CHAPTER 28
There is a tremendous battle, bigger than all the battles since Lehi left Jerusalem--Tens of thousands of Lamanites
and Nephites die. (76 BCE)
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28:1-14
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.
After Ammon and his people were all situated in their new land of Jershon, there was a battle between the Lamanites and the people of Nephi.
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.
In fact, it was the biggest battle anyone had ever seen since Lehi and his children left Jerusalem.
Tens of thousands of Lamanites died.
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.
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 --
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.
6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much fasting and
prayer.
Many Nephites also died, but in the end the Lamanites were driven from the land.
7 And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of
Nephi;
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.
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.
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.
This battle occurred in the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges. [1]
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.
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.
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.
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.
Many thousands of dead bodies moldered in heaps on the face of the earth.