pgs. 142 and 143...come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.

18 But it came to pass that Mosiah caused that they should be taught in his ^alanguage. And it came to pass that after they were taught in the language of Mosiah, Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory; and they are written, but ^bnot in these plates.

19 And it came to pass that the people of Zarahemla, and of Mosiah, did ^aunite together; and ^bMosiah was appointed to be their king.

20 And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large ^astone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did ^binterpret the engravings by the gift and power of God.

21 And they gave an account of one ^aCoriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.

22 It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the ^atower, at the time the Lord ^bconfounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their ^cbones lay scattered in the land northward.

23 Behold, I, Amaleki, was born in the days of Mosiah; and I have lived to see his death; and ^aBenjamin, ^bhis son, reigneth in his stead.

24 And behold, I have seen, in the days of king Benjamin, a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites. But behold, the Nephites did obtain much advantage over them; yea, insomuch that king Benjamin did drive them out of the land of Zarahemla.

25 And it came to pass that I began to be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king ^aBenjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore, I shall ^bdeliver up ^cthese plates unto him, exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are ^dgood; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord; and that which is evil cometh from the devil.

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should ^acome unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and ^boffer your whole souls as an ^coffering unto him, and continue in ^dfasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

27 And now I would speak somewhat concerning a certain ^anumber who went up into the wilderness to ^breturn to the ^cland of Nephi; for there was a large number who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance.

28 Wherefore, they went up into the wilderness. And their leader being a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were ^aall slain, save fifty, in the wilderness, and they returned again to the land of Zarahemla.

29 And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number, and took their journey again into the wilderness.

30 And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also went with them; and I have not since known concerning them. And I am about to lie down in my grave; and ^athese plates are full. And I make an end of my speaking.

THE WORDS OF MORMON

CHAPTER 1

Mormon abridges their history onto the plates of Mormon—He inserts the plates of Nephi into the abridgement—King Benjamin establishes peace in the land. About A.D. 385

1 And now I, Mormon, being about to deliver up the ^arecord which I have been making into the hands of my son Moroni, behold I have witnessed almost all the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

2 And it is ^amany hundred years after the coming of Christ *that I deliver these records into the hands of my son; and it supposeth me that he will witness the entire ^bdestruction of my people. But may God grant that he may survive them, that he may write somewhat concerning them, and somewhat concerning Christ, that perhaps some day it may ^cprofit them.

3 And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an ^aabridgment from the ^bplates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the ^crecords which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king ^dBenjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.

4 And the things which are upon these plates ^apleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been ^bprophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—

5 Wherefore, I chose ^athese things, to finish my ^brecord upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the ^cplates of Nephi; and I cannot write the ^dhundredth part of the things of my people.

6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.

The "certain number" that Amaleki mentions in verse 27, and that include his brother, never made it back to Jerusalem. They return from the wilderness in Mosiah chapter 7 so that is something to remember when we get to that passage.
The wisdom of Mormon in deciding which records to abridge is truly inspired. The loss of the book of Lehi to Martin Harris was prepared for. I like this quote that elaborates on this subject:

“The two pages comprising The Words of Mormon are approximately five hundred years out of context. Note that the approximate date at the end of the book of Omni is 130 B.C. whereas the Words of Mormon are dated about 385 A.D. (See 4 Nephi 48 and Mormon 1:2; 6:5 for the major dates in the life of Mormon.) However, the approximate date of the beginning of the book of Mosiah is once again 130 B.C.

“The Words of Mormon were apparently written near the end of Mormon’s life for the purpose of connecting two major records. It was made known to Mormon ‘by the workings of the Spirit of the Lord’ that the small plates of Nephi (which ended when Benjamin was a relatively young man) might be used to replace his abridgment of the book of Lehi [the first book on the large plates of Nephi] (which ended when Benjamin was an old man about ready to die). So that a gap would not occur in the history of the Nephites, Mormon included the major events of the lifetime of King Benjamin in The Words of Mormon, thus connecting the account on the small plates of Nephi with Mormon’s abridgment of the book of Mosiah” (Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 171).