pgs. 140 and 141...Inasmuch as ye will not keep my comandments ye shall not prosper in the land.

CHAPTER 1

Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, each in turn, keep the records—Mosiah discovers the people of Zarahemla who came from Jerusalem in the days of Zedekiah—He is made king over them—The Mulekites had discovered Coriantumr, the last of the Jaredites—King Benjamin succeeds Mosiah—Men should offer their souls as an offering to Christ. Between 361 and 130 B.C.

1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon ^athese plates, to preserve our genealogy—

2 Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. But behold, I of myself ^aam a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done.

3 And it came to pass that *two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away, and we had many seasons of peace; and we had many ^aseasons of serious war and bloodshed. Yea, and in fine, *two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away, and I had kept these plates according to the ^bcommandments of my ^cfathers; and I ^dconferred them upon my son Amaron. And I make an end.

4 And now I, Amaron, write the things whatsoever I write, which are few, in the book of my father.

5 Behold, it came to pass that *three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were ^adestroyed.

6 For the Lord would not suffer, after he had led them out of the land of Jerusalem and kept and preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies, yea, he would not suffer that the words should not be verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: ^aInasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall not ^bprosper in the land.

7 Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

8 And it came to pass that I did deliver the plates unto my brother Chemish.

9 Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me. And after this manner we keep the ^arecords, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers. And I make an end.

10 Behold, I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish. Behold, it came to pass that I saw much war and contention between my people, the Nephites, and the Lamanites; and I, with my own sword, have taken the lives of many of the Lamanites in the defence of my brethren.

11 And behold, the ^arecord of this people is engraven upon plates which is had by the ^bkings, according to the generations; and I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written. And I make an end.

12 Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom. Behold, I will speak unto you somewhat concerning ^aMosiah, who was made king over the ^bland of Zarahemla; for behold, he being ^cwarned of the Lord that he should ^dflee out of the ^eland of ^fNephi, and as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also ^gdepart out of the land with him, into the wilderness—

13 And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him. And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord; and they were led by many preachings and prophesyings. And they were admonished continually by the word of God; and they were led by the power of his ^aarm, through the wilderness until they came down into the land which is called the ^bland of Zarahemla.

14 And they discovered a ^apeople, who were called the people of Zarahemla. Now, there was great rejoicing among the people of Zarahemla; and also Zarahemla did rejoice exceedingly, because the Lord had sent the people of Mosiah with the ^bplates of brass which contained the record of the Jews.

15 Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of ^aZarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that ^bZedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon.

16 And they ^ajourneyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.

17 And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their ^alanguage had become corrupted; and they had brought no ^brecords with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them.

Wow, in the first 11 verses of these pages the plates change hands four times from Omni to Amaron to Chemish to Abinadom. Each author is brief and seems to make a comment that alludes to the unrighteousness of the Nephites. In verse 5 Amoron tells us that the wicked among the Nephites were destroyed. In verse 11 Abinodom tells us that his writing is brief since the record is meant for recording prophecy and revelation and there hadn't been any (only because they were not worthy of it I'm sure.) Amaleki's record is valuable in the sense that it tells us about a second group of Jews who escaped from Jerusalem to the promised land. These people are referred to as the Mulekites and Mosiah was their king. We will be getting to know Mosiah and his people better in our upcoming reading.