8 They have agot possession of the land, or the city, of Zarahemla; they have appointed a bking over them, and he hath written unto the king of the Lamanites, in the which he hath joined an alliance with him; in the which alliance he hath agreed to maintain the city of Zarahemla, which maintenance he supposeth will enable the Lamanites to conquer the remainder of the land, and he shall be placed king over this people when they shall be conquered cunder the Lamanites.
9 And now, in your epistle you have acensured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not bseek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us cfree.
10 And now, behold, we will resist wickedness even unto bloodshed. We would anot shed the blood of the Lamanites if they would stay in their own land.
11 We would not shed the blood of our brethren if they would not rise up in rebellion and take the sword against us.
12 We would subject ourselves to the ayoke of bondage if it were requisite with the justice of God, or if he should command us so to do.
13 But behold he doth not command us that we shall subject ourselves to our enemies, but that we should put our atrust in him, and he will deliver us.
14 Therefore, my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our awords, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us bresist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God.
16 Behold I have sent a few provisions unto them, that they may not perish until ye can come unto me.
17 Gather together whatsoever force ye can upon your march hither, and we will go speedily against those dissenters, in the strength of our God according to the faith which is in us.
18 And we will atake possession of the city of Zarahemla, that we may obtain more food to send forth unto Lehi and Teancum; yea, we will go forth against them in the strength of the Lord, and we will put an end to this great iniquity.
19 And now, Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried concerning what we should do, whether it should be just in us to go against our brethren.
20 But ye have said, except they repent the Lord ahath commanded you that ye should go against them.
21 See that ye astrengthen Lehi and Teancum in the Lord; tell them to fear not, for God will deliver them, yea, and also all those who bstand fast in that liberty wherewith God hath made them free. And now I close mine epistle to my beloved brother, Moroni.
THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA
CHAPTER 62
Moroni marches to the aid of Pahoran in the land of Gideon—The king-men who refuse to defend their country are put to death—Pahoran and Moroni retake Nephihah—Many Lamanites join the people of Ammon—Teancum slays Ammoron and is in turn slain—The Lamanites are driven from the land, and peace is established—Helaman returns to the ministry and builds up the Church. About 62—57 B.C.
1 And now it came to pass that when Moroni had received this epistle his heart did take courage, and was filled with exceedingly great joy because of the faithfulness of Pahoran, that he was not also aatraitor to the freedom and cause of his country.
2 But he did also mourn exceedingly because of the iniquity of those who had driven Pahoran from the judgment-seat, yea, in fine because of those who had rebelled against their country and also their God.
3 And it came to pass that Moroni took a small number of men, according to the desire of Pahoran, and gave Lehi and Teancum command over the remainder of his army, and took his march towards the land of Gideon.
5 And it came to pass that thousands did aflock unto his standard, and did take up their swords in the defence of their freedom, that they might not come into bondage.
6 And thus, when Moroni had gathered together whatsoever men he could in all his march, he came to the land of Gideon; and uniting his forces with those of Pahoran they became exceedingly strong, even stronger than the men of Pachus, who was the aking of those dissenters who had driven the bfreemen out of the land of Zarahemla and had taken possession of the land.
7 And it came to pass that Moroni and Pahoran went down with their armies into the land of Zarahemla, and went forth against the city, and did meet the men of Pachus, insomuch that they did come to battle.
8 And behold, Pachus was slain and his men were taken prisoners, and Pahoran was restored to his judgment-seat.
9 And the men of Pachus received their trial, according to the law, and also those king-men who had been taken and acast into prison; and they were bexecuted according to the law; yea, those men of Pachus and those cking-men, whosoever would not take up arms in the defence of their country, but would fight against it, were put to death.
10 And thus it became expedient that this law should be strictly observed for the safety of their country; yea, and whosoever was found denying their freedom was speedily aexecuted according to the law.
11 And thus ended the thirtieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; Moroni and Pahoran having restored peace to the land of Zarahemla, among their own people, having ainflicted death upon all those who were not true to the cause of freedom.
12 And it came to pass in the *commencement of the thirty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Moroni immediately caused that provisions should be sent, and also an army of six thousand men should be sent unto Helaman, to assist him in preserving that part of the land.
13 And he also caused that an army of six thousand men, with a sufficient quantity of food, should be sent to the armies of Lehi and Teancum. And it came to pass that this was done to fortify the land against the Lamanites.
I am really impressed with the high road that Pahoran takes in chapter 61 verse 9. He could have chosen to be offended or annoyed by Moroni and decided to make an issue out of the accusations that Moroni made against him in his epistle. Instead he puts his own feelings of pride aside and decides to be a team player. It isn't always easy to show that kind of character, even when you know you should. Pahoran must have seen the bigger picture and realized that Satan is the only one who would have benefited if he would have reacted any other way.
P.S. Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!!!!!
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