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24 - Book of Mormon - Joseph Smith Jr · Philosophy and Faith

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  Speaker 1: Mosiah chapter twenty eight. Now it came to pass that
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  Speaker 1: after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things,
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  Speaker 1: they took a small number with them and returned to
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  Speaker 1: their father, the King, and desired of him that he
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  Speaker 1: would grant unto them, that they might, with those whom
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  Speaker 1: they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi,
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  Speaker 1: that they might preach the things which they had heard,
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  Speaker 1: and that they might impart the word of God to
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  Speaker 1: their brethren, the Lamanites, that perhaps they might bring them
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  Speaker 1: to the knowledge of the Lord their God and convince
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  Speaker 1: them of the iniquity of their fathers, and that perhaps
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  Speaker 1: they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites,
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  Speaker 1: that they might also be brought to rejoice in the
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  Speaker 1: Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another,
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  Speaker 1: and that there should be no more contentions in all
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  Speaker 1: the land which the Lord their God had given them.
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  Speaker 1: Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to
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  Speaker 1: every creature, for they could not bear that any human
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  Speaker 1: soul should perish. Yea, even the very thoughts that any
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  Speaker 1: soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake
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  Speaker 1: and tremble, And thus did the spirit of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners,
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  Speaker 1: and the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to
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  Speaker 1: spare them. Nevertheless, they suffered much anguish of soul because
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  Speaker 1: of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should
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  Speaker 1: be cast off forever. And it came to pass that
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  Speaker 1: they did plead with their father many days that they
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  Speaker 1: might go up to the land of Nephi. And King
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  Speaker 1: Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he should
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  Speaker 1: let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach
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  Speaker 1: the Word. And the Lord said, unto Messiah, let them
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  Speaker 1: go up, for many shall believe on their words, and
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  Speaker 1: they shall have eternal life. And I will deliver thy
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  Speaker 1: sons out of the hands of the Lamanites. And it
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  Speaker 1: came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go
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  Speaker 1: and do according to their request. And they took their
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  Speaker 1: journey into the wilderness to go up to preach the
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  Speaker 1: Word among the Lamanites. And I shall give an account
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  Speaker 1: of their proceedings hereafter. Now King Mosiah had no one
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  Speaker 1: to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not in
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  Speaker 1: any of his sons who would accept of the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the
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  Speaker 1: plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and
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  Speaker 1: all the things which he had kept and preserved according
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  Speaker 1: to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused
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  Speaker 1: to be written the records which were on the plates
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  Speaker 1: of gold, which had been found by the people of Limai,
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  Speaker 1: which were delivered to him by the hand of Limai.
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  Speaker 1: And this he did because of the great anxiety of
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  Speaker 1: his people, for they were desirous beyond measure to know
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  Speaker 1: concerning those people who had been destroyed. And now he
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  Speaker 1: translated them by the means of those two stones which
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  Speaker 1: were fastened into the two rims of a beau. Now
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  Speaker 1: these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed
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  Speaker 1: down from generation to generation for the purpose of interpreting languages.
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  Speaker 1: And they have been kept and preserved by the hand
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature
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  Speaker 1: who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of
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  Speaker 1: his people. And whosoever has these things is called seer,
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  Speaker 1: after the manner of old times. Now, after Mosiah had
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  Speaker 1: finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of
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  Speaker 1: the people who were destroyed, from the time that they
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  Speaker 1: were destroyed back to the building of the Great Tower,
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  Speaker 1: at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people,
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  Speaker 1: and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all
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  Speaker 1: the earth. Yea, and even from that time back until
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  Speaker 1: the creation of Adam. Now this account did cause the
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  Speaker 1: people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, Yea, they were filled
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  Speaker 1: with sorrow. Nevertheless, it gave them much knowledge in the
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  Speaker 1: which they did rejoice. And this account shall be written hereafter.
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  Speaker 1: For behold, it is expedient that all people should know
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  Speaker 1: the things which are written in this account. And now,
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  Speaker 1: as I said unto you, that after King Mosiah had
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  Speaker 1: done these things, he took the plates of brass and
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  Speaker 1: all the things which he had kept, and conferred them
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  Speaker 1: upon Alma, who was the son of Alma. Yea, all
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  Speaker 1: the records and also the interpreters, and conferred them upon him,
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  Speaker 1: and commanded him that he should keep and preserve them,
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  Speaker 1: and also keep a record of the people handing them
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  Speaker 1: down from one generation to another, even as they had
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  Speaker 1: been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem Mosiah,
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  Speaker 1: chapter twenty nine. Now, when Mosiah had done this, he
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  Speaker 1: sent out throughout all the land, among all the people,
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  Speaker 1: desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king.
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  Speaker 1: And it came to pass that the voice of the
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  Speaker 1: people came saying, we are desirous that Erin thy son
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  Speaker 1: should be our king and our ruler. Now Erin had
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  Speaker 1: gone up to the land of Nephi. Therefore the king
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  Speaker 1: could not confer the kingdom upon him, neither would Erin
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  Speaker 1: take upon him the kingdom. Neither were any of the
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  Speaker 1: sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore King Mosiah sent again among the people. Yea even
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  Speaker 1: a written word sent he among the people. And these
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  Speaker 1: were the words that were written, saying, behold o ye,
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  Speaker 1: my people, or my brethren, For I esteem you as such.
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  Speaker 1: I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye
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  Speaker 1: are called to consider, for yere desirous to have a king.
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  Speaker 1: Now I declare unto you that he to whom the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom doth rightly belong has declined and will not take
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  Speaker 1: upon him the kingdom. And now if there should be
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  Speaker 1: another appointed in his stead, behold, I fear there would
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  Speaker 1: rise contentions among you. And who knoweth but what my
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  Speaker 1: son to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to
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  Speaker 1: be angry and draw away a part of this people
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  Speaker 1: after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you,
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  Speaker 1: which would be the cause of shedding much blood and
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  Speaker 1: perverting the way of the Lord Yea, and destroy the
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  Speaker 1: souls of many people. Now I say unto you, let
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  Speaker 1: us be wise and consider these things. For we have
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  Speaker 1: no right to destroy my son, neither should we have
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  Speaker 1: any right to destroy another. If he should be appointed
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  Speaker 1: in his stead, and if my son should turn again
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  Speaker 1: to his pride and vain things, he would recall the
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  Speaker 1: things which he had said and claim his right to
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people
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  Speaker 1: to commit much sin. And now, let us be wise
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  Speaker 1: and look forward to these things, and do that which
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  Speaker 1: will make for the peace of this people. Therefore I
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  Speaker 1: will be your king the remainder of my days. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: let us appoint judges to judge this people according to
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  Speaker 1: our law, and we will newly arrange the affairs of
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  Speaker 1: this people. For we will appoint wise men to be
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  Speaker 1: judges that will judge this people according to the commandments
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  Speaker 1: of God. Now it is better that a man should
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  Speaker 1: be judged of God than of man. For the judgments
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  Speaker 1: of God are always just, but the judgments of man
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  Speaker 1: are not always just. Therefore, if it were possible that
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  Speaker 1: ye could have just men to be your kings, who
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  Speaker 1: would establish the laws of God and judge this people
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  Speaker 1: according to His commandments, yea, if ye could have men
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  Speaker 1: for your kings, who would do even as my father
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  Speaker 1: Benjamin did for this people. I say unto you, if
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  Speaker 1: this could always be the case, then it would be
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  Speaker 1: expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you.
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  Speaker 1: And even I myself have labored with all the power
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  Speaker 1: and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the
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  Speaker 1: commandments of God and to establish peace throughout the land,
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  Speaker 1: that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing,
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  Speaker 1: nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity. And
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  Speaker 1: whosoever has committed iniquity him have I punished according to
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  Speaker 1: the crime which he has committed, according to the law
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  Speaker 1: which has been given to us by our fathers. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I say unto you that because all men are not just,
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  Speaker 1: it is not expedient that ye should have a king
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  Speaker 1: or kings to rule over you. For behold, how much
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  Speaker 1: iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed? Yea,
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  Speaker 1: And what great destruction yea? Remember King Noah, his wickedness
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  Speaker 1: and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of
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  Speaker 1: his people. Behold, what great destruction did come upon them?
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  Speaker 1: And also because of their iniquities, they were brought into bondage.
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  Speaker 1: And were it not for the interposition of their all
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  Speaker 1: wise creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they
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  Speaker 1: must unavoidably remain in bondage until now. But behold, he
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  Speaker 1: did deliver them, because they did humble themselves before him,
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  Speaker 1: and because they cried mightily unto him, he did deliver
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  Speaker 1: them out of bondage. And thus doth the Lord work
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  Speaker 1: with his power in all cases among the children of men,
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  Speaker 1: extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their
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  Speaker 1: trust in him. And behold, now, I say unto you,
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  Speaker 1: ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king, save it be through
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  Speaker 1: much contention and the shedding of much blood. For behold,
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  Speaker 1: he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his
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  Speaker 1: guards about him, and he teareth up the laws of
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  Speaker 1: those who have reigned in righteousness before him. And he
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  Speaker 1: trampleth under his feet the commandments of God, and he
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  Speaker 1: enacteth laws and sendeth them forth among his people. Yea
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  Speaker 1: laws after the manner of his own wickedness. And whosoever
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  Speaker 1: doth not obey his laws, he causes to be destroyed.
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  Speaker 1: And whosoever doth rebel against him, he will send his
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  Speaker 1: armies against them to war, and if he can, he
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  Speaker 1: will destroy them. And thus an unrighteous king doth pervert
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  Speaker 1: the ways of all righteousness. And now behold, I say
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  Speaker 1: unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should
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  Speaker 1: come upon you. Therefore, choose you by the voice of
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  Speaker 1: this people judges, that you may be judged according to
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  Speaker 1: the laws which have been given by our fathers, which
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  Speaker 1: are correct, and which were given them by the hand
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord. Now it is not common that the
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  Speaker 1: voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which
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  Speaker 1: is right. But it is common for the lesser part
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  Speaker 1: of the people to desire that which is not right. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: this shall ye observe, and make it your law, to
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  Speaker 1: do your business by the voice of the people. And
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  Speaker 1: if the time comes that the voice of the people
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  Speaker 1: doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments
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  Speaker 1: of God will come upon you. Yea, then is the
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  Speaker 1: time He will visit you with great CoA destruction, even
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  Speaker 1: as he has hitherto visited this land. And now, if
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  Speaker 1: ye have judges, and they do not judge you according
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  Speaker 1: to the law which has been given, ye can cause
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  Speaker 1: that they may be judged of a higher judge. If
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  Speaker 1: your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall
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  Speaker 1: cause that a small number of your lower judges should
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  Speaker 1: be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges
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  Speaker 1: according to the voice of the people. And I command
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  Speaker 1: you to do these things in the fear of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And I command you to do these things, and that
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  Speaker 1: ye have no king, that if these people commit sins
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  Speaker 1: and iniquities, they shall be answered upon their own heads.
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  Speaker 1: For behold, I say unto you, the sins of many
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  Speaker 1: people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings.
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  Speaker 1: And now I desire that this inequality should be no
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  Speaker 1: more in this land, especially among this my people. But
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  Speaker 1: I desire that this land be a land of liberty,
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  Speaker 1: and every man may enjoy his right and privileges alike,
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  Speaker 1: so long as the Lord sees fit that we may
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  Speaker 1: live and inherit the land. Yea, even as long as
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  Speaker 1: any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.
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  Speaker 1: And many more things did King Mosiah write unto them,
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  Speaker 1: unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a
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  Speaker 1: righteous king. Yea, all the travails of soul for their people,
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  Speaker 1: and also all the murmurings of the people to their king.
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  Speaker 1: And he explained it all unto them. And he told
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  Speaker 1: them that these things ought not to be, but that
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  Speaker 1: the burden should come upon all the people, that every
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  Speaker 1: man might bear his part. And he also unfolded unto
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  Speaker 1: them all the disadvantages they labored under by having an
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  Speaker 1: unrighteous king to rule over them, Yea, all his iniquities
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  Speaker 1: and abominations, and all the wars and contentions, and bloodshed,
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  Speaker 1: and the stealing and the plundering, and the committing of hortoms,
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  Speaker 1: and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated, telling
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  Speaker 1: them that these things ought not to be, that they
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  Speaker 1: were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God. And now
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  Speaker 1: it came to pass after King Mosiah had sent these
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  Speaker 1: things forth among the people, they were convinced of the
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  Speaker 1: truth of his words. Therefore they relinquished their desires for
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  Speaker 1: a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should
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  Speaker 1: have an equal chance throughout all the land. Yea, And
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  Speaker 1: every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore it came to pass that they assembled themselves together
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  Speaker 1: in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices
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  Speaker 1: concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according
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  Speaker 1: to the law which had been given them. And they
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  Speaker 1: were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been
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  Speaker 1: granted unto them. And they did wax strong in love
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  Speaker 1: towards Mosiah. Yea, they did esteem him more than any
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  Speaker 1: other man, for they did not look upon him as
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  Speaker 1: a tyrant who was seeking for gain. YEA, for that
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  Speaker 1: lucre which doth corrupt the soul. For he had not
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  Speaker 1: exacted riches of them, neither had he lighted in the
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  Speaker 1: shedding of blood. But he had established peace in the land,
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  Speaker 1: and he had granted unto his people that they should
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  Speaker 1: be delivered from all manner of bondage. Therefore they did
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  Speaker 1: esteem him yea exceedingly beyond measure. And it came to
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  Speaker 1: pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them
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  Speaker 1: or to judge them according to the law. And this
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  Speaker 1: they did throughout all the land. And it came to
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  Speaker 1: pass that Alma was appointed to be the first chief judge,
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  Speaker 1: he being also the high priest, his father having conferred
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  Speaker 1: the office upon him, and having given him the charge
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  Speaker 1: concerning all the affairs of the church. And now it
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  Speaker 1: came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and
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  Speaker 1: he did judge righteous judgments, and there was continual peace
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  Speaker 1: through the land. And thus commenced the reign of the
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  Speaker 1: judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla among all the
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  Speaker 1: people who recalled the Nephites, and Alma was the first
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  Speaker 1: and chief judge. And now it came to pass that
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  Speaker 1: his father died, being eighty and two years old, having
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  Speaker 1: lived to fulfill the commandments of God. And it came
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  Speaker 1: to pass that Mosiah died also in the thirty and
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  Speaker 1: third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old,
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  Speaker 1: making in the whole five hundred nine years from the
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  Speaker 1: time Lehi left Jerusalem, and thus ended the reign of
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  Speaker 1: the kings over the people of Nephi, and thus ended
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  Speaker 1: the days of Alma, who was the founder of their
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  Speaker 1: church and of Mosiah, Chapters twenty eight through twenty nine.