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Mosiah — Chapter 27

¹ The unbelievers made so much trouble for the church that the people of the church complained to their leaders, and their leaders complained to Alma. Then Alma told King Mosiah about it, and Mosiah talked with his priests.ir new king.

² Then King Mosiah sent word through all the land that no one should persecute anyone who belonged to God’s church.

³ It was a commandment in all the churches that no one should persecute anyone else, and that everyone should be treated the same, and fairly —

⁴ No one’s pride should hurt the peace, and every person should treat others as they would like to be treated, and everyone should work with their own hands to help themselves.

⁵ Yes, all the priests and teachers worked with their own hands, except when they were sick or very poor. God’s grace was with them because they did this.

⁶ Then there was peace in the land again. There began to be lots of people, and they began to scatter and live all over the land — in the north and south, in the east and west, building big and small cities all over the land.

⁷ The Lord blessed them and helped them become a great and rich people.

⁸ Mosiah’s sons and one of Alma’s sons (named Alma, after his father) were unbelievers. Young Alma was a very wicked man who worshiped false gods. He could speak well and led many people to do the same wicked things he did.

⁹ God’s church did not prosper because of him. He took people’s hearts away [from God] and caused lots of trouble and rebellions among the people, and helped the devil get power over them.

¹⁰ While he was secretly going around with Mosiah’s sons trying to destroy the church, and trying to get people to do evil, which was against the commandments of God and the king —

¹¹ As they were going about rebelling against God, the angel of the Lord showed himself to them. He came down to them as if in a cloud, and spoke with a voice like thunder, making the ground shake where they stood.

¹² They were so amazed, they fell down on the ground, and they could not understand the words he said to them.

¹³ But he said again: “Alma, stand up. Why are you persecuting God’s church? The Lord has said: ‘This is my church, and I will build it up, and nothing will destroy it except my people’s sins.’”

¹⁴ The angel also said: “The Lord has heard his people’s prayers, and the prayers of his servant — your father, Alma. He has prayed with lots of faith about you, so you would learn the truth. This is why I have come — to show you about God’s power, and to answer his servants’ prayers of faith.

¹⁵ “Now can you argue about God’s power? Isn’t my voice shaking the ground? Can’t you see me in front of you? God has sent me.

¹⁶ “Now I tell you: Go and remember how your ancestors were slaves in the lands of Helam and Nephi, and remember what great things God did for them. They were slaves, and he made them free. And now I tell you, Alma, go, and stop trying to destroy the church, so his servants’ prayers will be answered — even if you yourself want to be destroyed.”

¹⁷ These were the last words the angel said to Alma, and then he left.

¹⁸ Then Alma and those who were with him fell down on the ground again in great surprise, because they had seen an angel of the Lord with their own eyes, and his voice was like thunder, and it shook the ground. They knew that only God’s power could make the ground shake as if it would split in two.

¹⁹ Alma was so amazed, he could not speak — he could not open his mouth. He became so weak that he could not even move his hands; so those who were with him carried him and laid him down in front of his father.

²⁰ They told his father everything that had happened to them, and his father was happy, because he knew that God’s power had done it.

²¹ He had many people gather together so they could see what the Lord had done for his son and the others who were with him.

²² He had the priests gather together. They began to fast and pray to the Lord their God to open Alma’s mouth and let him speak, and give his arms and legs strength again, so the people would see and know God’s goodness and glory.

²³ After they fasted and prayed for two days and nights, Alma’s arms and legs got strong again, and he stood up and spoke to them. He told them to be happy.

²⁴ He said: “I have repented of my sins. The Lord has saved me, and I have been born of the Spirit.

²⁵ “The Lord said to me: ‘Do not be surprised that all people — yes, men and women, all nations, families, and people — need to be born again. Yes, born of God — changed from being worldly and fallen to being righteous — so they can be saved by God and become his sons and daughters.

²⁶ “This is how they become new and different. If this does not happen, they cannot live in God’s kingdom.’

²⁷ “I tell you, if this does not happen, they will be thrown out. I know this because I was almost thrown out.

²⁸ “But after much pain and sadness and trouble, and repenting almost to death, the Lord had mercy on me and saved me from hell, and I have been born of God.

²⁹ “My soul has been saved from the pain of sin and the chains of evil. I was in the darkest, deepest pit, but now I see God’s wonderful light. My soul was full of everlasting pain, but I was saved, and my soul has no more pain.

³⁰ “I fought against my Savior and spoke against what our ancestors said. But now [I know] they could see that he will come, and that he remembers every living thing he has made, and will show himself to all of them.

³¹ “Every knee will bow and every mouth will confess before him. Yes, at the last day, when he judges all people, they will say that he is God. Those who live without God in the world will confess that his judgments and punishments are fair, and they will shake and look away from his all-seeing eye.”

³² After this, Alma (and those who were with him when the angel came) began to teach the people. They went through all the land, telling the people what they had heard and seen, and teaching God’s word, even though the unbelievers persecuted them.

³³ Even so, they helped build up the faith of those in the church, working hard, and patiently telling the people to keep God’s commandments.

³⁴ Four of those with Alma were Mosiah’s sons, and their names were Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni.

³⁵ They went all through the land of Zarahemla, among all the people over whom Mosiah was king. They worked very hard to fix all the bad things they had done to the church, confessing their sins and telling about all the things they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and scriptures to all who wanted to hear them.

³⁶ They were tools in God’s hands to help many people learn about their Savior.

³⁷ They were very blessed, because they preached about peace, and taught the gospel, and told the people that the Lord rules.