Alma — Chapter 22
1 While Ammon was teaching Lamoni’s people, Aaron and his brothers left the land of Middoni. They went where the Spirit told them to go, which was to the land of Nephi, where the king (Lamoni’s father) lived.
2 Aaron and his brothers went to the king’s house, and bowed down before the king, and said to him: “O king, we are Ammon’s brothers whom you let out of prison.
3 “If you will not kill us, O king, we will be your servants.” The king said to them: “Stand up. I will not kill you, nor do I want you to be my servants, but I want you to tell me some things. I do not understand all the things your brother Ammon said, nor why he has been so good to my son. I also want to know why he has not come with you from Middoni.”
4 Aaron said to the king: “God’s Spirit told him to go a different way, and he has gone to teach Lamoni’s people in the land of Ishmael.”
5 Then the king said to them: “What did you say about God’s Spirit? This is what I do not understand, and what I want to know about.
6 “And I want to know about what Ammon said — ‘If you repent, you will be saved, and if you do not repent, you will not be saved at the end of the world.’”
7 Aaron said to him: “Do you believe there is a God?” The king said: “I know the Amalekites say there is a God, and I have let them build churches to meet in to worship him. If you tell me there is a God, I will believe you.”
8 When Aaron heard this, his heart began to be happy, and he said: “Just as you live, O king, there is a God.”
9 The king asked: “Is God the Great Spirit who led our ancestors out of the land of Jerusalem?”
10 Aaron said to him: “Yes, he is that Great Spirit, and he made everything in heaven and on earth. Do you believe this?”
11 The king said: “Yes, I believe the Great Spirit made everything. I want you to tell me all about these things, and I will believe what you tell me.”
12 When Aaron saw that the king would believe what he said, he taught the king what the scriptures say about people being made to look like God, and God’s commandments, and how people had sinned and fallen.
13 Aaron taught him about Adam and Eve and the Fall, and about the plan of salvation which would save everyone who believes in Christ.
14 People could not save themselves after they fell, but Christ’s suffering and death would pay for their sins if they had faith and repented. The hope of eternal life would win over death through Christ. Aaron told the king about all these things.
15 After Aaron told him all these things, the king said: “What do I have to do so I can live with God again? How can I be born again, and not be wicked anymore, and have God’s Spirit with me so I can be filled with joy, and not be destroyed at the end of the world? I would give up everything I have, even my kingdom, to have this wonderful joy.”
16 Then Aaron said to him: “If you bow down before God, and repent of all your sins, and pray to him with faith, and if you believe he will give you what you want, then you will be given this hope.”
17 After Aaron told him this, the king bowed down on his knees before God. Yes, he even laid down on the ground, and prayed loudly:
18 “O God, Aaron has told me there is a God. If there is a God, and if you are God, please let me know who you are, and I will give away all my sins to know you so I may be saved at the end of the world.” After the king said these words, he seemed to be dead.
19 Then the king’s servants ran and told the queen about the king. When she came and saw him, and thought he was dead, and saw Aaron and his brothers standing there, she thought they had killed him, so she told the king’s servants to kill Aaron and his brothers.
20 Now the king’s servants had seen why the king was on the ground, so they were afraid to touch Aaron and his brothers. They said to the queen: “Why are you telling us to kill them, when one of them can kill us all?”
21 When the queen saw how afraid the servants were, she began to be very afraid that something bad would happen to her, too. So she told her servants to go call the people to come and kill Aaron and his brothers.
22 When Aaron saw what the queen wanted to do, and since he knew the people were very wicked, he was afraid that many people would come together and begin fighting, so he put out his hand and helped the king stand up, saying to him: “Stand.” And the king stood up on his feet and got his strength back.
23 This happened right in front of the queen and many of the servants. When they saw this, they were very surprised and began to be afraid. But the king came to them and taught them. Then all his family and servants believed in God.
24 Many people had come to the king’s house because of the queen’s commandment, and many of them began complaining because Aaron and his brothers were there.
25 But the king went to them and told them what had happened, so the people were not upset about Aaron and his brothers anymore.
26 When the king saw that his people were no longer upset, he had Aaron and his brothers stand in the middle of the crowd and preach the gospel to them.
27 The king sent word to all the people in his land not to hurt Aaron or his brothers. The Lamanites lived in the land ending at the east and west seas. It was divided from Zarahemla by a narrow wilderness running from the east sea to the west sea and through the borders of Manti (where the river Sidon began). This was how the lands of the Lamanites and Nephites were divided.
28 The most lazy Lamanites lived in tents all through the west wilderness, in the land of Nephi, where their ancestors had first come. They also lived west of the land of Zarahemla, near the seashore.
29 There were many other Lamanites living by the seashore in the east (where the Nephites had chased them). The Nephites were nearly surrounded by Lamanites, except that the Nephites had all the land in the north up to the wilderness from the river Sidon, up to the land they called Bountiful.
30 Bountiful ended at the land called Desolation, which was so far north that it ran into the land whose people had been destroyed, and whose bones were found by Zarahemla’s people when they first came, as we said before.
31 They came from there to the south wilderness. So the land in the north was called Desolation, and the land in the south was called Bountiful. It was a wilderness filled with all kinds of animals, some of which had come from the north land to find food.
32 It took a Nephite a day and a half to go from the east sea to the west sea at the place Bountiful and Desolation came together. So the lands of Nephi and Zarahemla were almost surrounded by water, with only a narrow piece of land between the north and south lands.
33 The Nephites lived in Bountiful from the east sea to the west sea. They were smart and used their armies and guards to keep the Lamanites in the south lands so they could not get any land in the north.
34 The Lamanites could live only in the land of Nephi and the surrounding wilderness. This was wise of the Nephites, because the Lamanites were their enemies. This way the Nephites could have a safe place to run away to if they needed.
35 Now I will go back to the story of Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni and their brothers.
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