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Words and Acts of Alma the High Priest
and of Amulek at Ammonihah
composed ca. 80 BC
And again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that I should take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this people, or the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me, saying:
Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man,
Although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?
Now they understood not the words which they spake. For they knew not that the earth should pass away. And they said also:
We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy
That this great city should be destroyed in one day.
Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous works, for they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people. And they said:
Who is God?
That sendeth no more authority than one man among this people?
To declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?
And they stood forth to lay their hands on me. But behold! they did not. And I stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:
Behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation!
How have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers?
Yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.
Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out
Of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that
They were all led by him through the wilderness?
And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered
Our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them
From being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?
Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power,
And his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us,
We should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth
Long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned
To a state of endless misery and woe.
Behold, now I say unto you, that he commandeth you to repent!
And except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the Kingdom of God.
But behold, this is not all.
He has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly destroy you
From off the face of the earth, yea, he will visit you
In his anger, and in his fierce anger he will not turn away!
Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi,
Saying that, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments,
Ye shall prosper in the land?
And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not
Keep my commandments
Ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the Lamanites
Have not kept the commandments of God, they have been cut off
From the presence of the Lord. Now we see that the word of the Lord
Has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off
From his presence, from the beginning of their transgressions in the land.
Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for them
In the day of judgment than for you,
If ye remain in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them
In this life than for you, except ye repent.
For there are many promises which are extended to the Lamanites!
For it is because of the traditions of their fathers that caused them to
Remain in their state of ignorance, therefore the Lord
Will be merciful unto them and prolong their existence in the land.
And at some period of time they will be brought to believe in his word,
And to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers
And many of them will be saved, for the Lord
Will be merciful unto all who call on his name.
But behold, I say unto you, that if ye persist in your wickedness
That your days shall not be prolonged in the land!
For the Lamanites shall be sent upon you
And if ye repent not, they shall come in a time when you know not,
And ye shall be visited with utter destruction!
And it shall be according to the fierce anger of the Lord.
For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in
Your iniquities, to destroy his people. I say unto you, Nay.
He would rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy
All his people who are called the people of Nephi,
If it were possible that they could fall into sins
And transgressions, after having had so much light
And so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their god.
Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord
Yea, after having been favored above every other nation, kindred,
Tongue, or people; after having had all things made known unto them,
According to their desires, and their faith, and prayers,
Of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come:
Having been visited by the spirit of God
Having conversed with angels, and
Having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord
And having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation,
And also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift
Of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of translation!
Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land
Of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord.
Having been saved from famine, and from sickness,
And all manner of diseases of every kind, and they having
Waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed,
Having been brought out of bondage time after time,
And having been kept and preserved until now, and they have been
Prospered until they are rich in all manner of things!
And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have
Received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress
Contrary to the light and knowledge which they do have,
I say unto you, that if this be the case, that if they should fall
Into transgression, it would be far more tolerable for
The Lamanites than for them.
For behold, the promises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites!
But they are not unto you if ye transgress!
For has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed,
That if ye will rebel against him, that ye shall utterly be destroyed
From off the face of the earth?
And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord
Has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them
That they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying:
Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh at hand!
And not many days hence the Son of God shall come
In his glory and his glory shall be the glory of
The only begotten of the Father, full of grace,
Equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering,
Quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.
And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be
Baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.
Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord!
For the time is at hand: that all men shall reap a reward
Of their works, according to that which they have been.
If they have been righteous, they shall reap the salvation of their souls,
According to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ
And if they have been evil, they shall reap the damnation of their souls,
According to the power and captivation of the Devil.
Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people.
And now, my beloved brethren, for ye are my brethren,
And ye ought to be beloved, and ye ought to bring forth
Works which are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been
Grossly hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye
Are a lost and a fallen people.
Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken these words, behold, the people were wroth with me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people! And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people, they were angry with me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison. But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that they should take me at that time and cast me into prison.
And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth, and began to preach unto them also. And now the words of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are written in this book. Now these are the words which Amulek preached unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah, saying:
I am Amulek! I am the son of Giddonah,
Who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi. And
It was the same Aminadi who interpreted the writing which was upon
The wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God. And
Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi,
Who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of
Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt
By the hands of his brethren.
And behold, I am also a man of no small reputation
Among all those who know me!
Yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and friends, and I have
Also acquired much riches by the hand of my industry.
Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much
Of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power.
I said I never had known much of these things – but behold,
I mistake! For I have seen much
Of his mysteries and his marvelous power, yea, even in the preservation
Of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart,
For I was called many times and I would not hear. Therefore,
I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know. Therefore,
I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart,
Even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year
Of the reign of the judges. As I was journeying to see a very near
Kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said:
Amulek, return to thine own house!
For thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord
Yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God
For he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people,
And he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him
Into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house
And the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house.
And it came to pass that I obeyed the voice of the angel, and returned
Towards my house. And as I was going thither, I found the man whom
The angel said unto me: Thou shalt receive into thy house. And behold,
It was this same man who has been speaking unto you
Concerning the things of God. And the angel said unto me he is
A holy man: Wherefore I know
He is a holy man, because it was said by an angel of God.
And again, I know that the things whereof he hath testified are true!
For behold I say unto you, that as the Lord liveth, even so has he sent
His angel to make these things manifest unto me. And this he has done
While this Alma hath dwelt at my house. For behold, he hath blessed
Mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and
My father and my kinsfolk. Yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed,
And the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us
According to the words which he spake.
And now, when Amulek had spoken these words the people began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified of the things whereof they were accused, and also of the things which were to come, according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them. Nevertheless, there were some among them who thought to question them, that by their cunning devices they might catch them in their words, that they might find witness against them, that they might deliver them to their judges that they might be judged according to the law, and that they might be slain or cast into prison, according to the crime which they could make appear or witness against them.
Now it was those men who sought to destroy them, who were lawyers. Who were hired or appointed by the people to administer the law at their times of trials, or at the trials of the crimes of the people before the judges. Now these lawyers were learned in all the arts and cunning of the people, and this was to enable them that they might be skilful in their profession. And it came to pass that they began to question Amulek, that thereby they might make him cross his words, or contradict the words which he should speak. Now they knew not that Amulek could know of their designs. But it came to pass as they began to question him, he perceived their thoughts, and he said unto them:
O ye wicked and perverse generation!
Ye lawyers and hypocrites, for ye are laying the foundations of the Devil
For ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God.
Ye are laying plans to pervert the ways of the righteous,
And to bring down the wrath of God upon your heads,
Even to the utter destruction of this people.
Yea, well did Mosiah say, who was our last king, when he was about
To deliver up the kingdom, having no one to confer it upon,
Causing that this people should be governed by their own voices
Yea, well did he say, that if the time should come that the voice of
This people should choose iniquity, that is, if the time should come
That this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe
For destruction! And now I say unto you, that well doth the Lord
Judge of your iniquities! Well doth he cry unto this people,
By the voice of his angels: Repent ye, repent,
For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Yea, well doth he cry, by the voice of his angels that:
I will come down among my people, with equity and justice in my hands.
Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous,
Who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited
With utter destruction! Yet it would not be by flood,
As were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be
By famine, and by pestilence, and the sword.
But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared!
Now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you
Then will not the Lord stay his hand.
But in his fierce anger he will come out against you
Then ye shall be smitten by famine,
And by pestilence, and by the sword.
And the time is soon at hand, except ye repent.
And now it came to pass that the people were more angry with Amulek, and they cried out, saying:
This man doth revile against our laws which are just!
And our wise lawyers whom we have selected!
But Amulek stretched forth his hand, and cried the mightier unto them, saying:
O ye wicked and perverse generation!
Why hath Satan got such great hold upon your hearts? Why
Will ye yield yourselves unto him that he may have power over you?
To blind your eyes, that ye will not understand
The words which are spoken, according to their truth?
For behold, have I testified against your law?
Ye do not understand. Ye say that I have spoken against your law
But I have not, but I have spoken in favor of your law,
To your condemnation! And now behold, I say unto you,
That the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid
By the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.
And now it came to pass that when Amulek had spoken these words the people cried out against him, saying:
Now we know that this man is a child of the Devil!
For he hath lied unto us!
For he hath spoken against our law!
And now he says that he has not spoken against it!
And again, he has reviled against our lawyers, and our judges!
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