17:1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land
of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his
astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the
land of Zarahemla.
17:2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel
first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see
his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his
brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge
of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had
searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of
God.
17:3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and
fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of
revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority
of God.
17:4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of
fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing
many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words
many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and
confess their sins before him.
17:5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their
journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both
in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much
labor in the spirit.
17:6 Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of their
father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the
kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also
this was the minds of the people;
17:7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took
their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and
their slings; and this they did that they might provide food for
themselves while in the wilderness.
17:8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers
which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the
word of God unto the Lamanites.
17:9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the
wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would
grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with
them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if
it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of
the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their
fathers, which were not correct.
17:10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit,
and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.
17:11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites,
thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in
long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples
unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto
the salvation of many souls.
17:12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and
also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the
Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.
17:13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the
land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one
from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the
close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which
they had undertaken.
17:14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the
word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people
who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering
them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver,
and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by
murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their
own hands.
17:15 Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship
idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the
traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord
were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.
17:16 Therefore, this was the cause for which the sons of Mosiah had
undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto
repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of
redemption.
17:17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went
forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of
God which was given unto him.
17:18 Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer
unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them
according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God
unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus
they took their several journeys throughout the land.
17:19 And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called
after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.
17:20 And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him
and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell
into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left
to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in
captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his
land, according to his will and pleasure.
17:21 And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land
of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of
Ishmael.
17:22 And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in
the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.
17:23 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people
for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.
17:24 And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon,
and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon
should take one of his daughters to wife.
17:25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant.
Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass
that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni,
according to the custom of the Lamanites.
17:26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as
he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to
the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the
Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—
17:27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving
forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of
the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and
scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they
scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.
17:28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the
king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were
scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep
exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.
17:29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon
saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I
will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power
which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win
the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe
in my words.
17:30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the
afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.
17:31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying:
My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks,
and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of
water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will
not slay us.
17:32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and
they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and
did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to
the place of water.
17:33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said
unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not;
and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.
17:34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth
and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and
they were in number not a few.
17:35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of
their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not
that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of
their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord;
therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for
this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.
17:36 But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his
sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and
thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be
astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the
slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall;
therefore, seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they
came forth with clubs to slay him.
17:37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he
smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows
by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they
began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they
were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of
his arm.
17:38 Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew none save it
were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their
arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.
17:39 And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they
watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and
then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off
by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were
carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had
done.