Ether — Chapter 9
1 Now I, Moroni, will go on with my history of the Jaredites. Akish and his friends were able to defeat Omer because of the secret combination they belonged to.
2 But the Lord had mercy on Omer and on his righteous sons and daughters who did not want to destroy him.
3 The Lord warned Omer in a dream to leave the land, so Omer took his family and traveled many days until they came near the hill called Shim, close to where the Nephites were destroyed. Then they went east until they came to a place called Ablom, near the sea. Omer and all his sons and daughters (except his son Jared) set up their tents there.
4 So Jared was made king over the people because of wickedness, and he gave his daughter to Akish to marry.
5 Then Akish wanted to kill Jared. He went to those who were part of the secret combination and asked them to bring him Jared’s head. They cut off Jared’s head while he was on his throne talking to some of his people.
6 This secret combination had gotten so big that all the people’s hearts were wicked because of it. So Jared was murdered on his throne, and Akish became king in his place.
7 Then Akish was jealous of his own son, so he put his son in prison and gave him so little food that he died.
8 Nimrah, another of Akish’s sons, was angry with his father for killing his brother.
9 So he gathered some people and left the land, and went to live with Omer.
10 Akish had other sons, and even though they had made promises to do what their father wanted, they won the people’s hearts.
11 Akish’s people wanted money as much as Akish wanted power, so when Akish’s sons gave the people money, most of the people listened to them.
12 Then a war began between Akish and his sons which lasted many years. All except thirty people were killed (except for those who had gone to live with Omer).
13 So Omer came back to his land and was king again.
14 Omer was old then. Even so, he had a son called Emer, and Emer became the next king.
15 After Omer made Emer king, there was peace in the land for two years. Then Omer died. He had lived a very long time, and had had lots of sadness during his life. Emer ruled as righteously as his father.
16 So the Lord began to bless the land, and not curse it, and Emer’s family prospered. After sixty-two years, they were very strong and very rich.
17 They had all kinds of fruit, and grain, and fine cloth, and gold, and silver, and riches.
18 They had all kinds of cattle, and sheep, and pigs, and goats, and other animals they used for food.
19 They also had horses and donkeys, and elephants, and cureloms and cumoms. These were useful work animals — especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.
20 So the Lord blessed those people in the promised land. The Lord has said that whoever lives in this land must keep his commandments, or they will be destroyed when they become completely wicked.
21 Emer was a righteous ruler, and had many sons and daughters. He chose his son Coriantum to be the next king.
22 After Emer chose Coriantum to be king, he lived in peace for four years. He even saw Jesus, and was full of joy about him. He died in peace.
23 Coriantum was righteous like his father. He built many great cities, and taught his people to be righteous, too. He had no children until he was very, very old.
24 His wife died when she was one hundred two years old. Then Coriantum married a young woman, with whom he had sons and daughters. He lived until he was one hundred forty-two years old.
25 Coriantum had a son named Com, who was the next king. After Com was king for forty-nine years, he had a son named Heth (as well as other sons and daughters).
26 People lived all over the land, and there began to be lots of wickedness again. Heth began to use the secret plans again to destroy his father.
27 Heth killed his father with his own sword, and became king.
28 Then prophets came into the land, telling people to repent. They told the people to keep the Lord’s commandments, or the land would be cursed. They said there would be a famine which would destroy the people if they did not repent.
29 But the people would not believe the prophets, so they threw them out. Some of the prophets were thrown into holes in the ground and left to die. Heth commanded his people to do these things to the prophets.
30 Soon there was no rain in the land, and nothing to eat, so people began to die very fast.
31 Deadly snakes came into the land and killed many people. The people’s flocks and herds ran away from the snakes toward the south lands (which the Nephites called Zarahemla).
32 Many of the Jaredites’ flocks died on the way, but some escaped to the south lands.
33 Then the Lord made the snakes stop chasing the flocks. But he had the snakes stay between the people and the flocks so the people could not get their flocks back.
34 The people were so hungry that they ate all the dead animals they found while they were following their flocks. When there were no more dead animals to eat, the people saw they were going to die. Then they began to repent of their wickedness and to pray to the Lord.
35 After they became humble enough, the Lord sent rain. Fruit began to grow again in the north lands, and the people began to get strong again. So the Lord showed the people that he had power to save them from the famine.
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