pgs. 292 and 293...according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish.

10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been ^acast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst ^bvisit them in thine anger with speedy destruction.

11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my ^asincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine ^bafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, ^cbecause of thy Son.

12 And now Alma said unto them: Do ye ^abelieve those scriptures which have been written by them of old?

13 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what ^aZenos said; for, behold he said: Thou hast turned away thy judgments because of thy Son.

14 Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye ^adisbelieve on the Son of God?

15 For it is ^anot written that Zenos alone spake of these things, but ^bZenock also spake of these things—

16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they ^awill not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.

17 And now, my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God, and because the people would not understand his words they ^astoned him to death.

18 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God.

19 Behold, he was spoken of by ^aMoses; yea, and behold a ^btype was ^craised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would ^aheal them.

21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in ^aunbelief, and be ^bslothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and ^abegin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to ^batone for their sins; and that he shall ^crise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the ^dresurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be ^ejudged at the last and judgment day, according to their ^fworks.

23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall ^aplant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, ^bspringing up in you unto ^ceverlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your ^dburdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye ^ewill. Amen.

THE BOOK OF ALMA

THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 34

Amulek testifies that the word is in Christ unto salvation—Unless an atonement is made, all mankind must perish—The whole law of Moses points toward the sacrifice of the Son of God—The eternal plan of redemption is based on faith and repentance—Pray for temporal and spiritual blessings—This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God—Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. About 74 B.C.

1 And now it came to pass that after Alma had spoken these words unto them he sat down upon the ground, and ^aAmulek arose and began to teach them, saying:

2 My brethren, I think that it is impossible that ye should be ignorant of the things which have been spoken concerning the coming of Christ, who is taught by us to be the Son of God; yea, I know that ^athese things were taught unto you bountifully before your dissension from among us.

3 And as ye have desired of my beloved brother that he should make known unto you ^awhat ye should do, because of your afflictions; and he hath spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your minds; yea, and he hath exhorted you unto faith and to patience—

4 Yea, even that ye would have so much faith as even to ^aplant the word in your hearts, that ye may try the experiment of its goodness.

5 And we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be ^ano Christ.

6 And ye also beheld that my brother has proved unto you, in many instances, that the ^aword is in Christ unto salvation.

7 My brother has called upon the words of ^aZenos, that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also upon the words of ^bZenock; and also he has appealed unto ^cMoses, to prove that these things are true.

8 And now, behold, I will ^atestify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the ^btransgressions of his people, and that he shall ^catone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

9 For it is expedient that an ^aatonement should be made; for according to the great ^bplan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are ^cfallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last ^asacrifice; yea, not a ^bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an ^cinfinite and ^deternal ^esacrifice.

It's hard to find words sufficient to comment on the atonement. I hope people remember the connection it has to the sacrament we can partake of every Sunday. This commentary from the Institute Manual reminded me of the importance of that connection:

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ ended the practice of blood sacrifice for sin. The Savior said to the Nephites:

“Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away. . . .

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9:19–20).

In place of the law of blood sacrifice, the Savior instituted the ordinance of the sacrament. This ordinance serves as a reminder of that “great and last sacrifice” (Alma 34:10). President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., explained:

“Under the new covenant that came in with Christ, the sinner must offer the sacrifice out of his own life, not by offering the blood of some other creature; he must give up his sins, he must repent, he himself must make the sacrifice and that sacrifice was calculated to reach out into the life of the sinner in the future so that he would become a better and changed man. . . .

“. . . Every sinner so repenting, every sinner so sorrowing for the past by an abandonment of the practices of the past, moves into a new world where, with proper covenants, he thrusts away out of his life the wrongs of the past” (“Meaning of the Peace of Which the Angels Spoke,” Church News, 24 Dec. 1960, p. 15).