against thee and thy seed. And again I say, he that departeth from thee, shall no more be called thy seed; and I will bless thee, &c., and whomsoever shall be called thy seed, henceforth and for ever; and these were the promises of the Lord unto Nephi and to his seed. Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God, when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open rebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them. Now I would that ye should see that they brought upon themselves the curse; and even so doth every man that is cursed, bring upon himself his own condemnation.

18. Now it came to pass that not many days after the battle which was fought in the land of Zarahemla, by the Lamanites and the Amlicites, that there was another army of the Lamanites came in upon the people of Nephi, in the same place where the first army met the Amlicites. And it came to pass that there was an army sent to drive them out of their land. Now Alma himself being afflicted with a wound, did not go up to battle at this time against the Lamanites; but he sent up a numerous army against them; and they went up and slew many of the Lamanites, and drove the remainder of them out of the borders of their land; and then they returned again, and began to establish peace in the land, being troubled no more for a time with their enemies. Now all these things were done, yea, all these wars and contentions were commenced and ended in the fifth year of the reign of the Judges; and in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one; for every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey, and this according to the words of the Spirit of prophecy; therefore let it be according to the truth. And thus endeth the fifth year of the reign of the Judges.

CHAPTER II.

1. Now it came to pass in the sixth year of the reign of the Judges over the people of Nephi, there were no contentions nor wars in the land of Zarahemla; but the people were af

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flicted, yea, greatly afflicted for the loss of their brethren, and also for the loss of their flocks and herds, and also for the loss of their fields of grain, which were trodden under foot and destroyed by the Lamanites, and so great were their afflictions, that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them, because of their wickedness and their abominations; therefore they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty. And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon, and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the High Priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma.

2. And it came to pass in the seventh year of the reign of the Judges, there were about three thousand five hundred souls that united themselves to the church of God, and were baptized. And thus endeth the seventh year of the reign of the Judges over the people of Nephi; and there was continual peace in all that time.

3. And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the Judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. Now this was the cause of much affliction to Alma, yea, and to many of the people whom Alma had consecrated to be teachers, and priests, and elders over the church; yea, many of them were sorely grieved for the wickedness which they saw had begun to be among their people. For they saw and beheld with great sorrow, that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world; that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own will and pleasure. And thus in this eighth year of the reign of the Judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God. And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the Judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stum

bling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.

4. And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people; yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy, and the naked, and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted. Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succouring those who stood in need of their succour, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy; feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ's sake, who should come according to the Spirit of prophecy, looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy, because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will, and power, and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

5. And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him. And he selected a wise man who was among the elders of the church, and gave him power according to the voice of the people, that he might have power to enact laws according to the laws which had been given, and to put them in force, according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people. Now this man's name was Nephihah, and he was appointed Chief Judge; and he sat in the judgment seat, to judge and to govern the people. Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being High Priest over the church, but he retained the office of High Priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment seat unto Nephihah; and this he did, that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness, and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them, save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them. And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the Judges

over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the High Priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the Spirit of revelation and prophecy.

CHAPTER III.

The words which Alma, the High Priest, according to the holy order of God, delivered to the people in their cities and villages throughout the land.

1. Now it came to pass that Alma began to deliver the word of God unto the people, first in the land of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land. And these are the words which he spake to the people in the church which was established in the city of Zarahemla, according to his own record, saying: I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father Alma, to be a High Priest over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these things, behold, I say unto you, that he began to establish a church in the land which was in the borders of Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of Mormon; yea, and he did baptize his brethren in the waters of Mormon. And behold, I say unto you, they were delivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by the mercy and power of God. And behold, after that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also.

2. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and longsuffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell? Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awaked them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness: nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them. And now

I ask of you my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, nay, they were not. And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you, that they are saved. And now I ask of you on what conditions are they saved? Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death? Yea, and also the chains of hell? Behold, I can tell you: did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them? And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you, that this is all true. And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves, and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

3. And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God, to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day, come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say, Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth, and that he will save you? Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God, with your souls filled with guilt and remorse; having a remembrance of all your guilt; yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness; yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become sub