4:1 And it came to pass in the fifty and fourth year there were many
dissensions in the church, and there was also a contention among the
people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed.
4:2 And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and
they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.
4:3 And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites
to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceedingly
afraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those
dissenters.
4:4 But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the
judges, there were dissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the
Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to
anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for
war.
4:5 And in the fifty and seventh year they did come down against the
Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea,
insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges
they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea,
and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land
Bountiful.
4:6 And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into
the land of Bountiful;
4:7 And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west
sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the
line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend
their north country.
4:8 And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a
numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the
Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the
fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges.
4:9 And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the
judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts
of the land; yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the
hands of the Lamanites.
4:10 And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of
the judges they succeeded in regaining even the half of all their
possessions.
4:11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which
was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their
wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was
among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.
4:12 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their
exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor,
withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from
the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a
mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of
revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing
adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the
land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—
4:13 And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in
their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore
they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before
the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their
lands.
4:14 But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people
because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons
of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did
prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what
should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.
4:15 And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did
repent they did begin to prosper.
4:16 For when Moronihah saw that they did repent he did venture to lead
them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they
had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all
their lands.
4:17 And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the
judges.
4:18 And it came to pass in the sixty and second year of the reign of
the judges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the
Lamanites.
4:19 Therefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of
their lands, for so numerous were the Lamanites that it became
impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore
Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he
had taken.
4:20 And it came to pass, because of the greatness of the number of the
Lamanites the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be
overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed.
4:21 Yea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the
words of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people,
and that they had set at naught the commandments of God.
4:22 And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws
of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the
people; and they saw that their laws had become corrupted, and that
they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even
like unto the Lamanites.
4:23 And because of their iniquity the church had begun to dwindle; and
they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of
revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.
4:24 And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren,
the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve
them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord
doth not dwell in unholy temples—
4:25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous
and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and
awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more
numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their
God, they must unavoidably perish.
4:26 For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as
great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen
into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because
of their transgression, in the space of not many years.