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Mosiah 29
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| 29:1 Now when Mosiah had done this he sent out throughout all the land, among all the people, desiring to
know their will concerning who should be their king. |
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| 29:2 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: We are desirous
that Aaron thy son should be our king and our ruler. |
And it came to pass
(29:2, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46)
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| 29:3 Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him;
neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the
kingdom. |
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| 29:4 Therefore king Mosiah sent again among the people; yea, even a written word sent he among the
people. And these were the words that were written, saying: |
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| 29:5 Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such, I desire that ye should consider the
cause which ye are called to consider -- for ye are desirous to have a king. |
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| 29:6 Now I declare unto you that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong has declined, and will not take
upon him the kingdom. |
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| 29:7 And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions
among you. And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a
part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding
much blood and perverting the way of the Lord, yea, and destroy the souls of many people. |
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| 29:8 Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son,
neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead. |
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| 29:9 And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things he would recall the things which he had
said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin. |
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| 29:10 And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace
of this people. |
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| 29:11 Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to
judge this people according to our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint
wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God. |
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| 29:12 Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always
just, but the judgments of man are not always just. |
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| 29:13 Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the
laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings who would do
even as my father Benjamin did for this people -- I say unto you, if this could always be the case then it would be
expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you. |
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| 29:14 And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you
the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no
stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity; |
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| 29:15 And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he has
committed, according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers. |
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| 29:16 Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king
or kings to rule over you. |
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| 29:17 For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great
destruction! |
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| 29:18 Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations
of his people. Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities they were brought
into bondage. |
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| 29:19 And were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere
repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until now. |
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| 29:20 But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried
mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the
children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him. |
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| 29:21 And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much
contention, and the shedding of much blood. |
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| 29:22 For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up
the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of
God; |
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| 29:23 And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his
own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him
he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king doth
pervert the ways of all righteousness. |
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| 29:24 And now behold I say unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you. |
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| 29:25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the
laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord. |
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| 29:26 Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right;
but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye
observe and make it your law -- to do your business by the voice of the people. |
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| 29:27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the
judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has
hitherto visited this land. |
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| 29:28 And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given,
ye can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge. |
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| 29:29 If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your
lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the
people. |
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| 29:30 And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord; and I command you to do these things,
and that ye have no king; that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall be answered upon their own
heads. |
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| 29:31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their
kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings. |
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| 29:32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people;
but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as
the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the
face of the land. |
This land should be a land of liberty where everyone has same rights and privileges.
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| 29:33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and
troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the
people to their king; and he explained it all unto them. |
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| 29:34 And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the
people, that every man might bear his part. |
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| 29:35 And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous
king to rule over them; |
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| 29:36 Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and
the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be
enumerated -- telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments
of God. |
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| 29:37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sent these things forth among the people they were
convinced of the truth of his words. |
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| 29:38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly
anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness
to answer for his own sins. |
Exceedingly (29:38, 39, 40)
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| 29:39 Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land,
to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been
given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted
unto them. |
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| 29:40 And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for
they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul; for
he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in
the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; therefore they
did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure. |
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| 29:41 And it came to pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them, or to judge
them according to the law; and this they did throughout all the land. |
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| 29:42 And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the first chief judge, he
being also the high priest, his father having conferred the office upon him, and having given him the charge concerning
all the affairs of the church. |
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| 29:43 And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments,
and he did judge righteous judgments; and there was continual peace through the land. |
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| 29:44 And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people
who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge. |
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| 29:45 And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to
fulfil the commandments of God. |
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| 29:46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of
his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left
Jerusalem. |
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| 29:47 And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who
was the founder of their church. |
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Plagiarism
Injustice
Cruelty and Violence
Science and History
Intolerance
Prophecy 
Changes in the BoM
Contradictions
Interpretations