Mosiah — Chapter 26
1 Many of the young people were little children when King Benjamin had spoken to the people, so they had not understood his words, and did not believe what their parents taught.
2 They did not believe what was said about the resurrection of the dead, nor did they believe in Christ’s coming.
3 They could not understand God’s words because they would not believe, and their hearts were hardened.
4 They would not be baptized, nor would they join the church. They did not believe the same things other people believed. They were full of sin and would not pray to the Lord their God.
5 They were only half as many as God’s people while Mosiah was king, but there were more and more of them because of rebellions.
6 They lied to many people in the church and tricked them because of their words, and helped them sin. So those in the church who committed sin needed to be corrected by the church.
7 They were brought to the teachers. Then the teachers took them to the priests. Then the priests took them to Alma, who was the high priest.
8 King Mosiah had given Alma power over the church.
9 Alma did not know what these people had done, but there were many witnesses against them. Yes, many people stood and were witnesses against their sins.
10 Nothing like this had ever happened in the church before. Alma was troubled in his spirit, and had them brought before the king.
11 Alma said to the king: “These people have been caught sinning by their brothers and sisters. They will not repent of their sins, so we have brought them to you so you can judge them for their crimes.”
12 But King Mosiah said to Alma: “I cannot judge them. You have to judge them yourself.”
13 So Alma’s spirit was troubled again, and he asked the Lord what he should do about this, because he was afraid he would do something wrong in God’s eyes.
14 After he had prayed with his whole soul to God, the Lord said to him:
15 “You are blessed, Alma, and so are those who were baptized in the Waters of Mormon. You are blessed because of your great faith after only hearing what my servant Abinadi said.
16 “Those who were baptized in the Waters of Mormon are blessed because they had faith in what you said to them.
17 “And you are blessed because you have built up a church among this people. They will be made strong, and they will be my people.
18 “Yes, blessed are the people who want to be called by my name, because they will be called by my name, and they are mine.
19 “You are blessed because you have asked me what to do about those who sin.
20 “You are my servant, and I promise you that you will have eternal life. You will serve me and go in my name, and you will gather my sheep [people].
21 “Whoever hears my voice will be my sheep. You will let them into my church, and I will let them in also.
22 “This is my church. Those who repent will be baptized. You will let in those who believe in my name, and I will forgive them.
23 “I am the one who has taken on me the sins of the world. I am the one who made [this people]. I will give a place in heaven at my right hand to those who believe in me to the end of their lives.
24 “They will be called by my name. If they know me, they will come and have a place at my right hand in heaven forever.
25 “When the second trumpet is played, those who did not know me will stand up.
26 “Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, their Savior, but they did not want to be saved.
27 “Then I will tell them that I never knew them, and they will go away to that hell prepared for the devil and his angels.
28 “So I tell you not to let anyone into my church who will not listen to my voice, because I will not let them into heaven at the last day.
29 “So I tell you, Go. Judge whoever sins against me. If they confess their sins before you and me, and sincerely repent of them, you will forgive them, and I will forgive them, too.
30 “Yes, I will forgive my people’s sins every time they repent.
31 “You will forgive each other, because whoever does not forgive their neighbor when their neighbor repents will be punished.
32 “Now I tell you, Go. Whoever will not repent of their sins will not be counted with my people. This is what you will do from this time on.”
33 After Alma heard these words, he wrote them down so he could remember them and judge the people of the church by God’s commandments.
34 Alma judged those who had sinned by what the Lord had said.
35 Those who repented of their sins and confessed them were counted with the people of the church.
36 But those who would not confess their sins and repent of their wickedness were not counted as part of the people of the church, and their names were taken off the church records.
37 This was how Alma took care of the church. They began to have peace and to prosper again, keeping God’s commandments, teaching and baptizing many people.
38 Alma and those who were over the church did all these things in righteousness, teaching God’s word in all things, and they were persecuted by those who did not belong to God’s church.
39 They corrected their brothers and sisters. All of them were corrected by God’s word for their sins. They were commanded not to stop praying, and to thank God for everything.
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