Alma — Chapter 27
1 When the Lamanites who had gone to war against the Nephites found it was no use trying to destroy them, they went back to the land of Nephi again.
2 The Amalekites were very angry they had lost. When they saw they could not get even with the Nephites, they made the people angry with the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi and began to destroy them again.
3 The Anti-Nephi-Lehies would not take up their weapons, but let their enemies kill them.
4 When Ammon and his brothers saw the people they dearly loved being killed (and who dearly loved Ammon and his brothers and treated them like angels sent from God to save them from everlasting death), they were filled with mercy, and said to the king:
5 “Let us gather together this people of the Lord and go down to our brothers and sisters, the Nephites, in the land of Zarahemla, so we can get away from our enemies and not be destroyed.”
6 But the king said to them: “The Nephites will kill us because of the many murders and sins we have committed against them.”
7 Ammon said: “I will ask the Lord. If he tells us to go down to our brothers and sisters, will you go?”
8 And the king said to him: “Yes, if the Lord tells us to go, we will go down to our brothers and sisters, and we will be their slaves until we have paid them back for the many murders and sins we have done against them.”
9 But Ammon said to him: “It is against our ancestors’ law for us to have slaves. Let us go down and hope for mercy from our brothers and sisters.”
10 But the king said to him: “Ask the Lord. If he tells us to go, we will go. Otherwise, we will stay here and die in this land.”
11 Ammon asked the Lord, and the Lord said to him:
12 “Get this people out of this land so they will not be destroyed. Satan has great power over the Amalekites’ hearts, and they are making the Lamanites so angry that they will kill their brothers and sisters. Get out of this land. This generation of people is very blessed, because I will save them.”
13 Then Ammon told the king all that the Lord had said to him.
14 So they gathered together all their people, and their flocks and herds, and left the land, and went into the wilderness between the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla, coming near the borders of the land.
15 Then Ammon said to them: “My brothers and I will go to the land of Zarahemla. Stay here until we get back. We will ask our brothers and sisters if you can come into their land.”
16 While Ammon and his brothers were going into that land, they met Alma, and they were all full of joy.
17 Ammon was so full of joy in God that his strength left him, and he fell on the ground.
18 What great joy this was! This is the kind of joy which only those who truly repent and who humbly look for happiness can have.
19 Alma was also full of joy at meeting his brothers, and so were Aaron, Omner, and Himni, but they did not lose their strength.
20 Alma led his brothers back to his own house in the land of Zarahemla. Then they told the chief judge everything that had happened to them while they were with the Lamanites in the land of Nephi.
21 Then the chief judge asked the people in all parts of the land what they wanted to do about letting their brothers and sisters, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, into the land.
22 And the people said: “We will give our brothers and sisters the land of Jershon, on the east by the sea, next to and south of the land Bountiful.
23 “We will put our armies between the land of Jershon and the land of Nephi, so we can protect them, because they are afraid to use weapons against their brothers in case they sin. They are afraid to do this because they have repented of their murders and wickedness.
24 “Now, we will give our brothers and sisters the land of Jershon, and we will guard them with our armies, if they will give us some of their food and goods to help support our armies.”
25 When Ammon heard this, he and Alma went back where the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi had set up their tents, and told them all these things. Alma also told them how he was converted along with Ammon and Aaron and their brothers.
26 All this made the Anti-Nephi-Lehies very happy. They went into the land of Jershon and began to live there. The Nephites called them the people of Ammon (or Ammonites), and they were called that from then on.
27 They were also Nephites, and part of God’s church. They were known for serving God and other people. They were very honest and fair and had strong faith in Christ all their lives.
28 They hated the thought of killing their brothers, and no one could ever make them use their weapons again. They were not afraid of death at all because of their hope and faith in Christ and the resurrection. Death was nothing to them because of Christ.
29 They would die in the most painful way their brothers [the Lamanites] could think of before they would ever take up their weapons to protect themselves.
30 They were a faithful and hard-working and much loved and blessed people of the Lord.
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