Alma — Chapter 54
1 During the twenty-ninth year of the judges, Ammoron wrote to Moroni asking to trade prisoners.
2 Moroni was very happy about this, because he wanted to give the food he gave to the Lamanite prisoners to his own people. He also wanted his own people back to make his army stronger.
3 The Lamanites had taken many Nephite women and children prisoner, but Moroni had not taken any Lamanite women and children prisoner. So Moroni thought of a plan to get back as many Nephite prisoners from the Lamanites as he could.
4 He wrote a letter and sent it back with the same servant whom Ammoron had sent with his letter. This is what Moroni wrote to Ammoron:
5 “Ammoron, I am writing to you a little bit about the war you have fought against my people, or in other words, about the war your brother began, and which you have kept on fighting even after he died.
6 “I want to tell you something about God’s justice, and about how the sword of his anger will punish you if you don’t repent and make your armies go back to your own lands in the land of Nephi.
7 “Yes, I would tell you about these things if I thought you would listen to them. Yes, I would tell you about the hell prepared for murderers like you and your brother, if you don’t repent of your murderous plans and take your armies back to your own lands.
8 “But since you will not believe these things, and have fought against God’s people, I think you will do so again.
9 “But we are ready to fight you. Yes, unless you give up your plans, we will use the anger of that God you do not want to believe in, and completely destroy you.
10 “But as God lives, our armies will come fight against you unless you go back, and you will soon die, because we will get back our cities and lands. Yes, we will fight for our religion and our God.
11 “But I think I am telling you these things for nothing, because I think you are a child of hell. So I will end my letter by telling you that I will not trade prisoners unless you give me back a Nephite man and his wife and children for every Lamanite prisoner. If you do this, then I will trade.
12 “But if you do not do this, I will fight you with my armies. Yes, I will even give weapons to my women and children, and I will come and fight you, and I will follow you back into your own land (which was our land first). Yes, and it will be blood for blood, and life for life, until you are all destroyed.
13 “I am very angry, and so are my people. You have tried to kill us, and we have only tried to protect ourselves. But if you try to destroy us anymore, we will try to destroy you, and we will try to get back our first lands — the land of Nephi.
14 “Now I will end this letter. I am Moroni, a leader of the Nephites.”
15 When Ammoron got this letter, he was angry and wrote another letter to Moroni. This is what he wrote:
16 “I am Ammoron, king of the Lamanites. I am the brother of Amalickiah, whom you murdered. I will get even with you for that — yes, I will take my armies and fight you, because I am not afraid of what you said.
17 “Your ancestors tricked their brothers and took away the government from them, even though it belonged to them.
18 “Now, if you drop your weapons, and let yourselves be ruled by us, to whom the government belongs, then I will make my people put down their weapons, and there will be no more war.
19 “You said you will destroy me and my people, but we are not afraid of what you said.
20 “But I will still be happy to trade prisoners as you said, so I can save my food for my soldiers. We will fight this war forever, until we rule over the Nephites or destroy them.
21 “As for what you said about that God whom you say we have rejected: We do not know anything about him, and neither do you. But if there is a God, he made us the same as he made you.
22 “And if there is a devil and a hell, won’t he send you there to live with my brother, who you hinted had gone to such a place? But these things are not important.
23 “I am Ammoron, a descendant of Zoram, whom your ancestors made a slave and took away from Jerusalem.
24 “I am a brave Lamanite. We have made this war to get even for the bad things you have done to us, and to get back the government. I end my letter to Moroni.”
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