Alma — Chapter 51
1 The twenty-fifth year of the Nephite judges began in peace, because the judges had made peace between the peoples of Lehi and Morianton about their lands.
2 But they did not have peace for long, because some of the people began to fight over Pahoran, the chief judge. Some people wanted to change some of the law.
3 But Pahoran would not change the law nor let the law be changed, so he would not listen to those who tried to get him to change the law.
4 Those who wanted him to change the law were angry with him, and did not want him to be chief judge anymore. So people argued a lot about this, though no one got hurt.
5 Those who wanted to get rid of Pahoran were called kingmen, because they wanted the law to change so a king could rule over the land, rather than judges whom the people chose.
6 Those who still wanted Pahoran to be chief judge called themselves freemen, and they promised to keep their rights and their religion through a free government.
7 The people voted about this, and more of them voted for the freemen and Pahoran, so he stayed on as chief judge. This made Pahoran’s friends and the freemen very happy. The kingmen kept quiet, because they did not dare fight against freedom.
8 Those who wanted to have kings were people from rich families who wanted to be kings. The people who were for them wanted to get more power over the people.
9 But this was a dangerous time for these kinds of arguments among the Nephites, because Amalickiah was making the Lamanites angry against the Nephites again. He was getting an army together from all parts of his land and making weapons for them and working hard to get them ready for war, because he had promised to drink Moroni’s blood.
10 We will see that he had made a foolish promise, but he still was getting himself and his armies ready to make war against the Nephites.
11 His armies were not as big as they had been before, because the Nephites had killed many thousands of them. Even so, Amalickiah had gathered a very big army — so big that he was not afraid to come down into the land of Zarahemla.
12 Amalickiah himself led the Lamanite armies during the twenty-fifth year of the judges — the same time the Nephites were getting over their trouble about the chief judge, Pahoran.
13 When the kingmen heard that the Lamanites were coming to fight the Nephites, they were happy and would not fight. They were so angry with the chief judge and the freemen that they would not use their weapons to protect their lands.
14 When Moroni saw this and saw that the Lamanites were coming into the land, he was very angry that those kingmen were so stubborn. He had worked hard to save them, so his whole soul was filled with anger at them.
15 So Moroni (and the people) asked the ruler of the land to give him power to make those rebels protect their land or kill them.
16 He wanted to stop the fights and rebellions among the Nephites first, because this kind of rebellion had destroyed the Nephites in the past. And the people gave him that power.
17 So Moroni commanded his army to go against the kingmen and their pride, and make them protect their lands, or kill them.
18 The armies went against them, and they made them stop being so proud. Those who tried to fight Moroni’s men were killed.
19 Four thousand kingmen were killed. Those of their leaders who were not killed were put in prison, because there was no time to judge them then.
20 The rest of the rebels chose to fight for freedom rather than be killed. They had to put up flags of freedom on their towers and take up their weapons to protect their land.
21 This was how Moroni got rid of the kingmen, and their stubbornness and pride because of their “good families.” He made them humble themselves like their brothers and sisters, and made them fight for freedom from slavery.
22 While Moroni was ending all the fights and trouble the kingmen had made, and making peace among his own people, and getting the Nephites ready for war, the Lamanites came into the land of Moroni, near the sea.
23 The Nephites were not strong enough to keep the city of Moroni, so Amalickiah chased them out, killing many of them, and took over the city and its forts.
24 Those who ran away from the city of Moroni went to the city of Nephihah, where the people of the city of Lehi gathered, too, and got ready to fight the Lamanites.
25 But Amalickiah would not let the Lamanites fight against the city of Nephihah, but kept his armies by the sea. He kept men in every city to protect what he had taken over.
26 He went on and took over many cities on the east borders by the sea — Nephihah, Lehi, Morianton, Omner, Gid, and Mulek.
27 So the Lamanites, thanks to Amalickiah’s tricks, took over many cities with their countless armies. Moroni had made all these cities very strong, which now would help the Lamanites.
28 Then the Lamanites went to the borders of Bountiful, chasing out the Nephites and killing many of them.
29 But then Teancum, who had killed Morianton and brought his people back, came and met them.
30 He caught up with Amalickiah as he was going with his big army to take over Bountiful and the north lands.
31 But he was disappointed, because Teancum and his men, who were great soldiers, beat him back. All of Teancum’s men were stronger and better soldiers than any of the Lamanites.
32 They made trouble for them, and killed them right up until it got dark. Then Teancum and his men set up their tents in the borders of the land of Bountiful. Amalickiah set up his tents in the borders next to the sea, where they had been beaten back.
33 When night came, Teancum and his servant went out and secretly went into Amalickiah’s camp. All of Amalickiah’s men were asleep because they were so tired from the day’s fighting during the heat of the day.
34 Teancum secretly went into the king’s tent and put a spear through his heart. The king died right away without waking any of his servants.
35 Then Teancum secretly went back to his own camp, where his men were asleep. He woke them up and told them what he had done.
36 He made them get ready in case the Lamanites woke up and came against them.
37 This was how the twenty-fifth year of the Nephite judges ended, as well as Amalickiah’s life.
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