28:1 And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were
established in the land of Jershon, and a church also established in
the land of Jershon, and the armies of the Nephites were set round
about the land of Jershon, yea, in all the borders round about the land
of Zarahemla; behold the armies of the Lamanites had followed their
brethren into the wilderness.
28:2 And thus there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as
never had been known among all the people in the land from the time
Lehi left Jerusalem; yea, and tens of thousands of the Lamanites were
slain and scattered abroad.
28:3 Yea, and also there was a tremendous slaughter among the people of
Nephi; nevertheless, the Lamanites were driven and scattered, and the
people of Nephi returned again to their land.
28:4 And now this was a time that there was a great mourning and
lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of
Nephi—
28:5 Yea, the cry of widows mourning for their husbands, and also of
fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea,
the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard
among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.
28:6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity,
and a time of much fasting and prayer.
28:7 And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over
the people of Nephi;
28:8 And this is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their
journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their
sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy, and the
reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now
may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever.
28:9 And this is the account of the wars and contentions among the
Nephites, and also the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites; and
the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges is ended.
28:10 And from the first year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the
destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an
awful scene of bloodshed.
28:11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while
the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of
the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their
kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of
the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
28:12 While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their
kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know,
according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at
the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.
28:13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin
and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the
cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.
28:14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in
the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow,
and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among
men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.