pgs. 284 and 285...and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.

48 Now Korihor said unto him: I do not deny the existence of a God, but I do not believe that there is a God; and I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God; and except ye show me a sign, I will not believe.

49 Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be ^astruck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.

50 Now when Alma had said these words, Korihor was struck dumb, that he could not have utterance, according to the words of Alma.

51 And now when the chief judge saw this, he put forth his hand and wrote unto Korihor, saying: Art thou convinced of the power of God? In whom did ye desire that Alma should show forth his sign? Would ye that he should afflict others, to show unto thee a sign? Behold, he has showed unto you a sign; and now will ye dispute more?

52 And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak; and I know that nothing save it were the ^apower of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always ^bknew that there was a God.

53 But behold, the devil hath ^adeceived me; for he ^bappeared unto me in the ^cform of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is ^dno God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the ^ecarnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great ^fcurse upon me.

54 Now when he had said this, he besought that Alma should pray unto God, that the ^acurse might be taken from him.

55 But Alma said unto him: If this curse should be taken from thee thou wouldst again lead away the hearts of this people; therefore, it shall be unto thee even as the Lord will.

56 And it came to pass that the curse was not taken off of Korihor; but he was ^acast out, and went about from house to house begging for his food.

57 Now the knowledge of what had happened unto Korihor was immediately published throughout all the land; yea, the proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent, ^alest the same judgments would come unto them.

58 And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor. And Korihor did go about from house to house, begging food for his support.

59 And it came to pass that as he went forth among the people, yea, among a people who had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves ^aZoramites, being led by a man whose name was Zoram—and as he went forth amongst them, behold, he was run upon and trodden down, even until he was ^bdead.

60 And thus we see the end of him who ^aperverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not ^bsupport his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to ^chell.

THE BOOK OF ALMA

THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 31

Alma heads a mission to reclaim the apostate Zoramites—The Zoramites deny Christ, believe in a false concept of election, and worship with set prayers—The missionaries are filled with the Holy Spirit—Their afflictions are swallowed up in the joy of Christ. About 74 B.C.

1 Now it came to pass that after the end of Korihor, Alma having received tidings that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to ^abow down to dumb ^bidols, his heart again began to ^csicken because of the iniquity of the people.

2 For it was the cause of great ^asorrow to Alma to know of iniquity among his people; therefore his heart was exceedingly ^bsorrowful because of the separation of the Zoramites from the Nephites.

3 Now the Zoramites had gathered themselves together in a land which they called ^aAntionum, which was east of the land of Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon the seashore, which was south of the land of ^bJershon, which also bordered upon the wilderness south, which wilderness was full of the Lamanites.

4 Now the Nephites greatly feared that the Zoramites would enter into a ^acorrespondence with the Lamanites, and that it would be the means of great loss on the part of the Nephites.

5 And now, as the ^apreaching of the ^bword had a great tendency to ^clead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

6 Therefore he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; and Himni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla; but the former three he took with him, and also ^aAmulek and Zeezrom, who were at ^bMelek; and he also took two of his sons.

7 Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, and his name was Helaman; but the names of those whom he took with him were ^aShiblon and ^bCorianton; and these are the names of those who went with him among the ^cZoramites, to preach unto them the word.

8 Now the Zoramites were ^adissenters from the Nephites; therefore they had had the word of God preached unto them.

9 But they had ^afallen into great errors, for they would not observe to keep the commandments of God, and his statutes, according to the law of Moses.

Well, one cannot comment on this reading without bringing up Joseph Smith's comments about people who seek signs. Here is the exact quote:

“I will give you one of the Keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives. The principle is as correct as the one that Jesus put forth in saying that he who seeketh a sign is an adulterous person; and that principal is eternal, undeviating, and firm as the pillars of heaven; for whenever you see a man seeking after a sign, you may set it down that he is an adulterous man” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 156–57).

Poor Korihor. Let us all look to him as what NOT to do! Satan's way always ends badly.