24:1 And it came to pass that the Amalekites and the Amulonites and the
Lamanites who were in the land of Amulon, and also in the land of
Helam, and who were in the land of Jerusalem, and in fine, in all the
land round about, who had not been converted and had not taken upon
them the name of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, were stirred up by the Amalekites and
by the Amulonites to anger against their brethren.
24:2 And their hatred became exceedingly sore against them, even
insomuch that they began to rebel against their king, insomuch that
they would not that he should be their king; therefore, they took up
arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
24:3 Now the king conferred the kingdom upon his son, and he called his
name Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
24:4 And the king died in that selfsame year that the Lamanites began
to make preparations for war against the people of God.
24:5 Now when Ammon and his brethren and all those who had come up with
him saw the preparations of the Lamanites to destroy their brethren,
they came forth to the land of Midian, and there Ammon met all his
brethren; and from thence they came to the land of Ishmael that they
might hold a council with Lamoni and also with his brother
Anti-Nephi-Lehi, what they should do to defend themselves against the
Lamanites.
24:6 Now there was not one soul among all the people who had been
converted unto the Lord that would take up arms against their brethren;
nay, they would not even make any preparations for war; yea, and also
their king commanded them that they should not.
24:7 Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning
the matter: I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has
in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach
unto us, and to convince us of the traditions of our wicked fathers.
24:8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of
his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence
with these brethren, the Nephites.
24:9 And behold, I also thank my God, that by opening this
correspondence we have been convinced of our sins, and of the many
murders which we have committed.
24:10 And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted
unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath
forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed,
and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his
Son.
24:11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could
do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins
and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take
them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent
sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain—
24:12 Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our
stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords
no more with the blood of our brethren.
24:13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they
be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we
should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through
the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the
atonement of our sins.
24:14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things
known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these
things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as
he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his
angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well
as unto future generations.
24:15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as
much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our
swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept
bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that
we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not
stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his
word unto us and has made us clean thereby.
24:16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold,
we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the
earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never
used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we
shall go to our God and shall be saved.
24:17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of
these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took
their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of
man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth. Alma 24:18
And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also
to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of
man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that
rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their
own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give
unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor
abundantly with their hands.
24:19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to
believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even
unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried
their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.
24:20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made
preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose
of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of
destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.
24:21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they
went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the
earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in
this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to
slay them with the sword.
24:22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand
and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone
to dwell with their God.
24:23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee
from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to
the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even
in the very act of perishing under the sword—
24:24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying
them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of
their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the
things which they had done.
24:25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war,
and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders
which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren,
relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.
24:26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day
by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been
slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but
what they were saved.
24:27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were
more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see
that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.
24:28 Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so
many of their brethren were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest
number of whom were after the order of the Nehors.
24:29 Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were
none who were Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of
Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.
24:30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been
once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of
things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin
and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state
becomes worse than though they had never known these things.