pgs. 488 and 489...the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language...

THE BOOK OF ETHER

The record of the Jaredites, taken from the twenty-four plates found by the people of Limhi in the days of king Mosiah.

CHAPTER 1

Moroni abridges the writings of Ether—Ether’s genealogy set forth—The language of the Jaredites is not confounded at the Tower of Babel—The Lord promises to lead them to a choice land and make them a great nation.

1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an ^aaccount of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the ^bhand of the Lord upon the face of this north country.

2 And I take mine account from the ^atwenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.

3 And as I suppose that the ^afirst part of this record, which speaks concerning the creation of the world, and also of Adam, and an account from that time even to the great ^btower, and whatsoever things transpired among the children of men until that time, is had among the Jews—

4 Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of ^aAdam until that time; but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account.

5 But behold, I give not the full account, but a ^apart of the account I give, from the tower down until they were destroyed.

6 And on this wise do I give the account. He that wrote this record was ^aEther, and he was a descendant of Coriantor.

7 Coriantor was the son of Moron.

8 And Moron was the son of Ethem.

9 And Ethem was the son of Ahah.

10 And Ahah was the son of Seth.

11 And Seth was the son of Shiblon.

12 And Shiblon was the son of Com.

13 And Com was the son of Coriantum.

14 And Coriantum was the son of Amnigaddah.

15 And Amnigaddah was the son of Aaron.

16 And Aaron was a descendant of Heth, who was the son of Hearthom.

17 And Hearthom was the son of Lib.

18 And Lib was the son of Kish.

19 And Kish was the son of Corom.

20 And Corom was the son of Levi.

21 And Levi was the son of Kim.

22 And Kim was the son of Morianton.

23 And Morianton was a descendant of Riplakish.

24 And Riplakish was the son of Shez.

25 And Shez was the son of Heth.

26 And Heth was the son of Com.

27 And Com was the son of Coriantum.

28 And Coriantum was the son of Emer.

29 And Emer was the son of Omer.

30 And Omer was the son of Shule.

31 And Shule was the son of Kib.

32 And ^aKib was the son of ^bOrihah, who was the son of Jared;

33 Which ^aJared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord ^bconfounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the ^cface of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.

34 And the ^abrother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not ^bunderstand our words.

35 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the ^alanguage of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded.

36 Then Jared said unto his brother: Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our ^afriends, that he confound not their language.

37 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded.

38 And it came to pass that Jared spake again unto his brother, saying: Go and ^ainquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is ^bchoice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance.

39 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord according to that which had been spoken by the mouth of Jared.

40 And it came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of Jared, and ^ahad compassion upon him, and said unto him:

41 Go to and gather together thy ^aflocks, both male and female, of every kind; and also of the ^bseed of the earth of every kind; and ^cthy ^dfamilies; and also Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy ^efriends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their families.

42 And when thou hast done this thou shalt ^ago at the head of them down into the valley which is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go ^bbefore thee into a land which is ^cchoice above all the lands of the earth.

43 And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And ^athere shall be none ^bgreater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.

THE BOOK OF ETHER

CHAPTER 2

The Jaredites prepare for their journey to a promised land—It is a choice land whereon men must serve Christ or be swept off—The Lord talks to the brother of Jared for three hours—They build barges—The Lord asks the brother of Jared to propose how the barges shall be lighted.

1 And it came to pass that Jared and his brother, and their families, and also the ^afriends of Jared and his brother and their families, went down into the valley which was northward, (and the name of the valley was ^bNimrod, being called after the mighty hunter) with their ^cflocks which they had gathered together, male and female, of every kind.

2 And they did also lay snares and catch ^afowls of the air; and they did also prepare a vessel, in which they did carry with them the fish of the waters.

3 And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them ^aswarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, ^bseeds of every kind.

4 And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a ^acloud, and the brother of Jared saw him not.

5 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should ^ago forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a ^bcloud, and gave ^cdirections whither they should travel.

The fact that the Lord answered the brother of Jared's prayer is a testament to all of us that sometimes all we need to do is ask. The Lord wants to answer our righteous prayers and he wants us to show faith in Him by offering prayers. Those whose language was confounded didn't have enough faith to even believe in God or acknowledge that He had the power to take their language away from them. He was actually blessing them by making it so that they could not collaborate so easily to bring about wickedness.

pgs. 486 and 487...whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him.

18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty ^amiracles? And there were many ^bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

19 And if there were ^amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he ^bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do ^amiracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should ^btrust.

21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, ^awhatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this ^bpromise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

22 For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to ^aall his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;

23 And he that ^abelieveth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be ^bdamned;

24 And ^athese signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out ^bdevils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay ^chands on the sick and they shall recover;

25 And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I ^aconfirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.

26 And now, behold, who can stand ^aagainst the works of the Lord? ^bWho can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? Behold, all ye who are ^cdespisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish.

27 O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. ^aDoubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and ^bcome unto the Lord with all your ^cheart, and ^dwork out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

28 Be ^awise in the days of your ^bprobation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your ^clusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and ^dliving God.

29 See that ye are not baptized ^aunworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ ^bunworthily; but see that ye do all things in ^cworthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out.

30 Behold, I speak unto you as though I ^aspake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words.

31 Condemn me not because of mine ^aimperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

32 And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the ^areformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.

33 And if our plates had been ^asufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no ^bimperfection in our record.

34 But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared ^ameans for the interpretation thereof.

35 And these things are written that we may rid our garments of the blood of our ^abrethren, who have dwindled in unbelief.

36 And behold, these things which we have ^adesired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land.

37 And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith; and may God the Father remember the covenant which he hath made with the house of Israel; and may he bless them forever, through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

This chapter is direct counsel given to Moroni for those of us living at the time when the Book of Mormon is in print. The Lord wants us specifically to have this valuable knowledge and He wants us to use it! There is so much treasured information in these verses but what stands out to me the most today is the knowledge that miracles do not cease as long as personal righteousness exists. There is a very real power given to those who develop their faith in Christ.

pgs. 484 and 485...ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him...

37 For behold, ye do love ^amoney, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ^aashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that ^bmisery which never dies—because of the ^cpraise of the world?

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

40 Yea, why do ye build up your ^asecret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?

41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the ^ablood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

CHAPTER 9

Moroni calls upon those who do not believe in Christ to repent—He proclaims a God of miracles, who gives revelations and pours out gifts and signs upon the faithful—Miracles cease because of unbelief—Signs follow those who believe—Men are exhorted to be wise and keep the commandments. Between A.D. 400 and 421

1 And now, I speak also concerning those who do not believe in Christ.

2 Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that ^agreat day when the ^bearth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall ^cmelt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God?

3 Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a ^aconsciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws?

4 Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your ^afilthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the ^bdamned souls in ^chell.

5 For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your ^anakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the ^bholiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you.

6 O then ye ^aunbelieving, ^bturn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, ^cpure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the ^dLamb, at that great and last day.

7 And again I speak unto you who ^adeny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the ^binterpretation of tongues;

8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the ^agospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not ^bunderstand them.

9 For do we not read that God is the ^asame ^byesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no ^cvariableness neither shadow of changing?

10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of ^amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same ^bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

12 Behold, he created Adam, and by ^aAdam came the ^bfall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the ^credemption of man.

13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the ^apresence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the ^bresurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless ^csleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal ^dband of death, which death is a temporal death.

14 And then cometh the ^ajudgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is ^bfilthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do ^ano miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous ^aworks of God?

17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his ^aword the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was ^bcreated of the ^cdust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

Years ago I heard an analogy about entering the Lord's presence. It compared the Celestial Kingdom to a beautiful wedding reception at a very high end hotel. The attire for the reception was black tie and the music playing was classical and calm. You were honored to be invited to the wedding and looking forward to it but for some reason you thought the reception was a pool party and showed up in your swimsuit with a towel. You stood out like a sore thumb. Of course you were mortified and felt entirely out of place!

I always think of this analogy when I read the first few verses of chapter 9. Does anyone think they would be comfortable in the presence of the Lord if they didn't live according to His standards and weren't prepared? We all know what we have to do to be ready...the hard part is doing it! This chapter is great motivation to keep ourselves continually striving.

pgs. 482 and 483...Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me...

13 Behold, I make an end of speaking concerning this people. I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a ^adescendant of Nephi.

14 And I am the same who ^ahideth up this record unto the Lord; the plates thereof are of no worth, because of the commandment of the Lord. For he truly saith that no one shall have them ^bto get gain; but the record thereof is of ^cgreat worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless.

15 For none can have power to bring it to light save it be given him of God; for God wills that it shall be done with an ^aeye single to his glory, or the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord.

16 And blessed be ^ahe that shall bring this thing to light; for it shall be ^bbrought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people; and it shall be done by the power of God.

17 And if there be ^afaults they be the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that ^bcondemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire.

18 And he that saith: Show unto me, or ye shall be ^asmitten—let him beware lest he commandeth that which is forbidden of the Lord.

19 For behold, the same that ^ajudgeth ^brashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord.

20 Behold what the scripture says—man shall not ^asmite, neither shall he ^bjudge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.

21 And he that shall breathe out ^awrath and ^bstrifes against the work of the Lord, and against the ^ccovenant people of the Lord who are the house of Israel, and shall say: We will destroy the work of the Lord, and the Lord will not remember his covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel—the same is in danger to be hewn down and cast into the fire;

22 For the eternal ^apurposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled.

23 Search the prophecies of ^aIsaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall ^bcry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them.

24 And he knoweth their ^aprayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren. And he knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove ^bmountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause ^cprisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word.

25 And behold, their ^aprayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth.

26 And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for ^aout of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that ^bmiracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak ^cfrom the dead.

27 And it shall come in a day when the ^ablood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret ^bcombinations and the works of darkness.

28 Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be ^adenied, and ^bchurches become defiled and be ^clifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

29 Yea, it shall come in a day when ^athere shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and ^bvapors of smoke in foreign lands;

30 And there shall also be heard of ^awars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.

31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great ^apollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be ^bmurders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it ^cmattereth not, for the Lord will ^duphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the ^egall of bitterness and in the ^fbonds of iniquity.

32 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be ^achurches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.

33 O ye wicked and perverse and ^astiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get ^bgain? Why have ye ^ctransfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring ^ddamnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the ^erevelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled.

34 Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.

35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

36 And I know that ye do ^awalk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not ^blift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of ^cvery fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

Moroni's testimony of the importance of this record and it's importance for us today is a powerful message to all of us. It reinforces what we have heard so many times before about the incredible importance of the Book of Mormon to us TODAY. President Benson said this about it:

“The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book. It is a record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for our blessing today. Those people never had the book—it was meant for us. Mormon, the ancient prophet after whom the book is named, abridged centuries of records. God, who knows the end from the beginning, told him what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day. Mormon turned the records over to his son Moroni, the last recorder; and Moroni, writing over 1,500 years ago but speaking to us today, states: ‘Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.’ (Morm. 8:35.) . . .

“As we read and teach, we are to liken the Book of Mormon scriptures unto us ‘that it might be for our profit and learning.’ (1 Ne. 19:23.)” (Ezra Taft Benson, in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, pp. 94–95; or Ensign, May 1975, pp. 63–64).

pgs. 480 and 481...the whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; and no one knoweth the end of the war.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

CHAPTER 7

Mormon invites the Lamanites of the latter days to believe in Christ, accept his gospel, and be saved—All who believe the Bible will also believe the Book of Mormon. About A.D. 385

1 And now, behold, I would speak somewhat unto the ^aremnant of this people who are spared, if it so be that God may give unto them my words, that they may know of the things of their fathers; yea, I speak unto you, ye remnant of the house of Israel; and these are the words which I speak:

2 Know ye that ye are of the ^ahouse of Israel.

3 Know ye that ye must come unto repentance, or ye cannot be saved.

4 Know ye that ye must lay down your weapons of war, and delight no more in the shedding of blood, and take them not again, save it be that God shall ^acommand you.

5 Know ye that ye must come to the ^aknowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and ^bbelieve in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the ^cvictory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.

6 And he bringeth to pass the ^aresurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his ^bjudgment-seat.

7 And he hath brought to pass the ^aredemption of the ^bworld, whereby he that is found ^cguiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to ^ddwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the ^echoirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are ^fone God, in a state of ^ghappiness which hath no end.

8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the ^agospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles ^bfrom the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles ^cunto you.

9 For behold, ^athis is ^bwritten for the intent that ye may ^cbelieve that; and if ^dye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

10 And ye will also know that ye are a ^aremnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first ^bwith water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the ^cexample of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

CHAPTER 8

The Lamanites seek out and destroy the Nephites—The Book of Mormon shall come forth by the power of God—Woes pronounced upon those who breathe out wrath and strife against the work of the Lord—The Nephite record shall come forth in a day of wickedness, degeneracy, and apostasy. Between A.D. 400 and 421

1 Behold I, ^aMoroni, do finish the ^brecord of my father, Mormon. Behold, I have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my father.

2 And now it came to pass that after the ^agreat and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the ^bLamanites, until they were all destroyed.

3 And my father also was killed by them, and I even ^aremain ^balone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not.

4 Therefore I will write and ^ahide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.

5 Behold, my father hath made ^athis record, and he hath written the intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also if I had room upon the ^bplates, but I have not; and ore I have none, for I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and ^chow long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not.

6 Behold, ^a*four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior.

7 And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their ^afall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

8 And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. And behold also, the Lamanites are at ^awar one with another; and the whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; and no one knoweth the end of the war.

9 And now, behold, I say no more concerning them, for there are none save it be the Lamanites and ^arobbers that do exist upon the face of the land.

10 And there are none that do know the true God save it be the ^adisciples of Jesus, who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great that the Lord would not suffer them to ^bremain with the people; and whether they be upon the face of the land no man knoweth.

11 But behold, my ^afather and I have seen ^bthem, and they have ministered unto us.

12 And whoso receiveth ^athis record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of ^bgreater things than these. Behold, I am Moroni; and were it possible, I would make all things known unto you.

It is so sad to read about Mormon being murdered by the Lamanites and his son Moroni's endeavors to carry on his duty regarding the plates. It is clear that Moroni felt so alone and thought he might die at any time. We know from the end of the Book of Moroni that he actually lived about 21 more years. It must have been so hard to hide from the Lamanites and keep the plates safe. We are all indebted to him for his difficult and tedious sacrifice which made the Book of Mormon possible.

pgs. 478 and 479...O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

20 But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord ^aremember the ^bcovenant which he made unto Abraham and unto all the house of Israel.

21 And also the Lord will remember the ^aprayers of the righteous, which have been put up unto him for them.

22 And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?

23 Know ye not that ye are in the ^ahands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the ^bearth shall be ^crolled together as a scroll?

24 Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a ^aremnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a ^blion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

CHAPTER 6

The Nephites gather to the land of Cumorah for the final battles—Mormon hides the sacred records in the hill Cumorah—The Lamanites are victorious, and the Nephite nation is destroyed—Hundreds of thousands are slain with the sword. [A.D. 385]

1 And now I finish my record concerning the ^adestruction of my people, the Nephites. And it came to pass that we did march forth before the Lamanites.

2 And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the ^aland of ^bCumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.

3 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites did grant unto me the thing which I desired.

4 And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of ^amany waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.

5 And *when ^athree hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.

6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were ^asacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would ^bdestroy them) therefore I made ^cthis record out of the plates of Nephi, and ^dhid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were ^ethese few plates which I gave unto my son ^fMoroni.

7 And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the ^aarmies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful ^bfear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.

8 And it came to pass that they came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.

9 And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war.

10 And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, even my ^aten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life.

11 And when they had gone through and hewn down ^aall my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were hewn down, being led in the front by me.

12 And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni.

13 And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, and he also in the midst.

14 And Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Jeneum had fallen with his ten thousand; and Cumenihah, and Moronihah, and Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had fallen with their ten thousand each.

15 And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even ^aall my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a ^bfew who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.

16 And my soul was rent with ^aanguish, because of the slain of my people, and I cried:

17 ^aO ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I ^amourn your loss.

19 O ye ^afair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have ^bfallen!

20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.

21 And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become ^aincorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.

22 O that ye had repented before this great ^adestruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, ^bknoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his ^cjustice and ^dmercy.

* VERSE 5 (A.D. 385).


As Mormon writes this he is 74 years old and he has seen a lot of war and bloodshed in his lifetime. This is the final destruction of the Nephites as 230,000 of the men plus women and children were killed in battle. It's hard to believe that there were only 24 survivors out of all those people. I'm sure the fact that Mormon and his son Moroni were among that 24 had a lot to do with their divine role to preserve the plates and make it possible for Joseph Smith to find them and bring their words to us today. The Nephites had so many chances to repent but in the end they felt the horror of dying with a guilty conscience as written in Chapter 6 verse 8. So sad.