he hath joined an alliance with him; in the which alliance he hath agreed to maintain the city of Zarahemla, which maintenance he supposeth will enable the Lamanites to conquer the remainder of the land, and he shall be placed king over this people, when they shall be conquered under the Lamanites.

9. And now in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not, I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment seat, that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty, in the which God hath made us free.

10. And now, behold, we will resist wickedness even unto bloodshed. We would not shed the blood of the Lamanites if they would stay in their own land.

11. We would not shed the blood of our brethren, if they would not rise up in rebellion and take the sword against us. 12. We would subject ourselves to the yoke of bondage, if it were requisite with the justice of God, or if he should command us so to do.

13. But behold he doth not command us that we shall subject ourselves to our enemies, but that we should put our trust in him, and he will deliver us ;

14. Therefore, my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them

b, sec m, Mos. 29. c, see m, Alma 2. d, see m, Mos. 29.

Omni 1.

f, see m, Mos. 29.

e, see h,

with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God.

15. Therefore, come unto me speedily with a few of your men, and leave the remainder in the charge of Lehi and Teancum; give unto them power to conduct the war in that part of the land, according to the Spirit of God, which is also the spirit of freedom which is in them.

16. Behold I have sent a few provisions unto them, that they may not perish until ye can come unto me.

17. Gather together whatsoever force ye can upon your march hither, and we will go speedily against those dissenters in the strength of our God, according to the faith which is in us.

18. And we will take possession of the city of Zarahemla, that we may obtain more food to send forth unto Lehi and Teancum; yea, we will go forth against them in the strength of the Lord, and we will put an end to this great iniquity.

19. And now, Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried concerning what we should do, whether it should be just in us to go against our brethren.

20. But ye have said, Except they repent, the Lord "hath also commanded you that ye should go against them.

21. See that ye strengthen Lehi and Teancum in the Lord tell them to fear not, for God will deliver them; yea, and also all those who stand fast in that liberty wherewith God hath made them free. And now I close mine epistle to my beloved brother Moroni.

CHAPTER 62.

1. AND now it came to pass that when Moroni had received this epistle, his heart did take courage, and was filled with exceeding great joy, because of the faithfulness of Pahoran, that he was not also a traitor to the freedom and cause of his country.

2. But he did also mourn exceedingly, because of the iniquity of those who had driven Pahoran from the judg ment seat; yea, in fine because of those who had rebelled against their country and also their God.

3. And it came to pass that Moroni took a small number of men, according to the desire of Pahoran, and gave Lehi and Teancum command over the remainder of his army, and took his march towards the "land of Gideon.

4. And he did raise the 'standard of liberty in whatsoh, Alma 60: 33.

9, see h, Omni 1.