Third Nephi — Chapter 4
1 During the last part of the eighteenth year, the robbers came down from their strong and secret places in the hills and mountains and wilderness, taking over the lands the Nephites had left in both the south and north.
2 But there were no animals left in those lands. The only animals were in the wilderness.
3 The robbers could only live in the wilderness where there was food, because the Nephites had destroyed their own land, and taken all their food and animals with them.
4 So the only way the robbers could get food was to fight openly against the Nephites, but there were so many Nephites gathered together that the robbers did not want to fight them. The Nephites had enough food for seven years, and they hoped the robbers would die from hunger or go away before then. This was how the eighteenth year went by.
5 In the nineteenth year, Giddianhi had to fight against the Nephites, because the robbers could not live without the food they had to steal and kill to get.
6 They were afraid to grow crops themselves, in case the Nephites came and fought them. So Giddianhi commanded his armies to fight against the Nephites.
7 The war began in the sixth month, and it was a terrible day when Giddianhi’s armies came. The robbers looked very awful and great, because they wore a lambskin around their loins, and had painted themselves with blood, and had helmets, and had no hair on their heads.
8 When the Nephite armies saw Giddianhi’s army, they all fell on the ground and prayed to God to save them from their enemies.
9 When Giddianhi’s armies saw this, they shouted with joy. They thought the Nephites had fallen on the ground because they were afraid of them.
10 But the robbers were wrong. The Nephites were not afraid of them, but they were asking God to protect them. So when Giddianhi’s armies ran to fight against them, they were ready to fight with the strength of God.
11 The battle began during the sixth month, and it was a terrible battle. There was more killing than there had ever been since Lehi had left Jerusalem.
12 Even though Giddianhi had said his armies would completely destroy the Nephites, the Nephites defeated them, and the robbers began to run away from them.
13 Then Gidgiddoni told his armies to chase the robbers right up to the wilderness, and to kill any robbers they caught, and they did.
14 They chased Giddianhi, who had stood and fought bravely; and since he was tired from fighting so much, he was caught and killed. That was the end of Giddianhi the robber.
15 Then the Nephite armies went back to their safe places. For the rest of the nineteenth year and for all the twentieth year, the robbers did not come to battle.
16 They did not come to battle during the twenty-first year, but laid siege against the Nephites. They thought the Nephites would give up if they could keep them away from their lands, and keep them from being able to leave their cities.
17 The robbers had chosen another leader, named Zemnariah. He told the robbers to lay siege.
18 But this was a good thing for the Nephites, because the robbers could not lay siege long enough to do anything bad to them, because the Nephites had saved up many supplies.
19 But the robbers did not have many supplies. All they had was meat from whatever animals they could catch in the wilderness.
20 Soon there were not many animals left to catch in the wilderness, so the robbers were about to die of hunger.
21 And, too, the Nephites were always coming out and fighting against them day and night, killing thousands and tens of thousands of them.
22 Zemnariah’s people wanted to stop laying siege and get away because of the great destruction they suffered day and night.
23 So Zemnariah commanded his people to stop laying siege, and to get away from the Nephites by going to the farthest parts of the north lands.
24 Gidgiddoni knew their plans, and he knew they were weak from hunger, and that they were weak because so many of them had been killed. So he sent his armies out at night to block the way to the north, and he also sent armies to block their way back.
25 They did this at night, so they were ahead of the robbers. When the robbers began their march, there were Nephite armies ahead of them and behind them.
26 The robbers in the south were also blocked from their safe places. All these things were done as Gidgiddoni commanded.
27 Many thousands of robbers gave up and became the Nephites’ prisoners. The rest were killed.
28 Their leader, Zemnariah, was hanged from the top of a tree. When he was dead, the Nephites cut down the tree, and shouted:
29 “May God protect his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, so they will be able to cut down everyone in those secret combinations who want to kill our people to get power, just as we have cut down this man.”
30 Then they were all happy, and they all shouted again: “May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob protect this people in righteousness, so long as they will pray to him for protection.”
31 Then they all began to sing in praise to God for the great thing he had done for them by protecting them from their enemies.
32 Yes, they shouted: “Hosanna to the Most High God,” and “Blessed be the name of the Lord Almighty, the Most High God!”
33 Their hearts were full of joy, and they cried many tears because of God’s goodness in protecting them from their enemies. They knew they had been saved from destruction because they had humbly repented.
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