The Collected Works. Joseph Smith Jr.
that they preached the word, and the truth, according to the
spirit of prophecy and revelation; and they preached after the
holy order of God by which they were called.
Alma 43:3
3 And now I return to an account of the wars between the
Nephites and the Lamanites, in the eighteenth year of the reign
of the judges.
Alma 43:4
4 For behold, it came to pass that the Zoramites became
Lamanites; therefore, in the commencement of the eighteenth year
the people of the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming
upon them; therefore they made preparations for war; yea, they
gathered together their armies in the land of Jershon.
Alma 43:5
5 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their
thousands; and they came into the land of Antionum, which is the
land of the Zoramites; and a man by the name of Zerahemnah was
their leader.
Alma 43:6
6 And now, as the Amalekites were of a more wicked and murderous
disposition than the Lamanites were, in and of themselves,
therefore, Zerahemnah appointed chief captains over the
Lamanites, and they were all Amalekites and Zoramites.
Alma 43:7
7 Now this he did that he might preserve their hatred towards
the Nephites, that he might bring them into subjection to the
accomplishment of his designs.
Alma 43:8
8 For behold, his designs were to stir up the Lamanites to anger
against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power
over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by
bringing them into bondage.
Alma 43:9
9 And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands,
and their houses, and their wives, and their children, that they
might preserve them from the hands of their enemies; and also
that they might preserve their rights and their privileges, yea,
and also their liberty, that they might worship God according to
their desires.
Alma 43:10
10 For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the
Lamanites, that whosoever should worship God in spirit and in
truth, the true and the living God, the Lamanites would destroy.
Alma 43:11
11 Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites
towards their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi,
who were called the people of Ammon—and they would not take up
arms, yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not
break it—therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the
Lamanites they would be destroyed.
Alma 43:12
12 And the Nephites would not suffer that they should be
destroyed; therefore they gave them lands for their inheritance.
Alma 43:13
13 And the people of Ammon did give unto the Nephites a large
portion of their substance to support their armies; and thus the
Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the
Lamanites, who were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons
of Ishmael, and all those who had dissented from the Nephites,
who were Amalekites and Zoramites, and the descendants of the
priests of Noah.
Alma 43:14
14 Now those descendants were as numerous, nearly, as were the
Nephites; and thus the Nephites were obliged to contend with
their brethren, even unto bloodshed.
Alma 43:15
15 And it came to pass as the armies of the Lamanites had
gathered together in the land of Antionum, behold, the armies of
the Nephites were prepared to meet them in the land of Jershon.
Alma 43:16
16 Now, the leader of the Nephites, or the man who had been
appointed to be the chief captain over the Nephites—now the
chief captain took the command of all the armies of the
Nephites—and his name was Moroni;
Alma 43:17
17 And Moroni took all the command, and the government of their
wars. And he was only twenty and five years old when he was
appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites.
Alma 43:18
18 And it came to pass that he met the Lamanites in the borders
of Jershon, and his people were armed with swords, and with
cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war.
Alma 43:19
19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of
Nephi, or that Moroni, had prepared his people with breastplates
and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their
heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing—
Alma 43:20
20 Now the army of Zerahemnah was not prepared with any such
thing; they had only their swords and their cimeters, their bows
and their arrows, their stones and their slings; and they were
naked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins;
yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the
Amalekites;
Alma 43:21
21 But they were not armed with breastplates, nor
shields—therefore, they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of
the Nephites because of their armor, notwithstanding their number
being so much greater than the Nephites.
Alma 43:22
22 Behold, now it came to pass that they durst not come against
the Nephites in the borders of Jershon; therefore they departed
out of the land of Antionum into the wilderness, and took their
journey round about in the wilderness, away by the head of the
river Sidon, that they might come into the land of Manti and take
possession of the land; for they did not suppose that the armies
of Moroni would know whither they had gone.
Alma 43:23
23 But it came to pass, as soon as they had