Alma — Chapter 47
1 Now we will go back to our history of Amalickiah and those who ran away with him into the wilderness. He took those who went with him up to the land of Nephi where the Lamanites lived, and made the Lamanites angry with the Nephites. The Lamanite king sent an order through all the land for his people to gather together again to fight against the Nephites.
2 When the Lamanites heard the order, they were very afraid. They were afraid to make the king angry, and they were afraid to fight the Nephites, because they did not want to die. Most of them would not obey the king’s commandments.
3 The king was very angry with those who would not obey him. He gave Amalickiah power over those in the army who would obey and told him to make the other people take up their weapons and fight.
4 This was just what Amalickiah wanted. He was a very tricky and evil man, so he planned to get rid of the Lamanite king.
5 After he was given power over those who would obey the king, Amalickiah made friends with those who would not obey. He went to the place of weapons, called Onidah, where the rebel Lamanites had run to when they saw the army coming. They thought the army would destroy them.
6 They had chosen a man to be their king and leader, since they did not want to go fight against the Nephites.
7 They gathered themselves together on the top of a mountain called Antipus and got ready to fight.
8 Now, Amalickiah was not going to fight them as the king commanded. He wanted to make friends with the Lamanite armies so he could have power over them, and get rid of the king, and take over the kingdom.
9 He made his army set up their tents in the valley near Antipus mountain.
10 Then at night he secretly sent men up the mountain to ask [the rebels’] leader, Lehonti, to come down the mountain and talk with him.
11 But Lehonti didn’t dare go down the mountain. Amalickiah sent men to ask him again to come down, but Lehonti would not. So Amalickiah sent men to ask him a third time.
12 When Amalickiah could not get Lehonti to come down the mountain, he went up the mountain almost to where Lehonti’s camp was. Then he sent men again, asking him to come down, saying that he could bring his guards with him.
13 Lehonti came down with his guards to where Amalickiah was. Then Amalickiah told Lehonti that he wanted him to take his army that night and surround the men the king had given him. He would give Lehonti power over them if he would make Amalickiah second chief over the whole army.
14 So Lehonti came down with his men and surrounded Amalickiah’s men. When they woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by Lehonti’s armies.
15 When they saw they were surrounded, they asked Amalickiah to let them join their brothers so they would not be destroyed. This was just what Amalickiah wanted.
16 So he gave his men to Lehonti, against the king’s commandments. This was what Amalickiah wanted, because it would help him get rid of the king.
17 It was the Lamanites’ way to choose the second leader to be their chief if the chief leader was killed.
18 Amalickiah had one of his servants poison Lehonti little by little, so he died.
19 After Lehonti died, the Lamanites chose Amalickiah to be their leader and chief.
20 When Amalickiah had gotten what he wanted, took his armies to the city of Nephi in the land of Nephi.
21 The king came out to meet him with his guards. He thought Amalickiah had kept his commandments and had gathered a great army to fight against the Nephites.
22 But as the king came to meet him, Amalickiah sent his servants to meet the king. They bowed down in front of him as if to show respect for his greatness.
23 And as the king reached out his hand to raise them up, which was something they had learned to do from the Nephites as a sign of peace,
24 The first one he raised from the ground stabbed him in the heart, and he fell to the ground.
25 Then the king’s servants ran away, and Amalickiah’s servants shouted:
26 “The king’s servants have stabbed him in the heart! He has fallen and they have run away! Come see for yourselves!”
27 Amalickiah commanded his armies to go see what had happened to the king. When they came to where the king was lying in his blood, Amalickiah pretended to be angry, and said: “Let all who loved the king catch and kill his servants.”
28 So all who loved the king went after the king’s servants.
29 When the king’s servants saw the army coming after them, they were afraid and ran away into the wilderness. They went to the land of Zarahemla, where they joined Ammon’s people.
30 Then the army came back after chasing them for nothing. But this was how Amalickiah tricked the people and won their hearts.
31 The next day he came into the city of Nephi with his armies and took over the city.
32 When the queen heard that the king had been killed (because Amalickiah had sent servants to tell her that the king’s servants had killed him, and that his army had chased them, but they had gotten away) —
33 After the queen heard this, she sent for Amalickiah and asked him not to kill the people of the city. She wanted him to come to her and bring witnesses to tell her about the king’s death.
34 So Amalickiah took the same servant who had killed the king, and those who were with him, and went in where the queen sat. They all told her that the king had been killed by his own servants, and they said: “They have run away. Doesn’t this show that they are guilty?” So the queen believed them about the king’s death.
35 Then Amalickiah made friends with the queen and married her. So by his tricks, and with the help of his servants, he took over the kingdom. Yes, all the Lamanites (who were Lamanites, Lemuelites, Ishmaelites, and all the Nephite rebels from Nephi’s time on) said he was their king.
36 Now, strange to say, the Nephite rebels who had been taught the same things the Nephites were taught about the Lord, became even more hard and evil and wicked and wild than the Lamanites after they rebelled. They did everything the Lamanites did, and became lazy and evil, completely forgetting the Lord their God.
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