Alma — Chapter 30
1 After Ammon’s people came to the land of Jershon, and after the Lamanites were chased out of their land, the people buried their dead.
2 There were so many dead Lamanites that the Nephites could not count them. The Nephites could not even count their own dead, because there were so many. After they had been sad and fasted and prayed, there was peace in the land again in the sixteenth year of the judges.
3 The people kept the Lord’s commandments, and kept God’s Law of Moses, because they were taught to keep it until it was all finished.
4 So the people had no trouble during all that sixteenth year of the Nephite judges.
5 There was also peace in the seventeenth year.
6 But at the end of the seventeenth year, a man came into the land of Zarahemla who was an anti-Christ, because he preached to the people against the prophecies the prophets had spoken about Christ.
7 There was no law against people believing what they wanted to believe, because it was against God’s law to treat people differently because of what they believed.
8 The scripture says: “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
9 If people wanted to serve God, they could — or, rather, if they believed in God, they could serve him. But if they did not believe in God, there was no law to punish them for that.
10 But if they murdered, they would be killed. They were punished if they robbed, or committed adultery, or did those kinds of wicked things,
11 Because there was a law to judge people for their crimes. But there was no law against what people believed. They could only be punished for what they did, so everyone was treated the same that way.
12 Korihor, the anti-Christ who could not be punished by law, began to teach the people that there would be no Christ. He taught them:
13 “O you people, why are you slaves because of such foolish things? Why are you looking for a Christ? No one can know anything about what will happen in the future!
14 “The things you call prophecies from holy prophets are just your ancestors’ foolish teachings.
15 “How do you know they are true? You cannot know about things you cannot see, so you cannot know there will be a Christ.
16 “You look for a time when you say your sins will be taken away. But I tell you, your hope comes from having a sick mind. You have become crazy because of your ancestors’ teachings, which make you believe in things which are not true.”
17 He said many other things like this to them, telling them there would be no atonement, and that whatever happened to people in this life depended only on what they did. So people who were smarter or stronger than others would get rich and have power, and whatever anyone did was not a sin or crime.
18 This is what he taught them, leading many away, and making them proud to be wicked. He led many women and men into committing adultery by telling them that it did not matter — that when they were dead, there was no more life after.
19 This man went over to the land of Jershon to teach these things to the people of Ammon, who were once Lamanites.
20 But they were wiser than many Nephites, so they tied him up and took him to Ammon, who was a high priest over that people.
21 Ammon had him thrown out of the land. Then he went to the land of Gideon and began to teach there. But he did not have much success there, because he was tied up and taken to the high priest and the chief judge over the land.
22 The high priest said to him: “Why are you going around teaching against God’s laws? Why are you making people unhappy by telling them there will be no Christ? Why are you saying that the holy prophets’ prophecies are not true?”
23 The high priest’s name was Giddonah. Korihor said to him: “I do not teach the foolish things your ancestors taught. I do not teach the people to promise to obey foolish laws and commandments which priests in olden times made up so they could have power over them. The people are kept from from learning the truth so they will not be proud of themselves; instead, they feel bad about themselves because of what they are taught.
24 “You say these people are free, but I say they are slaves. You say the old prophecies are true, but I say you do not know they are true.
25 “You say these people are guilty and fallen because of what their first parents did, but I tell you that children are not guilty because of their parents.
26 “You also say that Christ will come, but I say you do not know there will be a Christ. You also say he will be killed for the sins of the world.
27 “This is how you make your people believe in the foolish teachings of your ancestors, just as you desire. You keep them down like slaves so you can live off their work, and so they will not dare look up and be proud, and enjoy their rights.
28 “Yes, they do not dare use what belongs to them because they are afraid to make their priests angry, who have power over them because of their teachings and dreams and visions and pretended mysteries. If they do not do what the priests say, they are afraid they will make some being angry whom the priests say is God — a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be.”
29 When the high priest and chief judge saw how hard his heart was — that he would say terrible things against even God, they did not answer him, but had him tied up and sent to the land of Zarahemla, where he went before Alma and the chief judge who ruled over all the land.
30 When he was brought to Alma and the chief judge, he said the same evil and wicked things he had said in the land of Gideon.
31 He said many terrible things about Alma and the priests and teachers — that they led the people to follow the foolish teachings of their ancestors so they could live off the people.
32 Then Alma said to him: “You know we don’t get money from the people for this. I have worked with my own hands to live from the beginning of the rule of the judges, even though I have traveled around a lot to teach people God’s word.
33 “Even though I have worked so much in the church, I have never gotten even one senine [penny] for my work, nor have any of my brothers. We have been paid only for the time we have worked as judges.
34 “Now, if we do not get paid for our work in the church, why should we do anything except teach the truth so we can be happy in our brothers’ and sisters’ joy?
35 “Why do you say we teach this people to get rich, when you yourself know we are not paid? Do you really believe we are tricking the people, and that this makes them happy?”
36 Korihor said: “Yes.”
37 Then Alma asked him: “Do you believe there is a God?”
38 And Korihor said: “No.”
39 Then Alma said to him: “Are you going to say again that there is no God and no Christ? I tell you that I know there is a God, and that Christ will come.
40 “What proof do you have that there is no God, and that Christ will not come? You do not have any proof except your own words.
41 “I have all things to show that these things are true. You have all things to show you that they are true, too, so will you still say they are not true? Do you believe these things are true?
42 “I know you believe, but a lying spirit has taken over you, and you have gotten rid of God’s Spirit so it cannot live with you. The devil has power over you, and he uses you to go around destroying God’s children.”
43 Then Korihor said to Alma: “If you show me a sign that there is a God, and that he has power, then I will believe what you say.”
44 But Alma said to him: “You have had enough signs. Are you trying to tempt God? How can you say, ‘Show me a sign’ when all your brothers and sisters and all the holy prophets are witnesses? You have the scriptures in front of you. Yes, and all things show that there is a God — the earth and everything on it, and how it moves, and all the planets that move — all these things show that there is a God.
45 “Will you still go around leading people’s hearts away, and telling them there is no God? Will you say that even with all these witnesses?”And he answered: “Yes, I will still say that unless you show me a sign.”
46 Then Alma said to him: “I am sorry your heart is so hard, and that you will fight against the spirit of truth and destroy your own soul.
47 “But it is better for your soul to be lost than for you to go around destroying people with your lying and tricky words. So if you deny again, God will punish you by making you not able to talk, so you will not be able to trick the people anymore.”
48 Then Korihor said to him: “I do not deny that there is a God, but I do not believe there is a God. I tell you that you do not know there is a God, and if you do not show me a sign, I will not believe.”
49 So Alma said to him: “I will give you this sign: in God’s name I say you will not be able talk anymore.”
50 After Alma said this, Korihor could not talk anymore, just as Alma said.
51 When the chief judge saw this, he wrote to Korihor: “Now do you believe in God’s power? Did you think Alma would do something to other people as a way of showing you a sign? Now he has showed you a sign. Are you going to argue anymore?”
52 Korihor wrote back: “I know I cannot talk anymore, and I know only God’s power could have done this to me. Yes, I did know there was a God,
53 “But the devil tricked me. He came to me looking like an angel and said to me: ‘Go save this people, because they have all begun to worship a strange God.’ And he said to me: ‘There is no God.’ He taught me the things I should say. I taught his words, and I taught them because they made worldly people happy. I taught these words and had so much success that I truly began to believe they were true. This is why I fought against the truth until this great curse came on me.”
54 After he [wrote] this, he asked Alma to pray to God to take away the curse.
55 But Alma said to him: “If this curse were taken away from you, you would lead people’s hearts away again. The Lord will choose what will happen to you.”
56 The curse did not leave Korihor. He was thrown out, and went from house to house begging for food.
57 The news of what happened to Korihor was told in all the land. Yes, the chief judge sent the story to all the people in the land, telling those who believed what Korihor had said to repent, so they would not be punished in the same way.
58 Then everyone saw that Korihor had been wicked, and they all came back to the Lord. This was the end of all the troubles Korihor made. He went from house to house begging for food.
59 Then he went among a people who had left the Nephites, called Zoramites (a man named Zoram was their leader). As he went among them, he was run down and killed.
60 So we see the end of one who tried to fight against God’s ways, and we see that the devil will not help his children, but quickly drags them down to hell.
easyreadbkmormon.com 