Helaman — Chapter 7
1 During the sixty-ninth year, Nephi, Helaman’s son, came back to the land of Zarahemla from the north land.
2 He had gone to the north lands to teach God’s word to the people there. He prophesied many things to them.
3 But they would not listen to him, and would not let him stay with them, so he went back to the land where he had been born.
4 He saw that the people were very wicked, and that the Gadianton robbers had become the judges of the land. They had taken over the power and the judgment-seats, and they would not keep any of God’s commandments nor do anything that was right and good, and they did not judge people fairly.
5 They punished the righteous for being righteous, and would not punish the wicked because the wicked people paid them money. They kept on being the people’s leaders so they could do what they wanted, getting money and the praise of the world. They liked being leaders because they could commit adultery and rob and kill and do anything they wanted to.
6 There had not been so much wickedness among the Nephites for many years. When Nephi saw this, his heart was very sad, and he said with great pain in his soul:
7 How I wish I could have lived at the time my ancestor Nephi first came from Jerusalem! Then I could have been happy with him in the promised land. The people were easy to teach then, and kept God’s commandments. They were slow to do wicked things, and they were quick to listen to the Lord’s words.
8 “Yes, if only I could have lived in those days, my soul would have been happy because of my brothers’ and sisters’ righteousness.
9 “But I am alive at this time, and my soul will always be sad because of my brothers’ and sisters’ wickedness.”
10 Now, Nephi had bowed down on the tower in his garden, near the gate where the highway to the chief market in Zarahemla went past.
11 Some men going by saw Nephi on his tower as he prayed with all his soul to God. They ran and told the people what they had seen. Many came together to find out why he was so sad about the people’s wickedness.
12 When Nephi got up, he saw all the people who had gathered together.
13 He opened his mouth and said to them: “Why have you gathered together? So I can tell you about your wickedness?
14 “Yes, I have gotten on my tower to pray with all my soul to God, because my heart is so very full of sadness about your wickedness!
15 “You have gathered together and are wondering about my sad prayers and sorrow. Yes, you need to wonder about it. Yes, you should be amazed that the devil has so much power over your hearts.
16 “Yes, how could you have let yourselves give power to the one who wants to bring your souls down to misery and woe forever?
17 “O repent! Repent! Why do you want to die? Come back to the Lord your God. Why has he left you?
18 “He has left you because you have hardened your hearts, and because you will not listen to the good shepherd’s voice. Yes, you have made him angry at you.
19 “If you don’t repent, he will not gather you together, but will scatter you, and you will become food for dogs and wild animals.
20 “O, how could you have forgotten your God at the very time he has saved you?
21 “You want to get rich and have people praise you, and you want to have gold and silver. Your hearts want the riches and vain things of the world, so you kill and rob and steal and lie against your neighbor and do all kinds of evil things.
22 “This is why bad things will happen to you if you do not repent. If you don’t repent, this great city, and all the great cities near here in our land, will be taken away from you, and you will not live in them, because the Lord will not give you power to fight against your enemies as he did before.
23 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will not show my power to wicked people, but only to those who repent of their sins and listen to my words.’ So I want you to know, my brothers and sisters, that if you don’t repent, it will be better for the Lamanites than for you.
24 “They are more righteous than you are, because they have not sinned against the great knowledge you have been given, so the Lord will have mercy on them. Yes, he will let them live longer and give them more children even after you are all destroyed, unless you repent.
25 “Yes, woe to you because of the great evil that has come among you. You have joined in it — yes, you have joined the secret group Gadianton began!
26 “Yes, woe will come to you because of the pride you have let into your hearts. Your pride in your great riches has made you stop being good.
27 “Woe to you because of your wickedness and sins!
28 “If you don’t repent, you will die. Yes, even your lands will be taken from you, and you will be destroyed from off the face of the earth.
29 “I tell you that these things will happen and are true because the Lord God has told me so.”
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