Mosiah — Chapter 29
1 After Mosiah did this, he asked his people in all the land who they wanted to be their new king.
2 And the people said: “We want your son Aaron to be our king and ruler.”
3 But Aaron had gone to the land of Nephi, so Mosiah could not give the kingdom to him. Aaron did not want to be king, nor did any of Mosiah’s sons want to have the kingdom.
4 So King Mosiah wrote this to his people:
5 “My people — or, my brothers and sisters, for you are that to me — I want you to think about this, because you want to have a king.
6 “I tell you that the one who should be king does not want to rule the kingdom.
7 “I am afraid that if I choose somebody else to be king, there would be fights among you. Who knows, maybe my son (who should be king) would come back and get angry and have part of the people follow him. Then there would be wars and fights and much killing and sin among you. The Lord would not want this, and it would destroy many people’s souls.
8 “Now I say to you, let us be wise and think about these things. We don’t have any right to destroy my son, or anyone else we might choose to be king.
9 “If my son were to become proud again, and take back what he had said, and say that he wanted to have the kingdom, this would make him and this people sin.
10 “So let us be wise about what might happen and do what is best for the people’s peace.
11 “I will be king for the rest of my life. Even so, let us choose judges who will judge this people by our law. We will change the way things are done among this people. We will choose wise men to be judges who will judge this people by God’s commandments.
12 “It is better for people to be judged by God than by other people, because God’s judgment is always fair, but people’s judgments are not always fair. told you to.
13 “If you could always have good men to be your kings, who would build up God’s laws and judge the people by his commandments — yes, if all kings would do the same things my father Benjamin did for this people — I tell you, if this could always happen, then it would be good for you to always have kings rule over you.
14 “I myself have worked with all my power to teach you God’s commandments and to build up peace in the land, so there would be no wars or fights or robbing or murders or any kind of sin.
15 “I have punished whoever has done evil by the law our ancestors gave us.
16 “Now I tell you that you do not always need to have kings rule over you, because not all men are good.
17 “Think of how much sin and destruction one wicked king can cause!
18 “Yes, remember King Noah’s wickedness and sins, and his people’s wickedness and sins. Remember what great destruction and slavery came on them because of their sins.
19 “If their all-wise Maker had not helped them after they repented, they would still be slaves.
20 “But he saved them because they became humble before him. He saved them from slavery because they prayed strongly to him. This is how the Lord uses his power to work with people, having mercy on those who trust in him.
21 “I tell you that you cannot get rid of a wicked king without lots of fighting and killing,
22 “Because he has wicked friends, and guards. He tears up the laws of righteous kings who ruled before him and breaks God’s commandments.
23 “He makes wicked laws for his people, and he destroys whoever does not obey these laws. He sends his armies against those who rebel against him and tries to destroy them. This is how a wicked king can change and destroy righteousness.
24 “I tell you that you do not need to have such terrible things happen to you.
25 “So let this people vote to choose judges, so you will be judged by the laws our ancestors have given you, which are right, and which the Lord gave to them.
26 It is not often that most of the people will want something which is not right, but a smaller number of people will often want something which is not right, so you will make your laws by voting.
27 “If the time comes that most of the people choose wickedness, then God’s judgments will come on you. Yes, then he will punish you with great destruction, as he has done before in this land.
28 “Now if you have judges, and they do not judge you by the law which you have been given, you can have them judged by a higher judge.
29 “If your higher judges do not judge righteously, then you can have a small number of your lower judges come together and judge your higher judges, as the people have voted.
30 “I command you to remember the Lord as you do these things. I command you to do these things and not have a king. If this people sin and do wicked things, they themselves will be punished for what they do.
31 “Many people’s sins have been caused by their king’s sins, so kings pay for their people’s sins.
32 “But this is not fair, and I do not want it to be this way in this land, among this people. I want this to be a free land, so every person will be able to enjoy their rights like everyone else, for as long as the Lord will let us and our descendants live in this land.”
33 King Mosiah wrote many other things to them, explaining about a righteous king’s troubles and problems — about how much they worried about their people, and how much the people complained to him. He explained all these things to them.
34 He told them that this was not fair, but that all the people should share the troubles and problems.
35 He also showed them all the bad things about having a wicked king rule over them —
36 Yes, [he told them] about all of the sins and wickedness, and wars, and fights, and killings, and robbing, and sexual sins, and all the sins a wicked king can cause. He told them that these things should not happen — that they were against God’s commandments.
37 After King Mosiah wrote these words, the people believed that what he had written was true.
38 So they stopped wanting a king and wanted instead to make sure that every person had a fair chance in all the land. Every person said they were willing to be punished for their own sins.
39 So they came together and voted about who should be their judges, to judge them by the law they had been given. They were very happy for the freedom they had been given.
40 They loved Mosiah very much, and thought he was greater than any man, because they knew he was not a bad king who wanted to get rich. He had not taken their riches from them, and he did not love killing, but he had built up peace in the land and freed his people from all kinds of slavery. This is why they loved him so much.
41 They chose judges to rule over them, or to judge them by the law, and they did this all over the land.
42 Alma was chosen to be the first chief judge. His father had also chosen him to be the high priest and had given him power over all the church.
43 Alma was righteous, and kept the Lord’s commandments, and judged righteously, and there was peace all over the land.
44 This was the way the rule of the judges began in the land of Zarahemla, and among all the Nephites. Alma was the first chief judge.
45 Alma’s father died when he was eighty-two years old, having done everything God had commanded him.
46 Mosiah died when he was sixty-five years old, after ruling for thirty-three years. Five hundred nine years had gone by since Lehi left Jerusalem.
47 This was the end of the rule of the Nephite kings, and this was the end of the life of that Alma who had built up God’s church among the Nephites.
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