BOOK OF MORMON

Book of Mosiah

CHAPTER 12-13

   [Mos 12:1] Now it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them, and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them, that they might, with those whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi, [2] That they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites, that perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; [3] And that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, [4] That they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.
   [Mos 12:5] Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; [6] Yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment, did cause them to quake and tremble.
   [Mos 12:7] And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners.
   [Mos 12:8] And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul, because of their iniquities; and suffering much, fearing that they should be cast off for ever.
   [Mos 12:9] And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many days, that they might go up to the land of Nephi.
   [Mos 12:10] And King Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord, if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word.
   [Mos 12:11] And the Lord said unto Mosiah, Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.
   [Mos 12:12] And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go, and do according to their request; [13] And they took their journey into the wilderness, to go up to preach the word among the Lamanites: and I shall give an account of their proceedings hereafter.
   [Mos 12:14] Now King Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept of the kingdom; [15] Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved, according to the commandments of God, [16] After having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold, which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi; [17] And this he did, because of the great anxiety of his people, for they were desirous beyond measure, to know concerning those people who had been destroyed.
   [Mos 12:18] And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
   [Mos 12:19] Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages; [20] And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land, the iniquities and abominations of his people; [21] And whosoever has these things, is called seer, after the manner of old times.
   [Mos 12:22] Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people, who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed, back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; [23] And they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time until the creation of Adam.
   [Mos 12:24] Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly; yea, they were filled with sorrow; [25] Nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice.
   [Mos 12:26] And this account shall be written hereafter; for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account.

CHAPTER 13

   [Mos 13:1] And now, as I said unto you, that after King Mosiah had done these things, he took the plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; [2] Yea, all the records, and also the interpreters, and conferred them upon him, and commanded him that he should keep and preserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.
   [Mos 13:3] Now when Mosiah had done this, he sent out through all the land, among all the people, desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king.
   [Mos 13:4] And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying, We are desirous that Aaron, thy son, should be our king, and our ruler.
   [Mos 13:5] Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him; neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; [6] Neither were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom, therefore King Mosiah sent again among the people, yea, even a written word sent he among the people.
   [Mos 13:7] And these were the words that were written; saying: Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such; for I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider; for ye are desirous to have a king.
   [Mos 13:8] Now I declare unto you, that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong, has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom.
   [Mos 13:9] And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you; [10] And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry, and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you; which would be the cause of shedding much blood, and perverting the way of the Lord; yea, and destroy the souls of many people.
   [Mos 13:11] Now I say unto you, Let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another, if he should be appointed in his stead.
   [Mos 13:12] And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things, he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin.
   [Mos 13:13] And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people.
   [Mos 13:14] Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; [15] Nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law, and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God.
   [Mos 13:16] Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just; [17] Therefore, if it were possible that ye could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments; yea, if ye could have men for your kings, who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this people, I say unto you, If this could always be the case, then it would be expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you.
   [Mos 13:18] And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, [19] That there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity; [20] And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he has committed, according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers.
   [Mos 13:21] Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just, it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you.
   [Mos 13:22] For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed! yea, and what great destruction!
   [Mos 13:23] Yea, remember King Noah, his wickedness and his abominations; and also the wickedness and abominations of his people.
   [Mos 13:24] Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities, they were brought into bondage.
   [Mos 13:25] And were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they must unavoidably have remained in bondage until now.
   [Mos 13:26] But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him, he did deliver them out of bondage; [27] And thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.
   [Mos 13:28] And behold, now I say unto you, Ye can not dethrone an iniquitous king, save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood.
   [Mos 13:29] For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him: and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God; [30] And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people; yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws; he causeth to be destroyed; [31] And whosoever doth rebel against him, he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can, he will destroy them; [32] And thus an unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness.
   [Mos 13:33] And now behold I say unto you, It is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you; [34] Therefore choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.
   [Mos 13:35] Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; [36] Therefore this shall ye observe, and make it your law to do your business by the voice of the people.
   [Mos 13:37] And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; [38] Yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction, even as he has hitherto visited this land.
   [Mos 13:39] And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given, ye can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge; [40] If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the people.
   [Mos 13:41] And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord; [42] And I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king: that if these people commit sins and iniquities, they shall be answered upon their own heads.
   [Mos 13:43] For behold I say unto you, The sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings.
   [Mos 13:44] And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; [45] But I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit, that we may live and inherit the land; [46] Yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.
   [Mos 13:47] And many more things did King Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king; [48] Yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them.
   [Mos 13:49] And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.
   [Mos 13:50] And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them; [51] Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities, which can not be enumerated, [52] Telling them that these things ought not to be; that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God.
   [Mos 13:53] And now it came to pass, after King Mosiah had sent these things forth among the people, they were convinced of the truth of his words; [54] Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; [55] Yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.
   [Mos 13:56] Therefore it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been given them; [57] And they were exceedingly rejoiced, because of the liberty which had been granted unto them.
   [Mos 13:58] And they did wax strong in love toward Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man:
   [Mos 13:59] For they did not look upon him as a tyrant, who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul, [60] For he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; [61] Therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure.
   [Mos 13:62] And it came to pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them, or to judge them according to the law; and this they did throughout all the land.
   [Mos 13:63] And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the chief judge; he being also the high priest; his father having conferred the office upon him, and had given him the charge concerning all the affairs of the church.
   [Mos 13:64] And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and he did judge righteous judgments; and there was continual peace through the land; [65] And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the Nephites: And Alma was the first and chief judge.
   [Mos 13:66] And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfill the commandments of God.
   [Mos 13:67] And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old, making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem; [68] And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who was the founder of their church.