pgs. 418 and 419...thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years.

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 6

The Nephites prosper—Pride, wealth, and class distinctions arise—The Church is rent with dissensions—Satan leads the people in open rebellion—Many prophets cry repentance and are slain—Their murderers conspire to take over the government. Between A.D. 26 and 30

  1 And now it came to pass that the people of the Nephites did all return to their own lands in the *twenty and sixth year, every man, with his family, his flocks and his herds, his ^ahorses and his cattle, and all things whatsoever did belong unto them.

  2 And it came to pass that they had ^anot eaten up all their provisions; therefore they did take with them all that they had not devoured, of all their grain of every kind, and their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and they did return to their own lands and their possessions, both on the north and on the south, both on the land northward and on the land southward.

  3 And they granted unto those robbers who had ^aentered into a covenant to keep the peace of the land, who were desirous to remain Lamanites, lands, according to their numbers, that they might have, with their labors, wherewith to subsist upon; and thus they did establish peace in all the land.

  4 And they began again to prosper and to wax great; and the twenty and sixth and seventh years passed away, and there was great ^aorder in the land; and they had formed their laws according to equity and justice.

  5 And now there was nothing in all the land to hinder the people from prospering continually, except they should fall into transgression.

  6 And now it was ^aGidgiddoni, and the judge, ^bLachoneus, and those who had been appointed leaders, who had established this great peace in the land.

  7 And it came to pass that there were many cities built anew, and there were many old cities repaired.

  8 And there were many ^ahighways cast up, and many roads made, which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place.

  9 And thus passed away the twenty and eighth year, and the people had continual peace.

  10 But it came to pass in the *twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and ^aboastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions;

  11 For there were many ^amerchants in the land, and also many ^blawyers, and many officers.

  12 And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their ^ariches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ^bignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great ^clearningbecause of their riches.

  13 Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and ^apersecution and all manner of ^bafflictions, and would not turn and ^crevile again, but were humble and penitent before God.

  14 And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the *thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and ^athey would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all ^bdiligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.

  15 Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—^aSatan had great ^bpower, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and ^criches, and the vain things of the world.

  16 And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years.

  17 And thus, in the commencement of the thirtieth year—the people having been ^adelivered up for the space of a long time to be carried about by the ^btemptations of the devil whithersoever he desired to carry them, and to do whatsoever iniquity he desired they should—and thus in the commencement of this, the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness.

  18 Now they did not sin ^aignorantly, for they knew the ^bwill of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did wilfully ^crebel against God.

  19 And now it was in the days of Lachoneus, the son of ^aLachoneus, for Lachoneus did fill the seat of his father and did govern the people that year.

  20 And there began to be men ^ainspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people, and testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his ^bdeath and sufferings.

  21 Now there were many of the people who were exceedingly angry because of those who testified of these things; and those who were angry were chiefly the chief judges, and they who ^ahad been high priests and lawyers; yea, all those who were lawyers were angry with those who testified of these things.

  22 Now there was no lawyer nor judge nor high priest that could have power to condemn any one to death save their condemnation was signed by the governor of the land.

  23 Now there were many of those ^awho testified of the things pertaining to Christ who testified boldly, who were taken and put to death ^bsecretly by the judges, that the knowledge of their death came not unto the governor of the land until after their death.

  24 Now behold, this was contrary to the laws of the land, that any man should be put to death except they had power from the governor of the land—

  25 Therefore a complaint came up unto the land of Zarahemla, to the governor of the land, against these judges who had condemned the prophets of the Lord unto ^adeath, not according to the law.

  26 Now it came to pass that they were taken and brought up before the judge, to be judged of the crime which they had done, according to the ^alaw which had been given by the people.

  27 Now it came to pass that those judges had many friends and kindreds; and the remainder, yea, even almost all the lawyers and the high priests, did gather themselves together, and unite with the kindreds of those judges who were to be tried according to the law.

  28 And they did enter into a ^acovenant one with another, yea, even into that covenant which was given by them of old, which covenant was given and administered by the ^bdevil, to combine against all righteousness.

  29 Therefore they did combine against the people of the Lord, and enter into a covenant to destroy them, and to deliver those who were guilty of murder from the grasp of justice, which was about to be administered according to the law.

  30 And they did set at defiance the law and the rights of their country; and they did covenant one with another to destroy the governor, and to establish a ^aking over the land, that the land should no more be at ^bliberty but should be subject unto kings.

* VERSE 1 (A.D. 26).

In just the seven verses from 10 to 17 Satan destroys a righteous society.  It's amazing how quickly it can happen and how hard he works.  It is the privilege and responsibility of the followers of Christ, especially priesthood holders, to work to stop these evil influences. This was taught in General Conference in 1967 when Elder Robert L. Simpson gave the following message:

“Times have not changed. Less than two months ago, most of you read the disturbing article in our newspapers about a group of individuals who have established a so-called Satanic church, with the sole purpose to participate only in the realms of evil and darkness. They are in open defiance of and diametrically opposed to all of His holy purposes that bring us together in this great conference. Without a goodly number of God-fearing men committed to the cause of truth, these societies of evil could well take over our society.

“The only effective tool against evil and darkness is truth and light, particularly truth and light held in the hands of those bearing God’s Holy Priesthood: worthy, dedicated men such as I see before me here today.

“No man or boy who has accepted the commitment of priesthood can stand idly by, for if we do not abide in this covenant with the Lord, if we are less than anxiously engaged in doing something about it, he says: ‘. . . ye are not worthy of me.’ (D&C 98:15.)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1967, p. 69). 

pgs. 416 and 417...as many as would repent of their sins and enter into a covenant that they would murder no more were set at liberty.

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 5

The Nephites repent and forsake their sins—Mormon writes the history of his people and declares the everlasting word to them—Israel shall be gathered in from her long dispersion. Between A.D. 21 and 26

  1 And now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did ^adoubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled.

  2 And they knew that it must be expedient that Christ had come, because of the many signs which had been given, according to the words of the prophets; and because of the things which had come to pass already they knew that it must needs be that all things should come to pass according to that which had been spoken.

  3 Therefore they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did serve God with all diligence day and night.

  4 And now it came to pass that when they had taken all the robbers prisoners, insomuch that none did escape who were not slain, they did cast their prisoners into prison, and did cause the word of God to be preached unto them; and as many as would repent of their sins and ^aenter into a ^bcovenant that they would murder no more were set at ^cliberty.

  5 But as many as there were who did not enter into a covenant, and who did still continue to have those ^asecret murders in their hearts, yea, as many as were found breathing out threatenings against their brethren were condemned and punished according to the law.

  6 And thus they did put an end to all those wicked, and secret, and abominable combinations, in the which there was so much wickedness, and so many murders committed.

  7 And thus had the ^atwenty and second year passed away, and the twenty and third year also, and the twenty and fourth, and the twenty and fifth; and thus had *twenty and five years passed away.

  8 And there had many things transpired which, in the eyes of some, would be great and marvelous; nevertheless, they cannot all be written in this book; yea, this book cannot contain even a ^ahundredth part of what was done among so many people in the space of twenty and five years;

  9 But behold there are ^arecords which do contain ^ball the proceedings of this people; and a ^cshorter but true account was given by Nephi.

  10 Therefore I have made my ^arecord of these things according to the record of Nephi, which was engraven on the plates which were called the ^bplates of Nephi.

  11 And behold, I do make the record on plates which I have made with mine own hands.

  12 And behold, I am called ^aMormon, being called after the ^bland of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression.

  13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been ^acalled of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

  14 And it hath become expedient that I, according to the will of God, that the prayers of those who have gone hence, who were the holy ones, should be fulfilled according to their faith, should make a^arecord of these things which have been done—

  15 Yea, a ^asmall record of that which hath taken place from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem, even down until the present time.

  16 Therefore I do make my record from the accounts which have been given by those who were before me, until the commencement of my day;

  17 And then I do make a ^arecord of the things which I have seen with mine own eyes.

  18 And I know the record which I make to be a just and a true record; nevertheless there are many things which, according to our ^alanguage, we are not able to ^bwrite.

  19 And now I make an end of my saying, which is of myself, and proceed to give my account of the things which have been before me.

  20 I am Mormon, and a pure ^adescendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, (and ^bno one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls.

  21 Surely he hath ^ablessed the house of ^bJacob, and hath been ^cmerciful unto the seed of Joseph.

  22 And ^ainsomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word.

  23 Yea, and surely shall he again bring a ^aremnant of the seed of Joseph to the ^bknowledge of the Lord their God.

  24 And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he ^agather in from the four quarters of the earth all the remnant of the ^bseed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth.

  25 And as he hath ^acovenanted with all the house of Jacob, even so shall the covenant wherewith he hath covenanted with the house of Jacob be fulfilled in his own due time, unto the ^brestoring all the house of Jacob unto the knowledge of the covenant that he hath covenanted with them.

  26 And then shall they ^aknow their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be. Amen.

* VERSE 7 (A.D. 21—26).

This is a great commentary on verse five from the Institute Manual.  I enjoy it because it draws a connection between the Book of Mormon society and our own today.

The Nephite approach to the captured Gadianton members was remarkable in light of many trends in our present society. Modern societies expend millions of dollars trying to psychoanalyze and rehabilitate criminals. Notice the twofold approach of the Nephites, who understood that the Gadianton conspiracy posed a real threat to both the government and the Church. The Nephites preached the gospel to the robbers to see if they would be converted. If converted, the Gadiantons were freed—a remarkable bit of jurisprudence in and of itself! If the Gadiantons refused to repent, they “were condemned and punished according to the law” (3 Nephi 5:5).

pgs. 414 and 415...may the God of Abraham...protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.

7 And it came to pass that they did come up to battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle; and they were girded about after the manner of robbers; and they had a lamb-skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had head-plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of the armies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because of their being dyed in blood.

8 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

9 And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies.

10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not ^afear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for ^bprotection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them.

11 And the battle commenced in this the sixth month; and great and terrible was the battle thereof, yea, great and terrible was the ^aslaughter thereof, insomuch that there never was known so great a slaughter among all the people of Lehi since he left Jerusalem.

12 And notwithstanding the ^athreatenings and the oaths which Giddianhi had made, behold, the Nephites did beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before them.

13 And it came to pass that ^aGidgiddoni commanded that his armies should pursue them as far as the borders of the wilderness, and that they should not spare any that should fall into their hands by the way; and thus they did pursue them and did slay them, to the borders of the wilderness, even until they had fulfilled the commandment of Gidgiddoni.

14 And it came to pass that Giddianhi, who had stood and fought with boldness, was pursued as he fled; and being weary because of his much fighting he was overtaken and slain. And thus was the end of Giddianhi the robber.

15 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites did return again to their place of security. And it came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away, and the robbers did not come again to battle; neither did they come again in the twentieth year.

16 And in the *twenty and first year they did not come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay siege round about the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if they should cut off the people of Nephi from their ^alands, and should hem them in on every side, and if they should cut them off from all their outward privileges, that they could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes.

17 Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader, whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place.

18 But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their ^amuch ^bprovision which they had laid up in store,

19 And because of the scantiness of provisions among the robbers; for behold, they had nothing save it were meat for their subsistence, which meat they did obtain in the wilderness;

20 And it came to pass that the ^awild game became scarce in the wilderness insomuch that the robbers were about to perish with hunger.

21 And the Nephites were continually marching out by day and by night, and falling upon their armies, and cutting them off by thousands and by tens of thousands.

22 And thus it became the desire of the people of Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of the great destruction which came upon them by night and by day.

23 And it came to pass that Zemnarihah did give command unto his people that they should withdraw themselves from the siege, and march into the furthermost parts of the land northward.

24 And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their design, and knowing of their weakness because of the want of food, and the great slaughter which had been made among them, therefore he did send out his armies in the night-time, and did cut off the way of their retreat, and did place his armies in the way of their retreat.

25 And this did they do in the night-time, and got on their march beyond the robbers, so that on the morrow, when the robbers began their march, they were met by the armies of the Nephites both in their front and in their rear.

26 And the robbers who were on the south were also cut off in their places of retreat. And all these things were done by command of Gidgiddoni.

27 And there were many thousands who did yield themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and the remainder of them were slain.

28 And their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was dead they did fell the tree to the earth, and did cry with a loud voice, saying:

29 May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth.

30 And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the ^aGod of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall ^bcall on the name of their God for ^cprotection.

31 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and ^apraising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies.

32 Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God ^aAlmighty, the Most High God.

33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction.

* VERSE 16 (A.D. 21).

The overwhelming message of this reading is that God protected the Nephite armies because of their repentance and humility (as summarized in verse 33.) In 1997 I heard President Hinckley speak at a Freedom Festival and he quoted this story and especially verse 30 and 31 where the Nephites acknowledge their need to call on God for protection in battle and then sing and praise Him when he blesses them with His help. This is a great pattern for all of us to follow even if the battles we fight are spiritual rather than physical.

pgs. 412 and 413...the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate.

 13 Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should ^agather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.

  14 And he caused that ^afortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night.

  15 Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be ^adelivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.

  16 And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus.

  17 And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them.

  18 Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of all the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was ^aGidgiddoni.

  19 Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the ^aspirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.

  20 Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: ^aPray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.

  21 But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord ^aforbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would ^bdeliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

  22 And it came to pass in the *seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their ^ahorses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the ^bplacewhich ^chad been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.

  23 And the ^aland which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land ^bBountiful, yea, to the line which was between the ^cland Bountiful and the land Desolation.

  24 And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the land ^asouthward, because of the great curse which was upon the ^bland northward.

  25 And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their ^aprayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.

  26 And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should make ^aweapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction.

* VERSE 22 (A.D. 17).

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 4

The Nephite armies defeat the Gadianton robbers—Giddianhi is slain, and his successor, Zemnarihah, is hanged—The Nephites praise the Lord for their victories. Between A.D. 18 and 22

  1 And it came to pass that in the latter *end of the eighteenth year those armies of ^arobbers had prepared for battle, and began to come down and to sally forth from the hills, and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and their ^bsecret places, and began to take possession of the lands, both which were in the land south and which were in the land north, and began to take possession of all the lands which had been ^cdeserted by the Nephites, and the cities which had been left desolate.

  2 But behold, there were no wild beasts nor ^agame in those lands which had been deserted by the Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the wilderness.

  3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they were in one body.

  4 Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and ^ahorses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of ^bseven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away.

  5 And it came to pass that in the *nineteenth year Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go up to battle against the Nephites, for there was ^ano way that they could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder.

  6 And they durst not spread themselves upon the face of the land insomuch that they could raise grain, lest the Nephites should come upon them and slay them; therefore Giddianhi gave commandment unto his armies that in this year they should go up to battle against the Nephites.

This reading is an account from about 15 years before the first coming of Christ to America.  Many people believe there will be several parallels between His first coming as recorded here in the Book of Mormon and His second coming which we are still anticipating.  The Institute Manual makes reference to this as follows:

In 3 Nephi 3:11–26 Mormon once again provided important historical insights that are of value to us today. He pointed out clearly that a key in the deliverance of the Nephites lay in the personal righteousness and courage of the political and military leaders (see vv. 12, 19).

Notice also that Gidgiddoni did not send his armies forth to attack the Gadiantons, but remained “in the center” (v. 21) of Nephite lands and fortified the land against attack. Gidgiddoni said, “We will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us” (v. 21).

Notice how this agrees with the law of God as stated in our own day: “And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, the Lord, commanded them” (D&C 98:33).