Alma — Chapter 43
1 Alma’s sons went among the people to teach them the gospel, as did Alma himself, because he could not rest.
2 We will not say anything else about their teaching, except that God had called them to his holy priesthood to teach the true gospel, and they taught the gospel as the Spirit of prophecy and revelation led them.
3 Now I will tell more about the wars between the Nephites and Lamanites during the eighteenth year of the Nephite judges.
4 The Zoramites became Lamanites. In the eighteenth year of the judges, the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming to fight against them, so they got ready for war, and gathered their armies in the land of Jershon.
5 Thousands of Lamanites came into the land of Antionum, which belonged to the Zoramites. They were led by a man named Zerahemnah.
6 Zerahemnah chose Amalekites and Zoramites to be the captains of the Lamanite armies, because they were much more wicked and loved to kill other people more than the Lamanites did.
7 Zerahemnah chose them to make sure the Lamanites would keep on hating the Nephites, and would keep on fighting until they had defeated them.
8 He wanted to defeat the Nephites because he wanted to have power, and he wanted to make them slaves.
9 The Nephites wanted to live in peace and have freedom. They wanted to protect their lands and houses and wives and children from the Lamanites, and they wanted to be free to serve God and keep his commandments.
10 The Nephites knew that if the Lamanites defeated them, the Lamanites would kill everyone who believed in the true God and wanted to serve him.
11 They also knew that the Lamanites hated Ammon’s people very much. Ammon’s people had promised not to touch any weapons again, so if the Lamanites defeated the Nephites, Ammon’s people would all be killed.
12 But the Nephites would not let the Lamanites kill Ammon’s people, which is why they gave them land to live in and protected them.
13 Ammon’s people gave the Nephites lots of the food they grew and clothes and other things they made, to support the Nephite armies. The Nephites had to fight by themselves, but the Lamanites included the descendants of Laman and Lemuel, Ishmael’s sons, and all the people who had stopped being Nephites, including the Amalekites and Zoramites and the descendants of Noah’s priests.
14 Now there were almost as many descendants of Noah’s priests as there were Nephites, so the Nephites had to fight for their lives against their brothers.
15 While the Lamanite armies were gathering in Antionum, the Nephite armies were getting ready to fight them in Jershon.
16 The man who was chief captain over all the Nephite armies was called Moroni.
17 Moroni was only twenty-five years old when he was made chief captain. He had all power to lead the armies and fight the wars.
18 Moroni took his armies to fight the Lamanites at the borders of Jershon. His armies had swords, and cimeters, and all kinds of weapons.
19 When the Lamanite armies saw that Moroni had given the Nephite armies armor to cover their chests and arms and heads, along with shields, and had given them heavy clothes to wear,
20 They were very afraid, because all they had were their swords and cimeters, bows and arrows, and stones and slings. They were almost naked, except for the Amalekites and Zoramites,
21 But even they did not have armor and shields. So even though there were many more Lamanites than Nephites, the Lamanites were very afraid of the Nephites because of their armor.
22 So the Lamanites would not fight them at the borders of Jershon. Instead, they left Antionum and went into the wilderness near the place the river Sidon began. They hoped to take over the land of Manti, because they did not think Moroni’s armies would know where they had gone.
23 But as soon as the Lamanites left Antionum, Moroni sent spies after them to watch them. He also sent some men to ask the prophet Alma to ask the Lord where the Nephite armies should go to protect their lands and people from the Lamanites.
24 The Lord told Alma, and Alma told the men Moroni had sent that the Lamanites were trying to get to the land of Manti, so they could fight some Nephites who were not as ready for them. Then the men told Moroni what Alma had said.
25 Moroni took part of his army to the land of Manti, but left part of his army in Jershon, in case any Lamanites tried to take over that land and city.
26 He made all the people in the land of Manti gather together and prepare to fight the Lamanites to protect their lands and their freedom; so they all got ready to fight against the Lamanites.
27 Then Moroni made his army hide in the valley in the wilderness near the west side of the river Sidon.
28 Moroni had put spies all around so they would know when the Lamanites were coming.
29 Since Moroni knew that the Lamanites wanted to destroy the Nephites or make them slaves, and be rulers over them and their lands,
30 And since he knew that all the Nephites wanted was to live in peace in their lands, and have their freedom, and be able to serve God, he did not think it was a sin to protect the Nephites in any way he could think of. This was why he had his spies watch the Lamanites to find out which way they went.
31 He hid part of his army in the valley on the east and south sides of the hill Riplah.
32 He hid the rest in the west valley on the west side of the river Sidon, and he did this all the way down into the land of Manti.
33 When he had hidden his armies where he wanted, he was ready to fight the Lamanites.
34 The Lamanites came up on the north part of the hill where part of Moroni’s army was hidden.
35 After the Lamanites went past the hill Riplah, and came into the valley, and began to cross the river Sidon, the army that was hidden on the south side of the hill, led by a man named Lehi, circled behind the Lamanites.
36 When the Lamanites saw Lehi’s army circling behind them, they turned around and began fighting them.
37 Men on both sides were killed. But more Lamanites were killed than Nephites, because they had no armor to protect them from the Nephites’ swords and cimeters.
38 On the other hand, every now and again a Nephite would fall from loss of blood. But their armor protected the most important parts of their bodies, so they were able to kill many more of the Lamanites.
39 The Lamanites got very scared because so many of them were being killed, so they ran toward the river Sidon.
40 Lehi’s army chased them right into the water. The Lamanites went across the river, but Lehi kept his men from crossing after them.
41 Then Moroni and his army began fighting and killing the Lamanites on the other side of the river Sidon.
42 The Lamanites ran away again toward the land of Manti, but Moroni’s other armies were there to fight them, too.
43 Now, the Lamanites fought very hard — in fact, they fought harder and more bravely than they had ever been known to fight before.
44 They fought so well because of their leader, Zerahemnah, and because of their Amalekite and Zoramite captains. They fought like dragons, killing many Nephites — breaking their helmets, and cutting through their chest armor, and cutting off many of their arms. This was how the Lamanites fought because they were so angry.
45 But the Nephites fought for a better reason. They were not fighting to get power or to be kings, but to protect their homes and freedom, and their wives and children, and their church.
46 They felt they were fighting because God wanted them to. God had told them: “If you are not guilty of beginning the first war, nor the second war, you must not let your enemies defeat you.”
47 The Lord had also told them: “You will protect your families, even if you must kill.” This was why the Nephites were fighting — to protect themselves, and their lands and freedom and religion.
48 When Moroni’s men saw how hard the Lamanites were fighting, they were scared and wanted to run away. But Moroni saw how they felt, so he told them to remember that they were fighting for their lands and freedom.
49 So they turned back and fought the Lamanites again, all praying out loud to God to help them protect their freedom.
50 From that time on they fought against the Lamanites with power. After they prayed to God, the Lamanites began to run away from them into the waters of Sidon.
51 There were more than twice as many Lamanites as Nephites, but the Nephites chased them, so there was one big group of Lamanites in the valley by the river Sidon.
52 Moroni’s armies were around them on both sides of the river (because Lehi’s army was still on the east side).
53 When [Zerahemnah’s army] saw that Lehi’s army was on the east side of the river, and that Moroni’s army was on the west side of the river, and that the Nephites were all around them, they got very scared.
54 When Moroni saw how scared the Lamanites were, he told his men to stop killing them.
easyreadbkmormon.com 